Yesterday was an exciting day on Shangri-la lane and an informative cultural and religious experience for our little family. Our landlord and his wife held a Puja, a Hindu ritual. If you want more information on Pujas, check it out on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_(Hinduism)
This Puja was offered to bless and protect our building (hopefully from earthquakes!). The event lasted all day, and included a religious leader making offerings, chanting, and ringing bells at each level of the apartment. U was quite entranced by the religious man hammering this into our doorway:
After this process, there was a party. A BIG party. Arranged chairs, a colourful tent, a bar, two large food tables and probably about 60 guests piled into the courtyard of our little apartment complex. The food was traditional Newari (a tribe of Nepal) and consisted of such yummies as roasted soybeans, lentil donuts, various curries, fried fish, BBQ meat, chickpeas, and lots of other delicious delectables which I don't know the names for. Unfortunately it was dark and I didn't get any pictures, but here is a shot of us just before heading downstairs to the festivities.
We met many interesting folk including neighbours, relatives, a Nepali teacher and a few other foreigners from the neighbourhood. Of course, U was the star of the show until being the life of the party and getting passed around became a little too much for her and she went to bed, exhausted.
There was also the celebratory beverage, glasses being filled and refilled by elderly ladies - a homemade barley based alcohol that could probably blind a person. A few sips and I was practically cross-eyed...
Despite the abundance of hooch, the party, like most evening events in Kathmandu, ended quickly and all was quiet by 8:30pm. This morning all evidence had been cleaned up save for a tired-looking landlord. Oh, and U slept in an extra 2 hours...
This Puja was offered to bless and protect our building (hopefully from earthquakes!). The event lasted all day, and included a religious leader making offerings, chanting, and ringing bells at each level of the apartment. U was quite entranced by the religious man hammering this into our doorway:
After this process, there was a party. A BIG party. Arranged chairs, a colourful tent, a bar, two large food tables and probably about 60 guests piled into the courtyard of our little apartment complex. The food was traditional Newari (a tribe of Nepal) and consisted of such yummies as roasted soybeans, lentil donuts, various curries, fried fish, BBQ meat, chickpeas, and lots of other delicious delectables which I don't know the names for. Unfortunately it was dark and I didn't get any pictures, but here is a shot of us just before heading downstairs to the festivities.
We met many interesting folk including neighbours, relatives, a Nepali teacher and a few other foreigners from the neighbourhood. Of course, U was the star of the show until being the life of the party and getting passed around became a little too much for her and she went to bed, exhausted.
There was also the celebratory beverage, glasses being filled and refilled by elderly ladies - a homemade barley based alcohol that could probably blind a person. A few sips and I was practically cross-eyed...
Despite the abundance of hooch, the party, like most evening events in Kathmandu, ended quickly and all was quiet by 8:30pm. This morning all evidence had been cleaned up save for a tired-looking landlord. Oh, and U slept in an extra 2 hours...
I want hooch when we come...lol
ReplyDeleteHa! We'll be sure to stock up for you :-)
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