Nar village, Nepal

October 20, 2024

Nar village, Nepal

The trail to Nar village from Nar Phedi

I arrived at the beautiful village called Nar by noon on 28-Aug-24 during the Nar-Phu trek. This remote isolated hamlet in the high Himalayas is home to about 50 families. The plan is to spend 2 days here. This includes one day for high altitude acclimatisation before crossing over Kang La pass (5320 M)

Inside Nar Goemba during prayers

Special prayers were in progress at Nar monastery (Goemba). I was extremely fortunate to attend this rather unique and rare ceremony; even my Nepali trek guide has not witnessed this ceremony before . After my afternoon siesta, I went to the monastery. The monastery is packed full of devotees. I am the only outsider in attendance. I found a quite spot at the rear of the monastery and sat there. Listening to the Tibetan chants in the monastery is quite mesmerising. After a short while, tea was served to everyone in the goemba. The villagers have come prepared with their own cups! The person serving tea called out to his friend and got me a cup. The tea was quite nice.

The couple conducting "special" prayers

The prayers continue. A bit later, a person came into the monastery and started handing over Rs 200 Nrs to everyone; everyone except me. When he was about to exit the goemba, he’s asked to hand over money too me too. I took the money and thanked him.

Nar Goemba (Monastery)

Sitting cross legged for a long time is a bit of struggle for me. To stretch my legs, I stepped out of the monastery. I am greeted by a person in white dress. In fluent Hindi, he requested me to go to the kitchen and have food. Only later I would realise that he was sponsoring today’s special prayers.

Prayers, like the one being conducted today, could be for wishes already fulfilled or for obtaining new favors from the Gods. As part of the today’s ritual, anyone who comes to the monastery has to offered money, food, drink, money etc. Every person is entitled to get 1 “unit” of rice per family member. People had come with sacks to collect their share of rice. Remember; one has to walk 3 days to get to Nar. Hence, by the time rice (or any commodity) reached Nar village after travelling 3 days on horseback, it becomes quite expensive. Hence, conducting such a prayer is an expensive affair. This could explain why such prayers are quite rare. At the end of prayers, all the people line up at the monastery and pay their respects to the person sponsoring the prayers.

Rice being distributed as part of prayers

I entered the kitchen. There is a large stove at the center of the room. Quite few people are seated in the kitchen. It’s a happy and noisy group. We try to talk, but there isn’t a common language. I find a spot on the floor beside the stove. My guide walked in a bit later and sat beside me. We are served Tibetan style Momo, vegetable curry and tea. It’s very tasty.

Inside the monastery kitchen

While I was eating food, the couple sponsoring today’s prayers and his wife walked in. They were extremely friendly and happily posed for photographs. The wife bought out a jerrycan full of the local brew and personally offered it to me. The colourless brew made from barley (I think) was quite potent!

Making Tsa Tsa's

In a tent beside the Goemba, nuns and villagers were busy making a large number of clay figurines. One of the women involved in making them had spent quite some time in the monastery in Mysore, India. She spoke fluent Hindi and happily explained what was happening.

The clay figurines are called Tsa-Tsa’s in Tibetan language. The villagers of Nar village plan to make about 15,000 to 20,000 Tsa-Tsa’s. A sacred talisman will be placed into each and every Tsa-Tsa. The talismans turn ordinary clay figurines into a spiritual Tsa-Tsa's. A new chorten was also under construction beside Nar Goemba. All these Tsa-Tsa’s will be placed inside this new chorten and sealed inside. It’s the Tsa-Tsa’s within the Chortens that gives them their spiritual prowess. The entire process of making the Tsa-Tsa’s and the chorten is being carried out by the villagers themselves. It will be another 3 to 4 months before the chorten is consecrated.

View of Nar from the adjacent mountain

I spend a second day in Nar village for high altitude acclimatisation. It was a gorgeous day with clear skies. In the morning, I went out to take some pictures. Keeping with the strategy of ‘climb high, sleep low’ we climbed the mountain with the Padmasambhava statue. From the vantage point decorated with prayer flags, the entire village comes into view. We descended back to the village after a short while.

Houses in Nar

The houses in Nar are quite unique. They are designed for the extreme Himalayan winters. The houses are predominantly made of stone and mortar. At the ground floor of the house are for animals. People reside on the first floor. While walking through the narrow village lanes, I run into the monk’s wife. She invited us to her house for tea. It’s too good an offer to refuse.

Monk and his wife at their home

The monk and his wife were excellent hosts. They offered us tea and snacks. Among them was a crunchy snack made from yak fat. With my guide acting as the translator, the monk told us that, as recently as 15 years ago, the corpses of dead people would be chopped up and offered to the vultures. The monk himself would do this sacred work. That was the custom in Nar. But now, the custom of sky burial has become taboo and unacceptable. Cremation is the preferred choice these days. I wonder how they get firewood for cremations as Nar is well above the tree line.

The village weaver at work

In times gone by, one had to walk 15 days to reach Nar. Now its only 3. The village has electricity and on good days, even internet. As I walk around the village, I spotted a woman on the street weaving on a traditional loom. The weaver’s daughter had emigrated to America a few years ago. So did my home-stay owners’ son. In the monastery the previous day, I had distinctly observed the lack of kids. All the kids from the village are sent to boarding schools in Kathmandu or Pokhara. Sadly, very few kids who are used to city life return back to Nar. Most kids dream of emigrating to the west. I fear that the unique way of life and distinct culture of Nar will vanish with this generation.

Early next day, we bid goodbye to magnificent Nar. Our destination- Kangla Pass and beyond.