Mha Puja: Festival of Self Worship and Self Love

 

I adore Mha Puja.🙏🙏 It is the one festival where we purify our souls. Literally,Mha =Self and Puja= Worship interpreting the worship of one own self.💝💞 It teaches us the lesson to love yourself.💖❤️ We need to love, embrace and respect ourselves first to love, embrace and respect others. Those who doesn't love themselves fails to do the same for others.

 So it is customary to have a bit of self respect , self dignity and Self Love.🙂🙂 Mha Puja teaches us the same.Mha Puja is an annual Newari ritual in Nepal for celebrating one’s nature, purifying and empowering one’s soul. That's why it's one of my Favourites festivals so far. 💞💕

Mha Puja is one of the most important rituals in the Newar community. It is celebrated on the New Year's Day of Nepal Sambat.🎁🎁 Primarily Mha Puja is celebrated to enjoy the beginning of the New Year amongst the Newar community. 

Newars roam around their alleys and cities dressed in traditional attire. Men wear daura suruwal while women wear Hakupatasi.(a traditional black saree with red borders).

They roam with a slogan and rallies till mid-day.

History

Legend has it that, 1141years ago, a trader and a philanthropist, Sankadhar Sakhwa, declared his countrymen to be debt-free paying off all their debts himself. The Newars decided to mark a new beginning by commemorating a new era. Thus was born the Nepal Sambat (Nepal Era) ,the biggest festival of Newars. Nhu Dayah (the Newari New Year) falls during fourth day of Tihar, the “Festival of Lights”. 

Importance

For Newars, this day signifies the beginning of a new dawn. A new dawn that all Newars hope will bring good luck, fortune and more happiness in their lives. Newars celebrate this day by performing the Mha puja. It is a prayer ritual for their own health and wellbeing. They organize a rally in the morning and perform Mha Puja In the Twilight.

Nhu Dayah is that time of the year when Newars reflect on what they have achieved in the year gone by, and hope for a better one ahead in which their past mistakes will be forgiven and forgotten and they can make a fresh start in their lives.

The rituals usually being as the darkness of night sets in just after twilight. And then amidst the glimmering diyos the Mha Puja begins.

How is it celebrated?

It begins with mandaps being made on the ground for every individual member present in the family. The mandap is quite an intricate work of art designed with red and yellow colored vermilion powder with rice, wheat, marigold flowers, incense sticks laid around it. I really enjoy making Mandap. 😍😍

The ritual begins with the eldest female member of the house lighting the sacred lamp as a tribute to the gods. Then, each family member begins the process of worshipping and cleansing their own bodies and minds . The diyo is indispensable to the ritual. Made of cotton cloth dipped in oil so that it burns steadily, it symbolizes the individual’s life. In the dim, burning light ,each individual’s face lights up and the darkness is filled by the glow of the numerous diyos. The ritual ends with the shagun – each consisting of a boiled egg, dried fish, a piece of meat, ginger and woh which one has to finish before the diyo burns out.

Components:

Mandap:

The Mandap is Mha Puja’s most major part. The Mha Puja is usually performed on the floor near the dining hall or the buigal( kitchen floor).

The Mandap is a colorful form

decorated with paddy and rice, flowers, and Jajanka, while the heart is decorated with walnut and lamp coil.

Itaa simply means cotton lights woven by hand. Itaa is a sign of being bright and scented before each other. For the whole time puja is done, they keep light burned.

 Offerings is produced to a person during the Mha Puja. Dahi (Yogurt), is the first Sagun receiving the mix of rice, vermillion powder and yogurt from the family members. They receive a full boiled fried egg, dried fish, meat buff and aila as sagun. 

Fruits and Nuts

The people sitting by the Mandala will receive different types of fruits and nuts. The fruits and nuts represent a fruitful and creative life. Tashi, walnut, sugarcane, local chest, and many home-made sweets in various forms like a star, moon, etc. are part of fruits and nuts. 

Flowers

Mha Puja is a significant component of the flowers. Every member of the Puja has the flowers magnificently arranged into a garland. Different kinds of seasonal flowers are placed in front of the Mandap. The Newar calls them “gweswaan” and carries them around the neck. The worshipers placed a long and prosperous life around the garland.

Jajanka

The Jajanka is a cotton white thread. The Jajanka is a sign of patience and promotes the person to focus and trust, rather than cross the limits of oneself. Jajanka is also a description of the start and end combination. The Jajanka is about creating, maintaining and living.

 The head of the family pours the flowers, grains from the head of the worshiper. 

It is then the ritual ends with the arrangement of the feast. 

 Finally:

Each and every festival has its own significance. It teaches us some valuable life lessons. And it is important to include those life lessons in our daily lives. It surely does have great positive impact.😍🤗🙂

BY SANJITA NAPIT