“Even if we have COVID We Want Our Chariot Procession!” Understanding the Importance of Public Sentiment in Heritage Through the Conflict During the COVID-19 Chariot Procession

In the year 2020 when the whole world was under lockdown due to COVID-19, as an ordinary morning on 3rd September people were contuning everyday worshiping of Karunamaya in the stranded chariot on the road of Phulchwok in Patan. Due to the covid restrictions people visiting the deity were sparse. That day people started to gather slowly, with the rumor of pulling the chariot spread, which led to a crowd around the chariot within a few hours. Then finally the crowd started pulling the chariot. The late morning event unfolds into a whole day of fight between locals and police, with stone pelting vs water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. This mess started the debate of belief vs public safety and local sentiments vs government apathy. Finally, with the intervention of the Municipality and Jaypu Samaj, the symbolic procession continued with the attendance of limited people all in protective gear, and the deity was brought back to the temple of Bungamati. The messy situation of 2020 was a lesson for the procession of coming years as well as a reminder for the authorities of how important the living heritage is to the life of people. Following the example of Karunamaya chariot processions, in many places, the communities took the safety gear and carried out the rituals, dances, and procession.

If we look conflict of Karunamaya under a microscope, then it’s not the conflict generated just due to stranded faith on the street for several months. In 2019 coincidently on the last day of the chariot procession of Karunamaya protest was started by the whole Newa community of Kathmandu Valley. It was started against the government’s “guthi bill” which was to nationalize all private and public guthi and regulate the religious sites. Guthi is the traditional social organization based on caste, locality, and purpose. Most of the public festivals, chariot processions, mask dances, etc are continued due to the guthi. The displeasure, grievances, and frustrations of indigenous people towards the government led to the mess of protest. On 19th June a huge protest program took place in Maitighar Mandala and mostly Newa people from all walks of life participated. Police tried to suppress the protest with water cannon and tear gas. This huge protest compelled the government to hold the guthi bill. For many, it also reminded the People’s Movement in 1990 which ended the absolute monarchy. The moment was successful only when the people of Valley poured into the street to protest.

The “conflict” and “protest” for the people of Kathmandu is not an unknown subject especially revolving around culture and heritage. In 2008, a protest took place during the festival of Indra Jatra. Guthi members and locals halted the chariot processions as a protest against the government’s move to cut the funding for rituals to save money. In the first place, the guthis were already getting less money to run the festivals and in addition to that government was starting to cut the money. This decision agitated the Newa People and the protest led to conflict between locals and police leading to an outcry of the whole Newa population. This protest not only made the government withdraw the decision but also a special commission to examine all the guthi land and its assets. Resulting in the allocation of fixed funds for different guthis for the festival of Indra Jatra.

Time and again the protests and conflict by Newa were mainly to safeguard their tangible and intangible heritage. A mess like this has helped to understand the importance of cultural heritage in the Newa society. Even though there are many conflicts and protests centered around festivals and heritage this paper will focus on the Karunamaya chariot procession, and try to understand the conflict during the time of the Covid-19 chariot procession and the lessons learned and unlearned from the event. Even in the chariot procession of Karunamaya which is the symbol of Patan city, the concerned authorities were not able to understand its importance to the people of Patan and the whole Kathmandu Valley. The funding provided to guthis who are responsible for the chariot constructions, procession, and rituals, is very low. Guthi Sansthan, a government representative organisation responsible for providing the funds has always been negligent towards the festivities of people. Providing less money, low-quality materials or not providing both on time. These slowly burning issues present during yearly processions were also reasons that accelerated the conflict during the time.

In Kathmandu Vally processions, mask dances, and rituals are much more than just a religion. It is the medium to continue identity, form to strengthen family and community ties, and also entertainment in the public space. The multiple meanings of the festival have not been understood well and more so when the cities have local government and the Mayor of Patan being the local could not understand the sentiment of the people. It is very interesting to understand how the spontaneous and mundane activity of worshipping god turned into that scale of the conflict. The rise of social media in Nepal and the heritage activism post-2015 earthquake in Nepal were the major catalysts for the conflict. This conflict solved the issue of indecisiveness of Guthi Sansthan and the local government regarding the chariot procession. This situation created by Covid-19 was never seen anywhere by anyone as even during the time of the Earthquake the chariot procession continued in 2015 when the city was celebrating the festival of twelve years which was more elaborate. The paper will discuss and reflect on the issues of conflict for the safeguarding of heritage in detail.