Every year the Newa community celebrates Gathamuga also known as Gathemangal or Gathamuga Chahre or Ghantakarna Chaturdashi; which falls on Shrawan Krishna Chaturdashi (the 14th day of the waning moon in the Shrawan month).
The festival is considered as the day to keep one’s house or surroundings clean and perform rituals to ward off evil spirits. This year it fell on August 2.
On this day, people in various communities gather together to burn a straw effigy of a demon, Ghantakarna.
Here are five interesting stories about the Gathamuga festival.
Number one
It is said that in ancient times, the Kathmandu Valley saw a decline in the number of farmers working in the field. In one monsoon season, a group of people performed some tantric rituals and prayed for supernatural help. But, the demons who came to help needed a lot of food and started wreaking havoc in the village. So the villagers collectively chased the demons away to the river.
Now, at the end of the plantation season, the people performed the rituals to chase the evil spirits away from the house. In another version, people mark the day to thank the demons for their help.
In the heart of the city, there was a demon that was terrifying the residents there. The demon was known as Gathamuga or Ghantakarna for it wore a pair of bells dangling from its ears.
Number two
Another local version of the story famous in Itumbahal of Kathmandu also refers to the demon as Gurumappa. Because the demon was invited to the community and told to eat whatever was available on the roof of the houses, it started eating the children sleeping on the roof.
The people wanted to get rid of him and hence they prayed to the gods. As if hearing their prayers, a group of frogs came to the locality and then started croaking to irritate the demon. The demon ran after them and when the frogs jumped into a swamp, the demon followed and then drowned in the swamp itself. So, Gathamuga is celebrated as the day people got rid of the demon.
The frog, in another version of the same story, is believed to be a tantric who takes the form of a frog and saves people from the demon’s violence.
Based on this story, another festival byaa jaa nakegu (feeding rice to frogs) is also observed on the next full moon day where people offer frogs rice from their harvest. Others also offer panchamrit (five elements of elixir/nectar), flowers, kwati, and beans.
Number Three
In another story related to Gathamuga, the demon is considered a protector of the people. In this version, it has been renamed Sambar Bhairav, one of Lord Shiva’s warriors. Here, Gathamuga or Ghantakarna has been defined as a protector of the Kathmandu valley, who saves the inhabitants from tantric influences. And for that, the people worship him and offer him food he likes so that he continues to protect them. It is believed that the demon had died that day, and people performed all the funeral rites for him.
Number Four
In Bhaktapur, Gathamuga is not a demon but a man who sat at the crossroads and took money from the rich and gave it to the poor. When the rich people refused, he killed them. When the man died, he had bells hanging from his ears. Then, people collected money for his cremation as an acknowledgement of his work.
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