The day that shook us all but taught us to stand strong

These snaps define my past 13 days since the day that shook the Nepalese, not merely shook the ground beneath our feet but shook our minds and hearts to the realization how vulnerable and valuable our lives are. Some of these pictures portray the aftermath of the quake- those heart wrenching sights of various areas from Basantapur to Indrayani to Balaju to Chogaun turned into rubble and many such places where most of us had at least once set a foot upon before this unfortunate hellish disaster. While some photos capture moments of how each of us contributed in our own little ways to pacify our disturbed hearts and minds caused by the Earthquake of “Bahattar Saal Baisakh Mahina Bara gatey around Bara baje making epicenter in Barpak area”! (A day that has been etched in our minds and the day that has indeed taught those who survived it that we lived through it for a reason and we need to justify it!)

As residents (including me) lived out in the air under tents after the series of after-schocks and tremors that followed.

              
                 A mobile toilet constructed. 

One of my friend in the cleaning campaign posing in front of the model mobile-toilet. 

 Girls on the rescue-run. My friends and me in the rescue team!

An unfortunate scene of a house in my neighborhood slanted sidewise due to the quake. 

My brother and me teamed up to distribute the relief items to the quake victims (mostly basic sanitation and food items.) 

          Happy to volunteer- my brother with a box of food ready for distribution to volunteers!

The land of Buddha-Nepal.

The 9 storeyed historical monument Dharahara collapsed

Thapathali turn-about temple collapsed and its valuable remaining excavated. 

 On the truck ride to an affected area with friends to observe and examine the situation

Spending some quality time with family after the unfortunate event and felling blessed to have them by my side.

  






One of my most favorite places- Basantapur Durbar Square turns into rubble...

  





Kudos to the cleaning team! (Note: My brother, taller than me, at my back, just loves to smile wide in all pictures! )

My friends and me packing and arranging clothes to get it ready for distribution. 

HOLI- A festival of colours and a festival of love

~To become a mother is to decide forever to have your heart walking outside your body~

 

 

Happy Valentines day! :)

 

 

Birth of Lord Buddha

 

 

 

This picture depicts the birth of Gautama Buddha, in a forest at Lumbini.The legend goes that directly after his birth, he made 7 steps on lotus flower and proclaimed that he would end suffering and attain supreme enlightenment in this life. The Buddha's mother (Mayadevi) is holding a branch of a tree for support during birth.

 A Buddhist myself and being much fascinated to the values, beliefs and practices of its settings, I sketched this picture in the Month of  Gunlā (Nepal Bhasa: गुंला) . Gunma is the tenth month in the Nepal Era lunar calendar; a holy month for Newar Buddhists when they recite the scriptures, observe fasts and visit places of worship playing devotional music. It is one of the most important events in Newar Buddhism.The practice of observing the sacred month is descended from the rains retreat dating from the Buddha's time when monks stayed in one place and taught the Dharma.

 

Playing Dice

King Jaya Prakash Malla and Goddess Taleju Bhawani playing Dice

 

It appears to have taken hold in Nepal in the 6th century.Jaya Prakash Malla, the last king of Kathmandu was a devotee of Goddess Taleju Bhawani, whose temple stands in Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal. According to legend, Taleju Bhawani used to come to Jaya Prakash in human form late at night to play tripasa (dice). But when she realized the king was having lewd thoughts about her, she stopped coming. The King understood what had happened and in repentance carried out purification rituals. Taleju Bhawani then came to him in a dream and told him she would never again appear to him in human form. Instead she ordered him to take a young girl from a Shakya clan, one who had the thirty two qualities and was prepubescent and establish her as the Goddess Kumari. This is now the tradition of Kumar started in Kathmandu during Maya Prakash Malls’s reign. This sketch of mine depicts the same story.

Eligible girls for Kumari are Buddhists from the Newar Shakya caste (the clan to which the Buddha belonged) of silver and goldsmiths. She must be in excellent health, never have shed blood or been afflicted by any diseases, be without blemish and must not have yet lost any teeth. Girls who pass these basic eligibility requirements are examined for the battis lakshanas, or 'thirty-two perfections' of a goddess. Some of these are poetically listed as such:

• A neck like a conch shell
• A body like a banyan tree
• Eyelashes like a cow
• Thighs like a deer
• Chest like a lion
• Voice soft and clear as a duck's

In addition to this, her hair and eyes should be very black, she should have dainty hands and feet, small and well-recessed sexual organs and a set of twenty teeth.The girl is also observed for signs of serenity and fearlessness.

As I came from Shakya clan, I was constantly asked by my friends, out of curiousity, as to what, how and why Kumari came into being and why was it that I did not become one! Henceforth, I decided to sketch one of such events relevant to Kumari and her origin.

 

 

 

 

Here we are at the threshold, ready to take a step to another stage

And years from now on, we may be miles apart

So these moments have been captured in our Marians' Echo page

As these times will be there, dwelling deep inside our heart...