Four people from Fiji

According to the Sitemeter, a total of four people from the South Pacific island of Fiji have tuned into this blog.

Why? What were they looking for? Did they find what they were looking for? and how did they come across this blog?

The Blogosphere makes strange sitefellows.

Five sisters

Dancing down the dakinis
Kathmandu

People get excited (or maybe they are just being polite) when I tell them I am learning sacred Buddhist dance of the Newars. The actual classes are pretty mundane. It's like piano practice - not so much fun to watch.

Raju and I go up to the 7th floor rooftop terrace where the solar panels and newly-potted plants are kept. Invariably, someone has been partying up there so we have to sweep the concrete terrace of dust and cigarette butts. I wear black exercise pants and a black t-shirt. Raju wears street clothes (jeans and sweatshirts). The winter sun glares down on us, but in current temperatures (highs 64F) is welcome. In three months' time, we will be hiding from it.

On a relatively clear day, we can actually see snowcapped Himalayan mountains. Unfortunately, most days are hazey (even in winter) with pollution and we see only the green rolling hills of the valley.

From the 7th storey, Swayambhunath Temple on its legendary hill is clearly visible. So we turn toward Swayambhu's spires and recite the Padmanrtyeshwor prayer. I still haven't got this part down. In this part of the world, as in India, classes allow no time for warm-up exercises; you are expected to have already done that on your own.

If Raju has had time to stop by the ancient Patan Buddhist HQ, the Golden Temple (Kwa Bahal), he brings a pair of "tinchu" or ritual cymbals.

The strict sacred geometry of Kalakshetra-style Bharatanatyam is still (despite four or so years of running from it) in my muscles, brain and veins. It's kind of like having learned Hindi first, then trying to learn Nepali and constantly comparing Nepali to Hindi mentally.

In Charya, I'm supposed to emulate the watery, transitory Buddha nature of "anitya" (impermanence) as epitomised by the placid Buddha faces of local statues. Instead I keep overextended my legs and doing rigid mudras (hand gestures).

Everything in Charya is more rounded and feminine ("lasya"). And after six years of keeping my hips in a straight line centered over my feet, now I must shift them endlessly back and forth like waves of the ocean. My teacher, who is male, looks a great deal more feminine and gentle than I while dancing.

For now we are both content with the idea that "you're still memorizing the steps," but I will have to transition into more gracefully flowing movements.

There is a place for "tandava" (thunderous) movement in Charya -especially when depicting wrathful figures such as the Vajrayogini. Above is a photo of Lianne T. Hunt dancing the role.

The Vajrayogini is a sort of queen of the Dakinis. Last week I learnt four of her postures, all of which involve imbibing 'blood' from a 'skull-cup' and a lunging stance called "pratyalida." Most wrathful deities are always pictured in such a stance. These stances and postures can be seen dozens of times a day all over Kathmandu, in the windows of countless Thangka and statue shoppes.

Long before I came to Nepal or India, the Vajrayogini was in my life (found her in some book and the image really stayed with me). I have always felt the concept of Dakinis to be strangely familiar, and now am trying to learn more. Evidently everyone belongs to one of the "five families" of Dakinis which each relate to a particular klesha, or affliction. If you read this web page you will know about as much as I do. I have narrowed it down a bit, though- I am definitely not Padma. (Not enough interest in worldly things, for one.)


The drawing of Ratna Dakini is by Phyllis Glanville.

Lush life

Planted
Kathmandu

Always suspected this, but then I have a definite tendency toward idealizing the wild and remote. Now a study confims it....

Fifty-five percent of plants - that's a lot of greens that aren't just goat fodder.

[KATHMANDU] Nepal may have more plants of medicinal importance than previously estimated, according to new research

The researchers found that up to 55 per cent of plants in the region had medicinal value compared to an average of 21–28 per cent described in the articles. The study — published online in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine last month (2 December) — was supplemented by four field trips to the western districts of Nepal in 2006–2008, to verify the data.

You may know the Hindu myth (story, legend, Purana - don't beat me up for using the wrong word, please) about Hanuman going to the Himalayas to fetch a special herbal medicine for an ailing Lord Ram. When he couldn't locate the exact plant, Hanuman (with his incredible strength) lifted the entire mountain and carried it back to south India where Lord Ram was in battle.

The story is usually pictured with Hanuman ferrying the green gumdrop mountain in one hand, like a waiter with a tray of iced tea. (In the other hand he holds his mace.)

As though getting to the plants and getting them down from the mountains weren't challenge enough, the socio-political situation, with all the work and transport stoppages, in addition to lack of electricity, should make it near-impossible to get these plants from their homes down to the plains and do anything with them. The Abode Of Snows will hold its medicinal secrets a bit longer.

Had a cute picture of Hanuman and the mountain, but they're not adding today. ? Another Himalayan Mystery.

Graceland

Sixteen graces
Kathmandu

The available texts and source materials for Charya Nrtya are few. One given by my teacher, Raju Sakya of Nepal Dance Mandala, has Sanskrit text in Devanagiri script, as well as English translation; but strangely, no transliteration so that one can read the Sanskrit in English script. I say strangely, because the book's explanatory text is in English, and one must recite the Sanskrit lyrics in order to learn the dance.

Since I can read the Devanagiri, I decided to transliterate the lyrics. I haven't seen them written down anywhere else. Raju was quite delighted with my work and said "you must type up everything you have transliterated." I wonder if this is available elsewhere. With the state of traditional art forms in Nepal, perhaps not. Surely, the American students of the Portland (Oregon) Dance Mandal must have translated it in such a way, but it's not available elsewhere.

Anyway, the opening item everyone learns (after the Refuge Prayer, which Raju always calls the "Refugee Prayer" ) is the Sixteen Graces. Each item represents a principle as well as a manifest physical offering made to the gods during puja.

Om vajra vine hum....Lady of the Diamond Veena. (a veena is a sort of south Indian lute, related to the better- known north Indian sitar)

Om vajra banshe tra....Lady of the Diamond Flute. (a bansuri is the bamboo flute as played, for instance, by Lord Krishna)

Om vajra mridange hrin...Lady of the Diamond Drum. (Mridangam is the two-headed south Indian drum)

Om vajra muraje ah....(Muraje is a simple one-headed drum, like a snare)

Om vajra lasye hum...(Lasya literally means 'grace' but in this case indicates the Tin Chu, or simple cymbals used to keep time in the dance. In Bharatanatyam we called them Nattuvangam)

Om vajra male tra....(The mala is a garland of flowers. The same word, mala, is also used for a necklace of prayer beads)

Om vajra gite hrin....(Gite is song; in this case, the offering of sacred liturgical song or Charya Gita)

Om vajra nrtye ah....(nrtye is Dance itself.)

Om vajra pushpe hum....(pushpe is offering Flowers. The first Bharatanatyam item I ever learned was Pushpanjali, or flower offering)

Om vajra dhupe tra...(offering incense, or Dhoop)

Om vajravalokite hrin...(offering light; in India it is called Arati or removing darkness)

Om vajragandha ah....(offering perfume)

Om vajra darpane hum....(offering the mirror. This tradition has always intrigued me; mirrors are such a part of south Asian ritual but there are various explanations). First the mirror is shown to the audience, then the dancer looks into it herself with the Bhava of "Adbhutam" or Wonderment.


Om rasa vajra tra....(literally the "diamond taste." This is the classic Vajrayogini pose in which the dancer lifts the "skull cup," symbolically filled with blood, to her mouth)

Om sparse vajre hrin (the Diamond Touch. in this case, touching the Earth as in Bhumisparsa mudra)

Om dharmadhatu garbha ah. (the Diamond Womb-of-Mental-Events; this is shown by
"drawing" a circle with hands and feet. I do know that the Dharmadhatu Mandala is the basic mandala drawn ritually before any Newar house or building is established).

Translating and transliterating is always fun...but now it's time to go physically practice (spirit is willing, flesh can be weak).

Competitive spirit

If you participate in Flickr (the best photo-sharing service there is), log in now and go vote for my photo here.

My photo of the Tibetan nun protestors ("Snow lions of peace") is one of the final 10 selections for the Lonely Planet Publications challenge, "Events."

Thanks for playing!