Kathmandu valley is full of surprises when it comes to historical places and heritage sites as one can barely explore every aspect of it on the go. This excitement keeps on growing as very unique stories unfold at almost every corner of the city revealing unheard traditions and inimitable culture giving rise to a rare cultural legacy. I came across a similarly unique heritage at a place called Itumbaha a week back when I decided to randomly get inside a newly opened museum. Located at approximately 200 meters north of Kathmandu durbar square and at west of Indrachwok at similar distance, this place reflected different aspects of ancient Buddhist culture in Kathmandu Valley. Among different things presented at the museum, a small door fascinated me the most. So here’s something interesting about this almost forgotten door of Itumbaha.
General Information:
Name: Lu Dhoka/ Golden Door
Dimensions: 137 X 134.6 X29.2 cm
Material: Wooden frame with Gold fired copper repousse
Built in : around 15th Century
What looks like a window at the first glance is actually a small door made up of wood frame with a gold plated copper on the top carved with intricate detailing of gods in an artistic fashion. Based on the interview with the locals , It is believed that the ones passing through this door would attain godly power and immense strength. Thus, it used to be used in different occasions. Some prominent occasions are as follows:
1) King’s Coronation : According to a local resident , the door used to be an integral part of the King’s coronation process in the past as the kings were believed to be a godly figure after passing through this door from Itumbaha. While the tradition was practiced till the time of Mahendra, no one from the palace came to ask for the door during coronation of King Birendra. Since then, the door has never been used in any coronation or oath taking ceremony of head of the state.
2) Khadga Siddhi: In this ceremony, the King used to exchange the sword with Bhadrakali Devi (protector diety of Kathmandu Valley). In the past, the goddess and the king used to enter the Dabali of durbar square through the golden door and the goddess would exchange the consecrated sword with king through the golden door, providing him the strength to rule his kingdom. Since Nepal became Republican state, a representative sword of king was placed on a seat and exchanged with the deity. Last time, the festival was celebrated in 2068 B.S. (2015 A.D.) but without the golden door.
3)Barha Barse Pachali Bhairav Jatra: This festival takes place every twelve years where the Pachali Bhairav, one of the guardian deities of Kathmandu Valley exchanges the sword with the king through the golden door symbolizing the transfer of divine power just like Khadga Siddhi. According to locals, the golden door was used for the ritual around 60 years ago and have never been used for its intended purpose after that.
4) Sikali Jatra: This Jatra from Khokana involves the procession of deities led by goddess Rudrayani, popularly referred to as Sikali and Ajima from Khokana. These dieties are welcomed to Kathmandu from Khokana through the Golden gate at Chalakhu at Brahmatole, Kathmandu. The masked dancers of Bhairab, Shiva, Ganesh, Kumar, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Brahmayani, Kaumari, Mahalaxmi, Indrayani, Kali, Singhini and Byangini dance through the door. The golden door was utilized 2069 BS (2012 AD) to welcome the Sikali devi procession to Kathmandu but not in latest Sikali Jatra.
My view on This:
Upon some discussion with local people, I came to know that the door was not used in coronation of King Birendra as officials from the palace were refused to be handed over with the golden door without official papers amidst the spree of theft in heritage sites at the time. The officials never returned with a formal request letter from the king and the door was forgotten from the history.
Coming to its use in local jatras, the challenge of looking after something such valuable turned out to be a big challenge for the organizers and they opted to not use it as evident from Sikali Jatra where the head of the Guthi found it difficult to safeguard the door after its use and thus decided to not use it in recent jatra. While the fear and faith of gods safeguarded the golden door and its culture in past, the challenge has increased in the recent time as thing of such value needs some serious protection these days. Official appointment of security personnel during the use of door in jatras would ease up the pressure for the organizers and might help in revamping the culture. Also, the end of monarchy has created some confusion on the way these festivals are celebrated. Thus, I reckon the role of kings should be fulfilled by either head of state or the mayor of the town. I would personally prefer the Mayor to play that missing role as these festivals and deities are mainly associated with the Kathmandu valley. This would definitely look like something mysterious from Doctor strange if continued in future (It would be fun to add some more sound and light effects when one enters through this door: as culture keeps changing with time :P). Let’s hope this unique tradition starts getting continued (and maybe get improvised for better) soon.