Bishwakarma puja -- preparations. Pix 1.

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

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Bishwakarma puja is held at BirGorkha about every six or eight weeks and it is a very religious day for them. There is no work to be done and the day is devoted to morning of puja and afternoon of social activities. Annually, a special Bishwakarma puja is held during which the kamis and any others participating nick themselves on the finger or thumb and incorporate their own blood into the ceremonies. The puja pix I'll be posting was not the annual affair.

top -- mama places incense at the doorways of the shop as an invitation to Sri Bishwakarma to enter.

center -- In typical sgt. style, Sgt. Karka barks, "Men, get this place clean and tidy. Sri Bishwakarma won't enter a dirty, filthy shop!" In his hand Sgt. Karka holds a dish of abir which he will judiciously place throughout the shop. Remember the greeting of the kamis? They did the same for me but I am in no way on the level of Sri Bishwakarma.

bottom -- tools and khukuris in progress are neatly placed against the wall.

more to follow

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Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
 
Very interesting information again, Uncle. Glad to hear that Kamis do take a regular break from work. Is Bishwakarma a Hindu god? What do they do in the afternoon social activities? I wonder if Sgt. Karka always wears uniform..
 
Bishwakarma is indeed a Hindu god.

Stay tuned for afternoon social activities. I'll get them up sooner or later.

After the initial clean up of the shop Sgt. Karka changes into civvies as you'll see.

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Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 03-15-2000).]
 
I realize that after TD's post that there may be others like myself that aren't quite clear on what happens on this day.I know it is a religious day but is compared to what a church service on Sunday would be to Christians? What happens during Puja ? Maybe you have explained this before and I just missed it.If so please just direct me to the thread. This is so interesting to me. I really enjoy all the pictures you post. Keep them comming.
 
Sandi, I think I'd liken this puja more to a special sort of prayer meeting than a Sunday service. I'll be posting a lot more pix and it will make more sense as we go along -- I hope.

The point I want to get across is this is a very religious gathering and is dead serious.
And as you'll see it has everything to do with khukuris.

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Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
 
Sandi, I just looked up our friend, Bishwakarma. He is said to be the spirit that "Welds"(in quotes because that is exactaly the way that I read it) The creative forces of heaven and earth together. He is the architect of the universe, and carpenter to the gods. He is the most highly revered among the caftsmen.

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"Clear a path for the Kukhri or it will clear one for itself"
 
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