nepal -hindu pilgrimage of muktinath

8/9/2019 Nepal -Hindu Pilgrimage of Muktinath

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The Hindu Pilgrimage to Muktinath, Nepal. Part 2. Vaishnava Devotees and StatusReaffirmationAuthor(s): Donald A. MesserschmidtSource: Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 9, No. 2 (May, 1989), pp. 105-118Published by: International Mountain SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3673474

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Mountain Research and Development,Vol. 9, No. 2, 1989, pp. 105-118

THE HINDUPILGRIMAGE O MUKTINATH,NEPAL. PART2.VAISHNAVADEVOTEESAND STATUS REAFFIRMATIONDONALD A. MESSERSCHMIDT

PROLOGUEPilgrimage to Muktinath on the Occasion ofJanai Purnima by Donald A. Messerschmidt(after the style of Chaucer's CanterburyTales)

When the sweet showersof Augustfall and shootdown through he monsoon andsto pierce the root,When also Vishnu Godwith his kind breathexhales an airin mountaingrove and heath,Whenfull the moon high flownin morning skysign of the boaris rising high,Then Hindus long to go afar,to shrines on pilgrimage,clearmind and body pressedin austerity, self-deniedas tyagi dressed;To sing kirtan, "ShriKrishna,Jai Narayan, Hail God!"and seek the strangerstrandsandfar-off saints to laud,hallowed by Damodar Himalwhere chakra round,rarefossil saligram,in Kali's earthabound.

And on and upto ancientSalagramagoon yatra journeyso tofeel and to knowthe blissful mukti of the Lord,Salvation there to givefor freeing all Mankindin sin who live.

Eachyear they've omethesefull scorethirty centuriespast,to sip the springs and bathein icy watersfast,to rise afreshand don anewtheirfaith,to stand in aweof Brahma'sthree-foldwraithoffire in earthand stone and waterglowwhich only one who seescan truly know.

It happened n that seasonon the waynear Kag, at Lonely Inn,whereinI lay,at night therecame intothat hostelrysome threeand twentyin a companyof Brahminfolk happeningthen to callin fellowship, and theywerepilgrims all.Theirgoal was Muktinath,ne'rshort tofallnorfail to do;Their quest,sight-vision of the Lord,prasad to take,the aith renew.

Terms:JanaiPurnima:alendricalriteof reaffirmation or caste Hindus; boar:an avatar of Vishnu; tyagi:pilgrimwho renouncespossessions, practicingself-denial; kirtan: ongs in praise to God; chakra: wheel-like fossil form, worshippedas Lord Vishnu; saligram: mmonite fossil; Salagrama: ancientname for Muktinath; Kali: the sacred Kali Gandaki River near Muktinath; mukti: alvation;prasad: ffering. Proper nouns and colloquial terms areNepali unless otherwise identified. Diacritical marks have been omitted due to the high cost of typesetting.


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106 / MOUNTAIN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT In this second paper the sociological dimensions of the Hindu pilgrimage to Muktinath are examined. In South Asia,the Hindu celebration of the Full Moon Festival (Janai Purnima)s an occasion when "twiceborn"(tagadhari)Brahminmen reaffirmtheir status of high caste by changing the sacred cord (janai). For this event, many Hindus go on pilgrimage to sacred places andpilgrimage to Muktinath, a high Himalayan shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu, Lord of Salvation, is especially auspiciousat this time.The event is described in its full sociological context, based on in-depth anthropological research and travels with Hindu devotees.RESUME Lepelerinageindoua Muktinath,Nepal. Deuxieme artie:Lesadeptes e Vaishnavat la reaffirmationu rang ocial. Ce deuxiemearticle examine les aspects sociologiques du pelerinage des Hindous a Muktinath. En Asie meridionale, la fete de la pleine lune (JanaiPurnima) onne l'occasion aux brahmanes males "regeneres" tagadhari) e reaffirmer eur rang de caste superieure en changeant lecordon sacre(janai). Pour cet evenement, beaucoup d'Hindous vont en pelerinagedans des lieux sacres, et le pelerinagea Muktinath,un lieu situehaut dans l'Himalayaet dedie au dieu Vichnou, dieu du salut, est particulierement avorablea cetteepoque. Cet evenementest decrit dans son contextesociologique ntegral,sur la base de recherchesanthropologiques pprofondies t de pelerinages n compagnied'Hindous.ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die HinduPilgerfahrtachMuktinath,Nepal. Teil2. Vaishnava laubige ndStandesbestitigung.n dieser 2. Studiewerden soziologische Auswirkungen einer Hindu Pilgerfahrt nach Muktinath untersucht. In Siidasien ist das Zelebrieren desVollmondfestes (Janai Purnima) ur "wiedergeborene" tagadhari)Brahmin Manner ein Anlai, ihre Stellung in der hohen Kaste zubestitigen, in dem sie die heilige Kordel austauschen (janai). Zu diesem Zweck pilgern viele Hindus zu heiligen Statten, und einePilgerfahrt nach Muktinath, ein hochgelegener Schrein im Himalaya, der dem Lord Vishnu, dem Lord der Errettung gewidmetist, ist zu diesem Zeitpunkt besonders gluckverheiiend. Sorgfaltige anthropologische Forschung und Reisen mit Hindu Glibigen

erlauben, das Ereignis in einem vollstandigen soziologischen Zusammenhang zu sehen.INTRODUCTION

Muktinath is a pilgrimage shrine high in the NepalHimalaya, near the border with Tibet. Its remote moun-tain location makes it accessible for only the hardiest ofdevotees. For Hindus, it is a shrine of Vishnu, Lord of Sal-vation, and of Brahma, the Creator. For Buddhists, it isa sacred site for devotees of Padmasambhava, the legendaryfounder of Lamaism or Tibetan Buddhism (MahayanaBuddhism). The shrine's fame dates from early times andextends throughout Asia. Each year it attracts the strongand the faithful from all over South Asia, the Nepal-Tibetborderlands (the bhot), and, as political conditions allow,from Tibet proper.Muktinath may have begun as a "nature shrine"(Preston, 1980:283) because of certain "miraculous" super-natural attributes, particularly the natural gas fires, ammo-nite fossils, and other natural features found here that areimportant to Asian religions. These are described in Part1, "Natural and Supernatural Attributes of the SacredField", this issue, pages 89-104. Its Hindu attributionsundoubtedly predate those of Buddhism for which it hasalso great sacred importance. In the Hindu literature it isrecorded as one of the principal sites on the "grand pil-grimage of India" dating back two thousand years to theTirtha Yatra(pilgrimage) section of the Mahabharata pic and,because it is noted in the classical Hindu literature, it fallsinto the category of an All-South Asian Shrine (Preston,1980:272). It annually attracts thousands of pilgrims, bothHindu and Buddhist.The research was conducted at a time of celebration forHindu pilgrims at Muktinath, on the occasion of the fullmoon of August-September, 1980. Hindus throughout thesubcontinent regularly celebrate the calendrical rite ofJanaiPurnima at this time, during the Nepali month of Bhadau(bhadra, Hindi). At the same time the Nepali-Tibetans, orBhotias, of the immediate locale celebrate a secular horsefestival or fair (mela) called Yartung (yartin, Tibetan).

Yartung falls on the full moon of the seventh month of theTibetan calendar, and signals the end (tung)of the monsoon(yar), a time when the horses are brought down out of thehigh summer pastures ahead of the coming winter snows.In 1980, both Janai Purnima and Yartung coincided-arare event. This study concentrates on the Hindu aspectsof the occasion.At this time over a thousand pilgrims and other visitorswere present at the Muktinath shrine and adjacent fair-grounds. With the heavy pressure of both sacred andsecular activity, the shrine and fairgrounds were crowdedwith Hindu caste pilgrims from Nepal and India, localBhotia villagers, Nepali ethnic villagers (nominally Hinduor Buddhist, but many of whom practice forms of animisticshamanism) from surrounding hill and mountain districts,a few Western tourists and trekkers, and the author's ownsmall party.August is the monsoon season; travel is difficult and dan-gerous. Hindu pilgrims must trek to Muktinath from thesouth, a trip that, at this time of year, typically takes severalweeks up from the central hills (pahar) and back;considerably longer from the lowlands (terai) and fromIndia (Figure 1). The pilgrim foot-track traverses the dif-ficult mountain terrain, wet and leech-infested forests, andraging rivers, directly through the main axis of the Hima-laya almost to the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Many pil-grims see the difficulties as a test for both body and soul,and hence the trip is a spiritually uplifting and meritoriousadventure. One sadhu(holy man) whom we met on the waydescribed it like this (from the author's field notes):

On the way (to Muktinath) we will suffer the wet forestand we will endurethewindstormand ragingrivers. Peoplewho come so far and bear these elements are fortunate, foronly they are able to see the beauty of it all. Lord Krishnaand Rama dwelledin the forestwhere they foundpeace andcontentment.Rama andKrishnaand otherrishimunis(sages)


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D. A. MESSERSCHMIDT107

who spent time in the forest have shown us the path lead-ing to peace and tranquility. They have shown us how toattain karmapurity) by going through all the suffering ofthe trip . . .

What is our obligationas human beings?If you go travel-ing like this your spiritwill become pure, your body clean,your mind calm, your wordssincere, yourjudgement clear.

THE PLACEMuktinath is located in northern Nepal on the westernslope of the Damodar (or Muktinath) Himal, at an eleva-tion of 3,800 m, directly north of Dhaulagiri, the world'sfifth highest mountain. On a clear day Dhaulagiri, the"WhiteMountain",affords he visitor to Muktinath a spec-tacular view against the southern sky. Its icy slopes andpyramid-shapeddome are all the more impressive underthe light of the full moon.The high arid landscape and the Tibetan Buddhist cul-tureand religionof Nepal'snorthernborderregioncontrastmarkedlywith the morehumid regionand the culturaland

religious predelictions of the central hills and the Paharipeople. For many of the orthodox Hindu pilgrims wend-ing their way north toward the sacred complex of Mukti-nath, the places and people met along the route throughthepaharo this Tibetanborderlandare, by andlarge, quiteforeign to them.Muktinath s a complexof temples, shrines,prayerwalls,springs,sacredtrees, and othernaturaland man-madefea-tures imbued with supernatural characteristics (see thisissue, pages 89-104). Some of the structuresin the com-plex reflectBuddhistdevotion and construction,and someHindu. Many are sacred to both religions.

There are altogether five major temples, or mandir(gompa, Nepali; from dgonpa,Tibetan), at Muktinath. Onebuilding, built in the Tibetan Buddhist style, is the so-called"Temple of the Miraculous Fire", orJwala Mai (fromjwala,flame, and mai, mother). This temple shelters natural gasfires burning from stone, earth, and water. It is a popular,sacred attraction to all pilgrims. Hindus believe that LordBrahma made an offering here by lighting the water afire,the miracle of Jwala Mai.The most important temple is the Vishnu Mandir, apagoda-like three-tiered structure topped with a gildedbrass pinnacle. Inside is an image of Vishnu (Lokeswarin the Buddhist pantheon). Central to this temple is a blackammonite fossil that is one of the natural features for whichMuktinath is so well known. Other images in this templeinclude the Hindu goddesses Lakshmi (goddess of fortuneand Vishnu's consort) and Saraswati (goddess of art andlearning and Brahma's wife), and the Garuda Bird(Vishnu's mount). A second pagoda-style Hindu templeis found slightly downhill from the Vishnu Mandir, butis in a state of general disrepair and disuse.

THE EVENTThe principal event of the Hindu pilgrimage researchat Muktinath was the August 1980 occasion of JanaiPurnima (orjanaipurni) meaning, literally, "thefull moonday (purnima) f the holy cord (janai)".Another name forJanai Purnima is Raksha Bandhan from the term for thestring, or an amulet or other protectiveband (raksha)hata Brahminpriestties (bandhan,rombandhnu,o tie) aroundthe wrist of the faithful of all castes when visiting theirhomes or when the people visit a temple or shrine on thisday. The sacred anai cord is worn over the left shoulder

and around the torso by men of the "twice-born", r tagad-haricategory of Hindu castes.On the occasion ofJanai Purnima, at religious sites allover South Asia, high caste Hindu men ritually changetheir sacred cord for a new one. It is considered highlymeritorious to visit sites of such great sanctity asMuktinath.The Hindu pilgrim, however, may be drivenby a desireto do more than change the sacred thread. The "highlydiversified motives of the pilgrims"have been remarked

upon (Bharati, 1963). The pilgrim may seek merit in travel-ling, in receiving "site vision" (darsan)of the deity, in atone-ment for a particular sin or lapse, in purification by bath-ing in sacred waters as well as to assure salvation by visit-ing a Vishnu shrine, to enhance one's chance for wealthand good fortune by worshipping at a shrine to the goddessLakshmi, and to enjoy a local fair (see Bharati, 1963, 1981).The religious observance ofJanai Purnima by orthodoxHindus follows a highly ritualized and strictly defined pur-pose and set of activities. The requirements include sacredrecitations, singing hari-kirtan (songs in praise of God),invoking the deity by taking darsan ("site vision" of thedeity), sharing prasad (an offering), bathing, shaving,cutting the nails, observing a partial fast, and applicationof the tika mark on the forehead of the devotee. However,major focus for these people is the changing of the sacredthread. This is the public reaffirmation of the individual'sstatus in terms of the Brahmanical code and of Hindusociety at large.

THE PILGRIMSThis study of Hindu pilgrim process was conducted atMuktinath and on the trail to and from the shrine. During

the researchwe observedand interviewed129 pilgrimmenand women. Sixteenof these fall into the categoriesof sadhu


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JAMMU&KASHMIR

5 TIBET

INDIA

BANGLADESH

FIGURE 1. Maps showing the origin of pilgrims to Muktinath during the period of the research. The numbers refer to the groupslisted in Table 1.

TABLE 1The origin and social identityof pilgrim groupsNo. Social IdentityNo.on Caste Ethnic Ascetic Sex Total inmap Place of origin group group type M F group RemarksA. FROM NEPAL by District (and Zone):1 Jhapa (Mechi) Brahmin 12 10 22

2 Saptari (Sagarmatha) Brahmin 4 17 Vaishnava cult; see also No. 14,belowMagar 23

3 Dang Deokuri (Rapati) Sadhu 1 -4 Accham (Seti) Brahmin 6 - 6 Includes 2 Jaisi-Brahmins (off-spring of Brahmin man andBrahmin widow)5 Jumla (Karnali) Brahmin 7 - Includes 4 Jaisi-Brahmins (off-spring of Brahmin man and

Chhetri (Kshyatriya) 2 - 9 Brahmin widow)6 Kathmandu (Bagmati) Brahmin 12 - 12 FromSankhu,outsideof KathmanduSadhu 1 - 1 From Kathmandu7 Bhaktapur (Bagmati) Chhetri (Kshyatriya) 1 1 2 Widow and adult son from Banepa8 Ramechhap (Janakpur) Brahmin 5 6Chhetri (Kshyatriya) 1 1 139 Palpa (Lumbini) Sadhu 1 - 1

10 Syangja (Gandaki) Thakuri 6- 611 Tanahu (Gandaki) Jogi 2 2 4 A unique ascetic caste group, fromcentral Nepal12 Gorkha (Gandaki) Sadhu 1 - 1Gurung, ? ? No precise data; approx. 10 peopleetc.


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TABLE 1 (continued)Social IdentityNo.on Caste Ethnic Ascetic Sex Total in

map Place of origin group group type M F group Remarks13 Kaski (Gandaki) Chhetri (Kshyatriya) 3 - 3 These three men carried misc.peddlers' goods (cigarettes, sweets,pens, paper, etc.) to sell at theMuktinath Fair, to pay for theirpilgrimage14 Parbat (Gandaki) Brahmin 3- 4Gurung ? ? No precise data; approx. 50 people16 Myagdi (Dhaulagiri) Brahmin 4 4 8 Includes 2 Jaisi-Brahmins (off-spring of Brahmin man andBrahmin widow)17 Manang (Gandaki) Bhotia ? ? No precise data; approx. 50 peoplefrom Bhotia villages in ManangDistrict18 Mustang (Dhaulagiri) Brahmin, Chhetri No precise data; approx. 1,000(Kshyatriya), & other ? ? Bhotia (Buddhist) from nearbyBhotia, ? ? villages; plus approx. 100 NepalThakali, gov't civil servants of mixed caste& other and ethnicity (mostly male) postedtemporarily to District offices atJomosom, one-half day walk southof Muktinath; plus several hundredNepal Army troops on maneuversB. FROM INDIA (by state):19 W. Bengal ? 2 - 2 Bengalis, from Calcutta20 Uttar Pradesh Sadhu 1 - 1 In 3rd year of 12-yearvow of silence21 Punjab Sadhu 1 - 122 Jammu Sadhu 1 - 1 In 7th year of 12-yearvow of silence23 Maharashtra Sadhu 1 - 1 From Bombay24 Andhra Pradesh Sadhu 1 - 1 From Hyderabad25 Madhya Pradesh Sadhu 1 - From Gwalior; these 2 Sadhus? Sadhu 1 - 2 travelled together26 Karnataka Sannyasin 1 - 1 From Bangalore; walked 6 monthsto reach Muktinath

and sannyasiand members of a Nepali non-celibate asceticcaste who call themselves jogi. The remaining 113 indi-viduals were distinguished from the larger crowd (over1,000 individuals; see Figure 1, Table 1) on the basis oftwo criteria. First, they were known to be devout Hindustravelling long distances to observe the occasion, andsecond, they were there for the principal reasons of wor-ship, to receive darsan of Vishnu and the other Hindudeities, and, for most of the men involved (at least 68, or53 %), to change theirjanai cords. We focused most of ourattentions on the pilgrim men and women of tagadhari astestatus.In Nepal, the highest castes are called tagadhari, iterally"wearers of the holy cord" (R. Turner, 1965: 277b; Hofer,

1979). Traditionally, the tagadharicastes of Nepal includethe following (by relative rank): Upadhyaya Brahmin,Rajput (Thakuri, the caste of the royal lineage), JaisiBrahmin (offspring of a Brahmin man and a Brahminwidow), Chetri (Kshatriya, the traditional warrior caste),Dew Bhaju (Newar Brahmin who traditionally served asroyal chaplains, teachers, and priests for other, higher casteNewars, the indigenous peoples of the Kathmandu valley),Indian Brahmin, ascetics (sannyasi,sadhu, andjogi), "lower"Jaisi, and various Newar castes. Ascetics normally do notwear the sacred cord; neither do women (Bennett, 1976,1983). The handspunjanai is worn by males of the uppercastes who have been invested as tagadhari in the pre-puberty ritual of bartaman(or bartabandha).t is believed that


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the first investiture of ajanai in antiquity was conductedon the full moon day of this monsoon month (Anderson,1971:93).Beneath the highest tagadhariategory are lesser statusbut relatively "pure" castes. These include Magars,Gurungs, and some other ethnic hill people. They arecalled namasinyamatwali n Nepali, meaning "non-enslav-able alcohol-drinkers"Hofer, 1979:45). Lower still are avariety of "impure" astes. (For the complete list, consultHofer, 1979:45, 46, and passim,after the MulukiAin, orLegal Code, of A.D. 1854.)Of the 129pilgrims n the study sample,a majority- 125individuals (97%)- were tagadhari f Brahmin, Chhetri,and Thakuri castes and the ascetic groups (see Table 2).They included 82 men and 43 women, but no children.The research focus on the highest castes was deliberate,to understandthe "purest"orm of Hindu pilgrimage. Ofthe remaining four individuals (3%), two were Magars (aNepali hill ethnic group) of matwali tatus, not privilegedto wear the holy cord, and two were Indian men ofunknown caste status. The Magars, a man and his wife,were part of an otherwise all Brahmin pilgrim party ofVaisnavas(devoteesof LordVishnu) froman easternTerai(lowland) district bordering India.The majorityof people presentat MuktinathduringtheJanai Purnima festival, however, were not tagadhariHindus. Most, in fact, were members of othernon-tagadharicastes and Nepali ethnic groups. Their presence and par-ticipation appearedto have less to do with the specific actof being at a holy pilgrimage site to worship any Hinduor Buddhistdeity and more to do with enjoyingthe accom-panying Bhotia fair, the Yartung. Most, if not all of thesepeople, however, paid the requisite visit to the centraltemple, and bathed in the sacred spring waters.While literallyhundreds of other Hindus and Buddhistswere present, the vast majorityof them were of the ethnicgroups of Gurung, Thakali, Bhotia (local Tibetan), andothers, mostly matwali alcohol drinkers)who occupy themiddle and lower range of the Nepali caste system. (Notethat in the Nepali system, all human groups are accordeda caste identity, including non-Hindus such asEuro-Americanswho are "impure"but "touchable".)Theresearchsample did not include caste people of the classicnorth Indian Vaisya or Shudra categories. The only "un-touchables"presentweretailors(Damai) who are residentsof nearby Bhotia villages. They served as drummers,hail-ing the arrival of large partiesof mounted Bhotia villagersand monks to the horse fair. These monks and other Bhotiadignitariesperformedcertain rituals at the shrine,with cir-

TABLE 2Social identityof pilgrim informants n = 129)

~Sex~ % ofNational Total totalorigin Social identity M F number sample

Nepal Brahmin caste' 55 39 94 73.0Nepal Chhetri caste'(Kshyatriya) 7 2 9 6.9Nepal Thakuri caste1 6 - 6 4.7Nepal Jogi (asceticcaste)1 2 2 4 3.1India Bengali (casteunknown) 2 - 2 1.5Nepal Magar (ethnicgroup)2 1 1 2 1.5Nepal Sadhu ("holyman") (religiousascetic) 4 - 4 3.1India Sadhu ("holyman") (religiousascetic) 7 - 7 5.4India Sannyasi (layascetic) 1 - 1 0.885 44 129 100.0

(66%) (34%)'The Brahmin, Chhetri, Thakuri, andJogi castesof Nepal (and someothers) are considered in the first order of Nepalese caste, as tagadhari("wearersof the holy cord").2TheMagarethnicgroup(as well as Gurung, some Newar, and others)are considered in the second order of Nepalese caste, as matwali("alcohol-drinkers").

cumambulations in the typical Tibetan Buddhist fashionand invoking the Lamaist deities of the place, all accord-ing to prescribedritual.By andlarge, however,the Bhotiaswere there to enjoy the secular events of the fair, as dis-tinct from the sacred.The Nepalismake a cleardistinction between the sacredand the secularkindsof pilgrimageevents. Going to a fes-tival, fair, or public pageant is calledjatra ane (festivalgoing), while going on a sacredpilgrimage ourney isyatrajane (pilgrimagejourney going, as in tirtha-yatra,he termfor a long religious pilgrimage) (Gurung, 1981:31). Theprofaneand hedonisticenjoymentofjatra althoughall suchfestivals have some religious attachment in Nepal) standsin contrast with the more sacred and sober aspects of theyatra.

THE REAFFIRMATION OF STATUSThe central ritual ofJanai Purnima is the changing ofthe sacredcord. This act and the perpetualwearing of thejanai by adult tagadharimen are visual and public declara-tions of the highest, purest, most sacred status in SouthAsian Hindu society. Furthermore, it was observed thatthe socialprocessof goingon pilgrimage or thisevent, withits forced meeting and mixing of peoples of a variety of

caste statuses, presents a unique challenge to the mainte-nance of traditional tructured,orthodoxrelationships, .e.,to the purity of thejanai-wearingindividual. The overallsocialand physicalenvironment of the pilgrimageto Muk-tinath forces orthodox pilgrims to negotiate purposefullyand carefullythrougha variety of potentially defiling andcontradictorycircumstances. The data demonstrate how


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the challenge is met, and how temptation and uncertaintyare handled by pilgrims bent on maintaining their ritualpurityand social sanctitywhile approachingthe mountainshrine.Hindu castesocietyhas been describedas a formof socialstructure that produces"distanceand inequality"betweenpeople. The opposite of structure, sometimes called anti-structure, s definedas that which"tends o ignore, reverse,cut across, or occur outside of structural relationships".Whereas structure"holdspeople apart, defines their dif-ferences, and constrains their action", anti-structure isessentially egalitarian, "representing he desire for a total,unmediated [i.e., unstructured] realtionship betweenperson and person"(V. Turner, 1974a:272-274).Structure,so stated, defines the orthodox Hindu'severy-day social ife, depicted by highly regularizedand ritualizedbehaviour. The tagadhari indu is expectedto wearthejanaicord and to performits elaborate renewal ceremony eachyear. By so doing, he signalsto othershis high ritual statusand purity. But as he encounters situationsof potentialandunavoidable defilement, what Gennep (1960) and Turner(1974a) would call liminal experiences, being outside ofwhat is normal and regular, the tagadhariypically signalsthe changed circumstanceby looping thejanaitemporarilyover his left ear, or by removing it altogether. By so doing,he figuratively steps out of the highly structured role thatdefines his normal distance from impurity. While suchbehaviour may appear s anti-structural,as an abrogationof the rules, it is better interpretedas another example offollowingthe rules to keep the caste, i.e., an example of aruleor breakingherules.Liminalexperiences n which such behaviourmay occurinclude defecation and being forced, by whatever circum-stances, to associate with something or someone defilingand impure. A rite such as pilgrimage is also liminal tothe orthodox Hindu's normal daily life. It puts the indi-vidual into a condition of life that is "betwixtand betweenthe categories of ordinary (structured) social life" (V.Turner, 1974a:273), that includes potential exposure toimpurity. During such periods a relaxing of the rules anda lenient approachto social interactionsmay occur in waysthat defy normal structure.Turnercalls this "communitas" nd defines it as a stateof "undifferentiated, equalitarian, direct, extant, non-rational, existential, I-Thou . . . relationships"(1974a:274). In his view the temporaryexpression of social free-dom and interchange is an expression of communitas. Inshort-in Hindu society, communitas bridges what casteseparates.Typically after a long pilgrimagejourney, a cleansingritual is performed in conjunction with a tirthabojh pil-grimage feast) held on returnof the traveller. This servesas a rite of reintegration back into normal social life, anelaborate social statement of rehabilitationand reinstate-ment back into one's kin and commensal group. It is de-signedto overcomeand absolve the pilgrimfrom all degra-dations (and broken rules) that he or she may have suf-fered while away and thus concludes the pilgrimageexperience.There is no question that liminality is experienced on

pilgrimage,but whethertrue andunequivocalcommunitastakesplace is debatable. While rituals of reintegrationmayallow for lapses in observing the rules during pilgrimage,it is my contention that orthodoxHindus do not seekabro-gation or communitas relationships that defy the regularrules. Rather, they tend to keep caste by moretrictly bserv-ing the rules han usual.The rules of commensality (what is edible and inedible,and of what is acceptableand unacceptable from variouscategories of human beings), of physical contact (from amere touch to sexualintercourse),and of temporalandper-sonalimpurity suchas childbirthand mourning)are elabo-ratelydescribed for caste Hindus in Nepal'sold legal code,the MulukiAinof A.D. 1854 (Hofer, 1979). This particu-lar version of the Nepali code (there are many versions)best reflects orthodox norms of behaviour. The old codebears the strong imprint of the ancient LawsofManu(theManuSmrti),promulgatedcenturies earlierto guide Hinducaste behaviour (Manu Samhita, 1909; see also Dutt,1931).The modern aw of theland has undergonemany permu-tations since 1854. It now containsphraseology hat deniesmost aspects of caste structure and social distinction. Butin the highly chargedatmosphereof a religiouspilgrimageand of the ritual performancesprescribedfor such publicevents, devout Hindus tend to act in accordancewith theolder, more orthodox tradition.Duringthe arduous rekto and fromthe mountainshrineof Muktinath, and at the shrineitself on the auspiciousfullmoon day, we recorded numerous conversations, inter-views, and observationsof socialand ritualbehaviour.Theabnormaland liminal experienceof pilgrimageevents, forboth individuals and groups, is quite evident in the data.We found, during the course of the research, that we,ourselves, were being incorporated at various levels ofcaste, hencesubject o the rulesof ourorthodox nformants.It is not altogether clear to what extent our presence andour inquiriesaffected heiractions and behaviour.The rela-tive caste statusof the author'sresearchpartyvis-a-vis themost orthodox of the pilgrims should be explained, sinceit had an obvious effect on some interpersonalrelations,and hence on the data. In orthodox Nepali Hindu tradi-tion, all categoriesof human groups are placed on a hier-archical scale. Precise locations vis-a-vis other castes arenot alwaysclear, but relativestatus betweenEgo and Alteris quickly identifiable. By traditional reckoning (i.e.,accordingto the legal code of 1854), the author, as a non-Hindu Westerner, is considered mlechha, f "impure"but"touchable" tatus (Hofer, 1979:45). It is a status barelyabove untouchable and is a cover categoryforvirtuallyallforeigners and non-Hindus including Nepali and IndianMuslims. The associate researcher (J. D. Sharma) is aNepali Brahmin, but his demeanour and dress apparentlyconfusedsome individualswho mistook him fora foreignerat times. (Even the checkpostpolice, who keeptrackof for-eign trekkers,doubted that he was a Nepali.) By the timewe and the pilgrims had arrivedat Muktinath, however,he seemed to be accepted as a high caste Hindu, albeit acosmopolitanone, and suspectedof beingunorthodox.Ourhiredhelp, a Sherpa guide-cookand two Gurung porters,


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Hindu pilgrims from lowland Nepaland India approaching Muktinathshrine through fog and snow; Dzarkotvillage and fortress ruins in the back-ground; view looking westward in theupperJhong (Muktinath) rivervalley.

Dzarkot viewed from the pilgrim trailapproachingfrom the west and lookingeastward up the valley. The sacredgrove and Muktinath shrine can beseen (just barely) slightly above thecentre of Dzarkot, in the background.In the foregroundis a sacred Buddhistmonument (chorten).

Mustang trader with yak crossbreedpack animal, in the valley of the upperKali Gandaki river near Kagbeni, onpilgrim trail to Muktinath shrine.

" ???~~~~~~~~~~,M ?.,:........~~~~~~~~..~?. :"',~ :::.'.'~':: ,"'.?...~.:.!.-(i~.': :1'.:~ : . .... ??r?? ?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r. ???:*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,,.:,-''.'... ?,-,,-'~??:?r?,:~.-%:.,:." . . ...... .. ::aml::, . ...~~,:~ ~ r . . .' :.?.~,"~%.' .*:-- ~, ....?:iJ:-~....~? $' ~ ?i~~~~~~~~~~,,.:~'%~:. :'?:.. ...:.'~~:'??~~~~~~~~~:"~ ~ ~~ ~?? ~~~~~00MR:~~~~~~~~~~~??i


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A pious Brahmin couple recitingprayers from a sacred text in the sunat one corner of the Muktinath shrinecourtyard, adjacent to the Vishnutemple.

Six Bhotia women in theirfineryon thetrail between Kagbeni and Muktinath,in the valley of the upper Kali Gandakiand tributary Jhong rivers of Nepal.

Two of the fourpahari "hill")Brahminswith whom the author travelled, cross-ing a silty glacial stream on the pilgrimtrail through the Thak Khola regionalong the upperKali Gandakiriver, ontheir way north to Muktinath.

*' : : : ?: : : ...... e .. : : :

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were of the middle range of matwali"alcohol-drinking"castes. Their role vis-a-vis the pilgrims (as well as that ofseveral American university students accompanying us)was almost negligible. The significanceof the researchers'caste standings should not be overemphasized, however,as in most instances in modern Nepali society the statusof outsidersis of little consequence. There were occasions,however, when we unwittingly came close to breachingorthodox propriety, and the actions and statementsof ourinformants at such times made it clear that we wereassumed to be of unequal (i.e., lower) standing.The overallimpressiongainedfrom the data, in the nineselectedexamplesthat follow, is one of more conformitytostructure than to anti-structure. This was not entirelyunexpected, giventhe nature of the pilgrimage.The follow-ing examples are taken from the author's field notes.EXAMPLE 1 Not infrequently we observed high caste pil-grims studiously avoiding the touch of lower caste indi-viduals. On one such occasion, while crossing a narrowbridge,a Brahminwomanwasvisiblydistraughtat the pos-sibility of having to touch a passing Buddhistwhose meretouch would have been particularly defiling. She wentuncomfortably out of her way to let him pass.

Among the most telling incidents were those attemptsby devout pilgrims to maintain distance and detachmentfrom potential defilement. They occurred at and near theMuktinath shrine on the sacred full moon day.EXAMPLE2 Several pilgrim parties had camped out in thepilgrimresthouses(dharamsala)vernightin orderto assuretheir presencenear the centre of the sacred site at the aus-piciousmoment of dawn onJanai Purnimaday. There waslittle visiting between groups. During the morning ritualsand ablutionsthe members of eachhighcaste pilgrimpartykept a discreet distance from the others (to the degree thatthe crowded conditions and general milling of so manypeople allowed). In contrast, numerous parties of lowercastes and ethnic groups chatted and milled about re-acquainting themselves with old friends and making newones. But even they became aloof and distant at momentsof intense personal ritual activity.EXAMPLE The fine line of distinction between thosepresent at Muktinath on the full moon occasion who par-ticipated in both yatra and jatra events, and those whoobserved only the former (the sacred) and studiouslyavoidedthe latter(the profane)was clear. Devout Hindus,bent on observing Janai Purnima as a sacred occasionshrouded n its myriadprescribedrituals,did not enterintothe festive spirit of the accompanying fair, horse races,drinking, dancing, gambling, and general carousing sotypicalof a Tibetan fair.Rather, their intentwas to observeand partake only of the socially important reaffirmationof caste rituals. It was they, and the processof participat-ing in theyatraevents, that were the focus of most of ourattentions.

As the morning wore on, one by one the orthodox pil-grim partiesand individualsbegan to leave the sacredsite,

their rituals concluded. One half mile below the shrine,the fair was just beginning, at a site straddlingthe maintrail down the mountain. As each tagadhariHindu ap-proachedthe fairgrounds,he or she veered right or left toleave the trail. Several pilgrimswent quite far out of theirway, along a steep hillside above the main trail, in orderto totally avoid the festive crowd and its rowdy, profaneatmosphere.The earthysentimentsof a sadhu evealswhatmany pilgrims must have felt there: "Wego to Muktinathforpilgrimage,"he said, "toreceivedarsan f God. We don'tgo for the fair (mela).Darsandoesn't happen at a fair. Atthe fair there is only cow shit and horse shit, mostly horseshit. And it is crowded; there is no place to stay."Such sentiments express an ideal state of affairs, punc-tuated by strict avoidance of potentially defiling anddemonstrably profane activities, peoples, events.Occasional lapses of proper inter- and intra-caste eti-quette did occur, however. Some were observed in reac-

tion to our own (at times unavoidably imposing) presenceamong the pilgrims. Some were documented in circum-stanceswhereourinformantswere unawareof ourpresenceor where our presencewas irrelevant.These were instanceswhen we found the pilgrimstalking among themselves orwhere they encountered other pilgrims not unlikethemselves.EXAMPLE 4 While traveling one day in the company ofa large pilgrim group, mostly Brahmins(Table 1, Group2), we overheardthe womenfolktalking. One woman sug-gested that they should purchasehuskedrice in one of thetowns along the route. Another voiced concern over whowould carry it. An argument brokeout, and was stoppedonly after a third woman intervened. "Weare all in thistogether,"she said, "andwe should stay as one group andnot quarrel about who buys rice or who carries it."

Relationships involving food seemed to be particularlytroublesome to the more orthodox pilgrims.EXAMPLE On another day, after recording interviewswith two separateBrahminpilgrim partieson the trail, theassociateresearcher,a NepaliBrahmin,triedto reciprocateby donating some fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables,and some prepared ea froman inn alongthe trailside.Thetea was flatly refusedby both groups, on the groundsthatdrinkingit would violate the strictprohibition against eat-ing what has been cookedby someoneof a non-commensalcaste.

Only on one occasion was uncooked food accepted byone of our Brahmin informants.EXAMPLE The leader of a large Brahmin party (Table1, Group 2, see also Frontispiece photograph), a manwhom his fellow pilgrims called the "Mahatma" saintlyone), was encountered alone, out of sight of the rest of hisfellowpilgrims,negotiatingthe purchaseof freshcornfroma Brahmin farmer. After a lengthy interview with us, weoffered (by way of reciprocity) to buy the corn for him.


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Hindu man on the pilgrim trail through the sacred poplar treegrove of Muktinath. Several local Bhotia women are seen nearthe trees at the back (right).

At first the Mahatma refused, but on second thought heaccepted our offer, stuffed the corn into his pack andhurried off up the trail to rejoin his party. We do not knowwhat he told them about our part in the purchase - if any-thing. Given similar circumstances when our offers wereunequivocally refused, however, we felt that his behaviourwas out of character with the strict code of austerity andrenunciation which orthodox Brahmins typically displayon pilgrimage.

That renunciation behaviour was clearly displayed in thefollowing incident involving a small party of Brahmin pil-grims (Table 1, Group 15).EXAMPLE 7 We had just concluded a tape recorded inter-view by the side of the trail when an itinerant Thakali applepeddler happened by. We bought some apples for our-selves, and offered a few to the leader of the pilgrim party.He absolutely refused, with this strong statement about theimpropriety of the act: "You are offering me this apple, butI don't want it," he said with conviction. "And in similarfashion I will refuse anything that anyone gives me. Evenif you offered jewelry (juharat), I would reject it. Why don'tI want it? Because I am tyagi (literally a 'renouncer', onewho practices strict austerity, rejecting material things, andavoiding sin). Now you rich, rich people from Americahave come over here. You buy this and that and offer usthings. If we take them and put them in our pack, thenwhat are we? Are we here to earn money? No! Whatever

is written as our lot (or fate, byagya), that is what we haveto go on. We must pray to God, and we must not sin."Under certain circumstances, however, a more openrelationship to other caste persons, like ourselves, waswitnessed.

EXAMPLE One day after we had helped the Mahatmaand his party through a particularly dangerous river cross-ing (with more moral support than physical assistance,however), the womenfolk of the party encouraged us to jointhem that evening in the singing of hari-kirtan, hymns ofpraise to Lord Krishna. We did so, and were offered placesto sit next to the men and women of the group on theThakali house porch where they were spending the night.The event was staged late in the evening, long after theyhad taken their evening meal (in strict privacy), and theabsence of food made our presence less intrusive in theritual sense.There was no likelihood that we could have been invitedto participate, nor did they want us to observe them dur-ing meals. When, occasionally, we happened upon themeating, they would turn their backs to us or otherwise signalthat our close presence was unwanted. We were careful tooblige, out of respect for the ritual sanctity of theirmealtime.

EXAMPLE 9 Another time, at a point two days' walk belowMuktinath, an elderly man and a frail elderly woman inthe same party of Brahmins took seriously ill. The entiregroup was visibly shaken by this bad omen and by thegroups' delay that their illnesses caused. The followingevents brought this large group quite close together, toendure their troubles. The group leader, the Mahatma,was urged to arrange for porters to carry the sick the lasttwo days to the shrine. But the following day, the ill pil-grims were placed in the care of the district hospital,instead, and the group divided into two parts.The Mahatma and several helpers stayed behind todecide what to do with their ill companions. The largerparty trudged on through the dark to an inn near Kag-beni where they had planned to stay the night. If muchdelayed, they risked getting behind schedule and missingtheir planned performance of sraddhaobsequies at Kagbeniand the auspicious dawning moment of the full moon dayat the Vishnu temple of Muktinath.The pilgrims arrived late that night, exhausted and cold,at a lonely Bhotia inn a few miles short of Kagbeni. Ourown party and other travellers had already crowded intothe dingy little inn. A yak had been slaughtered earlier inthe day, and fresh meat was hanging to dry from therafters. The inn reeked of fresh blood, and the acrid smokefrom the fire stung our eyes. It was no better outside, wherea biting cold wind howled along the river course. The innwas dark, dirty, and for an orthodox tagadhariHindu, aplace of great defilement. (Yaks are considered as beef,hence sacred to Hindus as a form of Lord Vishnu himself.Killing a yak, like killing a cow, is considered an un-pardonable act of great sin.) The Brahmins huddled out


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of the wind in the inn's outer doorway, unwilling to enterfurther. There they ate a simple meal of dried bread anduncooked snacks, and there they slept, bundled togetherfor warmth, avoiding the looks and touch of others whostayed inside that night.It was obvious that members of this advanceparty wereupset at being separatedfrom the other members of theirparty, including their leader, who stayed behind to takecare of their sick brethren. When, in the early morninghours of the following day, the Mahatma and his helpersrejoinedthem, there was considerablerelief and rejoicingas the reunitedgroupcontinuedonward toward their goal.

So far, we have describedsome examplesof communitasamong the members of one status group, and several ex-amples of non-communitas behaviour between people ofunequal caste status. We still anticipated finding com-munitas manifest between groupsof roughly equal status,such as between partiesof Brahmin pilgrims. The follow-ing example negated that expectation.EXAMPLE10 Throughoutthe researchtripwe were espe-cially interested in two rather typical tagadhari ilgrimparties, one fromthe Pahar and one, led by the Mahatma,from Nepal's far eastern Terai lowlands adjacentto India(Table 2, Groups 15 and 2, respectively).The Teraigroupnumberedtwenty-three ndividuals(21Brahmins and 2 Magars) and an additional three porters(Pahari Brahmins).This groupwas, by outwardsign(ritualdecoration)and their own definition,a Vaisnavadevotionalgroup (bhakta). n dress and demeanour, they displayedconsiderable means and sophistication.

By comparison, the Pahari group from the hills num-bered four Brahmins (two elderly married couples), andin contrastwere quite plain, poor, and unsophisticatedinappearance. They wore simple garb, carried all of theirown supplies, and displayedno decorationsindicating anydevotional cult. Given their hill Nepali identity, theirsamesacred quest, and their similar ritual status as men and

women of the tagadhari rahmin caste, we expected thatif anywhere, it would be between these two groups thatwe might witness communitas and camaraderie. Instead,we found that social structure was heightened, notdiminished, between them.The Pahari(hill) Brahminswere of the highest tagadharistatus, Upadhyaya, at the very pinnacle of Nepali castestatus. But it was quite clear on several occasions alongthe trail that they were disdainful toward their fellowtravellerswhom they classified as Brahmins "fromIndia"(i.e., the Nepal Terai lowlands), hence of inferior status.The economic class differencesbetween them -the Teraigroup being obviously wealthy in contrast to their ownpoverty- only highlighted the already existing structuralboundaries between them.One morningwe encountered the wealthyTeraiHindusperformingtheir daily devotions and ablutions alongsidea stream near the trail. They concluded their ritual bathby decoratingtheir foreheadswith the V-shaped colouredtika marks of sandalwood paste that identify Vaisnavadevotees. A short while later we met the smaller, poorergroup of Pahari pilgrims whose spokesmanmade the fol-lowing observations about the Terai pilgrims:

Onecannot ee he truth.The wholeuniverse s truth,andBrahma,VishnuandMaheshLordShiva) ame ntobeingto create helivinguniverse ut of truth.TherearepeoplewhoworshipVishnu,andsomewhoworshipShiva.Thosewho wear the white tikaareVaisnavas ... We can also putontika, utonceyouputonthat ortof tika oumustbecometyagi(a renouncer,self-denying,unselfish).When onebecomesyagi, eleaveseverything ndwalksnakedbeforeGod,withoutgreed lobh).. Those othersareVaisnavasinnameandtika nly.Theyhaveporters, ndwe willhavenothing odowithsuchostentatiousuxury sokh)stheirs!This hill Brahminand his three companions steadfastlyavoided the larger Terai group, and as these criticalremarks suggest, the former had only contempt for thelatter.

SUMMARYMuch has been made of structure" nd "anti-structure","communitas"and "liminality"n the context of religiouspilgrimage (for example, in V. Turner, 1974a, 1974b;Turnerand Turner, 1978). These are useful concepts, butsome observers have questionedtheirefficacyin particularinstances. Our purpose here is not so much to refute theTurnerhypotheses but to look at the Muktinath examplefroma differentperspective,one that elucidates he structure-affirmingspectsof orthodoxHindu pilgrimage(cf. Pfaffen-berger, 1979).It is ourhypothesis hatthebehaviourof tagadhari indusengaged in religiouspilgrimage activity on the occasion ofJanai Purnima at Muktinath is in conformity with thenormal strictures on caste, and that the pilgrimage eventis a social arena in which caste status-both for the indi-vidual devotees and for Hinduism in general-is high-lighted, emphasized, and reaffirmed.

Clearly, somethingmore profoundthan friendlinessandcommunitasmotivates these pilgrims. And, likewise, theygo to Muktinathformore than adventureor for fun. Theirquest is notjatra,a fair, butyatra,a sacredexperience.Thedevout pilgrim'sprimaryobjectivefor going to Muktinath,or to anyHindu shrine, is to do worshipand receivedarsanof God. In the particularcase of Muktinath, the arduoustaskof travelling o the holy site and theobservanceof strictpersonal austerity on the way makes it very special. Thefact of being there on the doubly ostentatious occasion ofJanai Purnima makes it all the more important.Its importance is both specific (to the individual) andgeneral(to the society).At the humanlevel, the ceremonialact of a tagadhariman changing his janai represents theaffirmationof the highest possible social and ritual status.It is, then, an actof supremesuper-structurenot anti-struc-ture). At the social level, the entire pilgrimage is funda-


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mentally structure-affirming. It is a lengthy and elaborateevent that reconfirms and highlights Brahminism as awhole.The behaviour of the pilgrims we encountered reflectsthe structure of the Brahmanical order and ethos. Thezealous Hindu engaged in tirtha-yatrapilgrimage), does hisor her best to follow the strict rules of interpersonal asso-ciation and commensality, and to maintain the well-definedbounds of orthodox caste propriety while engaged in thesacred quest. The sincerely orthodox devotee would notdeliberately go out of his way to seek interpersonal rela-tionships that might abrogate the rules or seriouslyendanger his social or ritual status. Rather, a pilgrimageis entered into in order to highlight and more fully con-firm one's relationship to God and to one's fellow humanbeings.

Similarly, Christians on pilgrimage or on a retreat maybe expected to behave in ways that reflect and uphold theinherent principles of egalitarian social relations so deeplyembedded in the Christian ethic. Likewise, the sincereMuslim should be expected to act while on Hadj in accord-ance with the precepts of Islamic brotherhood. Other ex-amples could be cited. The point is that in each case thepilgrimage represents a structure-affirming experience, onethat highlights the inherent principles of the host religion.The Hindu pilgrimage may be viewed, therefore, as anenhanced or encapsulated image of Brahmanical societyin which structure-affirming behaviour is expected, is thenorm.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSMy first pilgrimage to Muktinath took place in the earlywinter of 1964, when I and a companion circumambulatedthe Annapurna massif via Thak Khola and Thorung Pass.The principal research on the symbolic features and socialanthropology of Hindu pilgrimage was conducted in 1980,at the time of the Hindu Full Moon Festival of JanaiPurnima. That research was principally funded by theNational Geographic Society Committee on Research andExploration (Grant No. 2139-80), with other assistance re-ceived from the E. O. Holland Fund of Washington StateUniversity. Further research was conducted during sev-eral visits to the shrine during the early 1980s, culminating

with the Spring Festival of Chait Dasain (Dashahara) ofApril 1984.I am indebted to many people who assisted at variousstages of travel, research, data analysis, and writeup,

REFERENCESAnderson, M. M., 1971: TheFestivals f Nepal. George Allen &Unwin, London.Arkell,W.J., 1956:JurassicGeologyfthe World.Oliver and Boyd,Edinburgh and London.Basham, A. L., 1954: The Wonderhatwas India.Macmillan, NewYork.Bennett, L., 1976: Wives of the Rishis: an analysis of the Tij-Rishi Panchami women's festival. Kailash A JournalofHima-layanStudies Kathmandu), 4(2): 185-207., 1983: DangerousWivesand Sacred isters:SocialandSym-bolicRolesofHigh CasteWomenn Nepal.Columbia UniversityPress, New York.Bharati, A., 1963: Pilgrimage in the Indian tradition. HistoryofReligions,3: 135-167., 1981: Theoretical perspectives in pilgrimage. A paperpresented at the conference on "Pilgrimage-The HumanQuest" at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-vania), 14-17 May 1981.Bhardwaj,S. M., 1973: HinduPlaces fPilgrimagenIndia:A Studyin CulturalGeography. niversity of California Press, Berkeleyand Los Angeles.

, 1981: Peregrinology and geography: An overview. Apaper presentedat the conferenceon "PilgrimageThe Human

includingJ. Acharya, Wm. S. Alinen, N. Atkinson, D. B.Bista, S. Gurung, E. Hatleberg, J. Lutz, M. Martin, S.andJ. Mikesell, A. Morinis, R. B. Morrison, A. Parrish,M. Reisinger, J. D. Sharma (as principal research asso-ciate), A. C. Sherpa, and R. Stoddard. Betty Rogers andAllan Silverman of National Public Radio (NPR) recordedthe pilgrimage event on audio tape for a radio productionspecial entitled "The Pilgrimage to Muktinath" (aired 12April 1981 on "All Things Considered"). Not the least,special thanks go to my wife, Kareen, and children, Hansand Liesl, who trekked and shivered alongside so manypilgrims in the unseasonal snowstorm of April 1984. Mygreatest debt is to the many pilgrims and local villagerswhose helpfulness and hospitality made the research, thetrekking, and the chill so much easier.

Quest" at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania).Bista, D. B., 1971: The political innovators of upper Kali-Gandaki. Man, 6(1): 52-60., 1972: People f Nepal. 2nd ed. Ratna Pustak Bhandar,Kathmandu.Burrard, S. G. and Hayden, H. H., 1933 (1907): A Sketch ftheGeographyndGeologyftheHimalayaMountainsndTibet.Revisededition. Manager of Publications, Delhi.Dey, N. L., 1971 (1927): TheGeographicalictionaryfAncient ndMediaevalndia.Reprintedition. Oriental BooksReprint Corp.,New Delhi.

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