INTRODUCTION:
The Newari people are the dominant ethnic group in the Kathmandu Valley, and one of the largest ethnic groups in the country. Newars are a linguistic community with Tibeto-Burman and Indo ethnicity bound together by a common language. Newari architecture combines plain brickwork with fine wood carvings, and Newari architects claim to have developed Asia's famous multi-tier pagoda, examples of which can be found in Patan and Bhaktapur. Newari culture has many colourful festivals and rituals. Many festivals are related to Hindu or Buddhist holidays, while others are tied to local seasonal events. Throughout their life, there are many rituals related to birth, life and death.
The term Newar applies roughly to the descendant of citizen of medieval Nepal. According to Nepal (2001) 12,45,232 Newar in the country are the nation sixth largest ethnic group representing 5.48% of the population. They are of Mongolian origin and are the dominant ethnic group of Kathmandu valley an surrounding central areas of Nepal. The Newari language has been influenced by both the Tibeto-Burmese and Indo-European families. The Newar community contributes to a significant amount of business activities and history in the country. They have their own language Nepal Bhasa or Newari, which is from the Tibeto-Burman influence. There is also a Newari script called the Ranjana Lipi which has no linguistic connection to Nepali, Sanskrit, or Hindi.
Most of the data used concern two castes, the Jyapu and the Uray. In Newari culture there is great local variation in customs, language, and ritual. However, at the same time there is a great deal of local interaction, and in some instances interdependence, among the various segments of Newari society. In spite of local variations, the Newars can be said to belong to the same cognitive universe, i.e., the signification of a certain custom or food item will be obviously the same to Newars of different caste and locality. The dissertation rests on the assumption that the Newars can be aggregated to such a level of mutual intelligibility. However, there may be certain exceptions. If such have come to my knowledge, they are reported in the text. Furthermore, to facilitate an easy check-up and to open the possibilities for other anthropologists to continue, analytically or in the field, I have tried to state clearly to which castes all data refer. Here, I have systematically applied the following rule: when a caste or subgroup is named, all the subsequent text deals with that group until information on a new caste or subgroup is introduced and that group named.When no information is given on which caste the information refers to, it refers to Newars in general. Then, the information will be valid for most Newars and concern matters taken for granted by them, although exceptions may be encountered among marginal groups. Newars who do not live in the valley have been eliminated from the discourse both for practical reasons and because they tend to lose many of their ancestral customs after migration.
The food culture of the Newars is rapidly changing, particularly those customs which mark out certain social relationships which are, or were, unequal. The caste system and its hierarchical axiology have been replaced by egalitarian ideology. Often during my field work I was told that “one did not care” about many of the ancient rules. Hence, much of what should be interesting in a study of the significance of food in Newari culture has disappeared, or is rapidly disappearing. Nevertheless, in a study of the symbolical significance of food these things are important. Consequently, I have chosen to extend my study backwards in time. I have gone back as far as I have been able to find any sources, although, of course, what was valid in the nineteen fifties, or in the eighteenth century, need not be valid today. Hence, I have taken care to be explicit about the period to which the data refer. Here, I have chosen to inform the reader when the presented data refer to any period other than 1982/83 when the field work was conducted. The data referring to the twentieth century which have been obtained by interviews and which refer to relations no longer current, are indicated by such terms as “formerly” or the “recent past.” Here, I hope the contexts in which such data occur will make clear which period the data pertain to.
There are certain difficulties with the romanization of Newari. Although heavily influenced by Sanskrit and modern Indian languages, Newari is basically a Tibeto-Burmese language. Hence, there is a significant distance between the orthography and the phonetics. In writing, Newari is often not spelled as it sounds, or rather the written words are not pronounced as they should be according to the rules of vocalization of Sanskrit. To make matters still more difficult, Newari is an increasingly “wild” language. It lacks any central authority, such as the French Academy , which could establish the rules of pronunciation and grammar and determine what is “right” and “wrong.” Indeed, in modern Newari texts, one frequently encounters the same word spelled differently by different authors.According to the current trend, Newari is increasingly becoming a language used among Newars in “Newari” contexts. One may, for instance, encounter civil servants who are Newars and who chat among themselves in Newari, although every document in their offices will be written in Nepali. But, Newari is only read and written by a few enthusiasts.
