SINHAS Vol 28 No 2 Gérard Toffin

Towards an Archeology of Newar Religion: The Cult of Mātṛkā/Ajimā goddesses in the Kathmandu Valley

Abstract
In the Kathmandu Valley, Mātṛkā/Ajimā goddesses are worshiped by most Newar castes, whether high or low, Hindu or Buddhist, rural or urban. Their cults take different forms (Aṣṭa Mātṛkās, Navadurgās) and are heavily influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. This article, based on the ethnographic study of three different localities, Thecho village, the small town of Panauti and Kathmandu city, stresses the existence of an older autochthonous substratum particularly visible in the veneration of aniconic stones and the dichotomy between shrines located outside the settlement and temples erected within the locality. The two forms, aniconic and iconic, of the deities are ceremonially reunited once a year. Moreover, in Kathmandu, Mātṛkās are mostly referred to by a Newari word: Ajimā, “divine mother.” The indigenous components of these goddesses are particularly striking among the Jyāpu rice cultivator caste and prevail mostly in the south and central part of the Valley. 

Keywords: Newar, Kathmandu Valley, religion, goddesses, Hinduism, Buddhism, autochthonous cults