manjushree

Popularly known as Charya Nritya, this performance is one of the traditional ritual dances performed in Nepal during the tantric initiations and important occasions. According to Buddhist legend it was Lord Manjushree who came from China with his two wives, Kesani and Upakesani to pay homage to the self-existent flame in Swayambhunath, the god of wisdom who drained Kathmandu valley by cutting through the ridge of the mountain lying on the southern side with his flaming sword and made the valley fit for human settlement. Manjushree is a bodhisattva and a tantric guru, the practitioner of Hevajra tantra, who came from Mahachina as mentioned in Swayambhupurana.

Charya Nritya is a vehicle for the deity to manifest, and is given the title rupa, which in Sanskrit makes reference to sculpture or a container. Like Buddhist sculpture, the dance is a container and symbolic representation of enlightenment, albeit through a living, breathing, sentient being. Yogis and yoginis dance to transcend ordinary existence, and through the practice of Charya Nritya, offer their body, speech, and mind as a vessel for enlightenment’s display. Thus, an accomplished Charya Nritya practitioner’s role when offering the dance is to bring the Buddhas and bodhisattvas to life.