Many of the homes in Saping and in the neighboring villages were destroyed by the earthquake. The rebuilding is slowly happening, however, many families are still living in temporary and very crowded homes. Uttam was invited to a Hindu home blessing of one of the newly built homes. He asked the other volunteers and myself if we wanted to attend. Of course, I wanted to go and I ignored that pesky headache that had been bothering me for the past couple of days.
The priest, offerings at the alter and family members
The animals lived in the back of the house, directly next to the kitchen.
The new home was built out of clay and stone. It was directly next to the old home that had been completely destroyed by the earthquake. Including myself, there were now five volunteers and we were all made to feel welcome right away. We were asked where we were all from and after giving our answers, one of the elders said “There is no country. The world is the country and we are one house.”
New friends from around the world that is “One House”
Keeping warm with new friends
At the time, when we arrived, there was an intimate group of people directly facing the priest who was reading from a book. There was also an offering in front of the priest of food, fruit, money, cigarettes, and incense, among other things. Over the next three hours the priest read from his book and more and more people started to arrive. Most of the women all wore read. At one point the priest told me to come and sit next to him and that remained my seat for the majority of the night.
Sitting next to the priest
Offerings
Throughout the evening, the priest would take breaks from reading and people would engage in conversation. During one of these conversations, Uttam translated what was being discussed. The topic of conversation was “What is the strongest thing in the world?” When I was asked what I thought, I gave the answer “the ocean” but I think the elders were looking for a more metaphoric answer. Someone else suggested that “the soul” is the strongest thing in the world. This response was met with the idea that in Buddishim there is no soul.
Elders
Children
During the conversations, tobacco cigarettes as well as marijuana cigarettes were passed around to the men in the house. There were also fires lit inside the house and not a lot of ventilation. As amazing as the night was, all of the smoke really started getting to me and causing my already present headache to hurt worse!
Family members enjoying the ceremony
Offerings turned into food for guests
After the priest was finished reading from his book, the family who owned the home lit candles and flames and burnt incense to bless the home. The priest also chanted and sang blessings while various family members joined in. A conch shell was also blown by the priest and the son who lived in the home. In Hawaii, conch shells are also blown during ceremonies.
The family blessing their new home
The familiy blessing their new home
Following the blessings, the priest provided first the homeowners with tikka and then continued on with other family members and then guests. While the priest was offering tikka to people, other elders walked around to ensure that every guest (there were quite a lot at this point) received tikka. I was one of the people that received tikka from the priest. He offered me a blessing, tikka and tied a bracelet made out of string onto my hand. I again received tikka a second time from the homeowner, who also gave me 5 rupees. Traditionally when offering tikka, you also provide money as well. I could not believe that I was being given money from someone that did not even know me. At this point water was also splashed onto people. It seemed like holy water similar to in the catholic faith.
Grandmother receiving tikka from the priest
Me receiving tikka from the priest
The house was packed now, and I soon learned why. Following the tikka, the party started. A lot of the food that was at the offering was now being passed around (plus more!) on banana leaf plates for each guest. Different types of Yogurt were also being poured into my hand for me to drink. I could not help but think how dirty my hand was and now I was drinking yogurt out of it as well as eating with my fingers! But it was still fun and something different. Singing, dancing, and drumming also began. People took turns dancing from young children to old men. The old men that were dancing reminded me of the way my father use to dance. The party continued on and moved outside to big bonfire.
Music
Dancing
Fire warmth
We finally left at around 12:30 am but there were many other guests still singing and dancing when we left. We walked the 30-minute walk back to Saping in the dark. The night was incredible.
More dancing in front of the previous home. There was something really special about all the dancing and singing going on directly in front of the ruins of the old home. The Nepali people are really resilient and amazing.
Mutiple generations enjoying the gathering.
