Esoteric Charya Dances 'Annapurna' and 'Sodasha Lasya' Presented at the Event
Rabin Man Shakya
Portland, Aug 23 (Nepal Oregon News): Dance Mandal USA (Nritya Mandala Mahavihara) team consisting of Guruji Prajwal Vajracharya and his students Anastasia Roderick and Joshua Proto performed ancient and rare Chacha Pyakhan (charya dances) with live singing at Nepal Festival 2025.
Dabuli's annual cultural event 'Nepal Festival 2025' was organized at Volunteer Park Amphitheater in Seattle on Saturday, Aug 23, 2025.
Dabuli is a 501 (C) 3 charity organization. It aims to advance deeper understanding and strengthening of rich music, arts and cultural heritage of Nepal.
The free event, presented by Dabuli in partnership with a number of organizations including City of Seattle, Dance Mandal USA (Nritya Mandala Mahavihara) and Newah Organization of America - Seattle Chapter, showcased traditional and contemporary Newar and Nepalese art, music, dance and more.
Prajwal Guruji - a 35th generation Tantric Buddhist priest from Nepal and a ritual master of the Charya Nritya dance tradition and other forms - presented an esoteric Charya dance 'Annapurna' at the Nepal Festival 2025.
Deity Annapurna (also known as Asan Bhalu Ajima in the Kathmandu valley) is the Goddess of harvest. In Nepal, deity Annapurna is honored as Mother Earth. She is white with three eyes and has great snake as her vehicle. Her eight arms hold various implements in order to be of benefit to many different kinds of beings.
Likewise, Dance Mandal USA's another member Anastasia Roderick performed Sixteen Offering Goddess Dance on the occasion. This Charya Nritya is also known as Sodasha Lasya in Sanskrit.
Sixteen Offering dances are sixteen dance postures representing various musical instrument offerings as well as other sense offerings. They are personified as the sixteen Goddesses of sensual enjoyment who show honor to the central deities of the Mandala through their pure offerings.
The vocal singing for Charya dances 'Annapurna' and Sodasha Lasya was provided by Joshua Proto, a seasoned Charya giti singer.
The focus of Nepal Festival 2025 was to preserve the Nepalese culture in the community and also provide an opportunity for the broader public to experience the very rich and unique but often inaccessible culture.
Dabuli's Nepal Festival 2025 provided an artistic platform for different indigenous and ethnic communities of Nepal to demonstrate their traditions and rich cultural apparels.
The event, which showcased the diversity and talent of Nepalese artistes, also featured culturally relevant activities and ethnic food like Momos and Chhoyela Baji etc.
All the cultural items presented at the Nepal Festival 2025 were stunning, amazing and enthralling. The program was simply wonderful filled with music, dance, food and community spirit. According to Subhash Ram Prajapati, nearly 50 students who joined Dabuli's summer dance and Madal classes from across the Seattle area and many others had given performances at Nepal Festival 2025.
"Together, we celebrated Nepal's heritage, strengthened community bonds, and shared unforgettable moments of joy," Prajapati added.
No doubt, the festival in Seattle was a rich 'confluence' of Nepalese music, dance, food and affluent culture.
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Deity Annapurna is Asan Bhalu Ajima for Newar Buddhists, Says Vajracharya
Portland, Aug 15 (Nepal Oregon News): 'Annapurna' is a Sanskrit word in which 'Anna' stands for food while 'Purna' for full or complete. Deity Annapurna is also known as Asan Bhalu Ajima among Newar Buddhists. Deity Annapurna is a goddess of wealth, prosperity and abundance. The deity's popularity peaks in Kathmandu where she has a strong following among the Newars of the Kathmandu valley, and is thus a prominent deity in Newar Buddhism.
Prajwal Vajracharya, co-founder of Nritya Mandala Mahavihara and a Charya Nritya expert said this while conducting the second and advanced teaching on Annapurna Charya Nritya. The teaching cum presentation was organized on Friday, Aug 15, 2025.
The spiritual benefits accruable from the Annapurna mantra are immense. The result of this practice is the regular removal of obstacles as well as bringing abundance of materialistic wealth into an individual's life, said Prajwal Guruji. "There would never be any lack of food at a person's house if he or she constantly chants Annapurna mantra."
Deity Annapurna is Asan Bhalu Ajima for Newar Buddhists, said Vajracharya explaining subtle differences of Annapurna in Newar Buddhism and in Indian practice. The famous temple of Asan Bhalu Ajima is situated at Asan Tole in Kathmandu. The Guruji informed the participants of the remotely-held teaching:"The Kalash (vase) made of silver -- inside the three story artistic brass temple at Asan's southeast corner -- has been worshipped as the Asan Bhalu Ajima for centuries."
According to Newar Buddhist iconography of deity Annapurna, the Goddess possesses eight arms while, in Hinduism, she is portrayed with four or two arms, the Guruji added. Annapurna Devi who is mother of knowledge, enemy of temptation, cuts through wisdom and compassion, the Guruji reiterated. The Guruji shared that Annapurna Devi is a deity of compassion, but she can be wrathful too. During the presentation, Prajwal Guruji also threw light on the Lalitasan (posture) of deity Annapurna.
Addressing the zoom participants, Guruji Vajracharya underscored in detail the importance of deity Annapurna in Newar Vajrayanna Buddhism. "A particular Charya giti tells us about the iconography of a particular deity, about what he or she is holding in his/her hands and what he or she is wearing etc," said Prajwal Guruji.
The Guruji continued:"This dance is named after the deity Annapurna. This is one of the ancient classical Charya dances. This dance is performed as a devotion to the deity Annapurna. The raga for the Annapurna charya dance is Kamadi and Tala is Jhapa."
During the advanced class of Charya Nritya Annapurna, Prajwal Guruji provided the zoom participants with the Sanskrit lyrics of Charya giti Annapurna. He also demonstrated movements of Annapurna charya dance for participants. He dealt with the modus operandi of the esoteric Charya dance and said:"In this dance, symbolic movements of legs, hands and fingers are skillfully timed with general body movements and facial expressions." The Guruji demonstrated step-by-step the mudra and hand gestures of the Charya dance.
Also, Prajwal Guruji chanted Annapurna Charya Giti and explained participants about the meaning of the Annapurna charya giti. At the end of the virtual teaching, Prajwal Guruji performed the Annapurna charya nritya together with the zoom participants. Similarly, the Guruji also answered to the additional questions of the participants about the Annapurna charya dance.
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Panjaran (Panchadan) Celebrated in Portland, USA
Portland Aug 21, (Nepal Oregon News): Newar Vajrayana Buddhist festival Panjaran (Panchadan) was observed at Portland's Nritya Mandala Mahavihara on Thursday, Aug 21, 2025.
Panjaran is also Panchadan, which means giving away different kinds of alms, such as, grains and fruits like rice, paddy, salt, peas, bananas, radish etc to people from Vajracharya and Shakya communities.
The Sangha members of the Nritya Mandala Mahavihara - Newar Vajrayana Buddhists as well as American Buddhists - were given auspicious alms by Guruji Prajwal Vajracharya, Teya Vajracharya and Anjali Bajracharya on the occasion of Panjaran. Daan Gatha was recited by Panjaran participants.
Pradeep Bajracharya, Ani Shakya, Rabin Man Shakya, Ayas Bajracharya and Shrishti Bajracharya were given the Panjaran alms. Likewise, LiAnn Hunt, Lhotsang Sherpa, Adam Bidema, Dmitry Skvortsov and Ashley Low were also given the auspicious alms. At the end of Panchadan program, a vegan Kheer lunch was offered to the Panjaran participants by Prajwal Guruji.
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Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple Organizes 'Chant for Peace' Interfaith Event in Portland
Portland, Aug 30 (Nepal Oregon News): Prajwal Vajracharya, prominent Charya Nritya teacher and co-founder of Portland's Newar Buddhist temple 'Nritya Mandala Mahavihara' along with other Sangha members Anastasia Roderick, Ashley Low and Naveena Shakya participated at the 'Chant for Peace' event hosted by Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple on Saturday, Aug 30, 2025.
Nritya Mandala Mahavihara was among 12 other Buddhist and non-Buddhist community organizations that took part at the 'Chant for Peace' event. On the occasion, Nritya Mandala Mahavihara team performed Refuge charya dance for an hour. Charya Nritya is an essential part of Newar Vajrayana Buddhism.
Refuge dance is a performance of Buddha Bandana Dance through Charya Nritya. It was performed 108 times continuously by the Guruji and other team members.
Buddhist practitioners take refuge daily in the Buddha, the teacher, the Dharma, the teachings, and the Sangha, the community.
In Charya Nritya tradition, a practitioner takes refuge through embodiment of these 'three jewels' -- the Buddha as the teacher of meditation, Shakya Muni Tathagata; the Dharma teachings as Manjushree wielding his wisdom sword and text, the Sangha as the supportive community in the form of lord of compassion.
The purpose of Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple, which was established in 2011 in Portland, is to provide a refuge of stillness and peace in a busy urban environment, to practice and share Buddhist teachings, and to cultivate community, compassion and wisdom.
The 12-hour 'Chant for Peace' was celebrated with the strength and diversity of various religious communities of Portland.
In a statement about 'Chant for Peace', Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple said:" Awake with a passion for inner and global transformation, this 12-hour chanting vigil is a celebration of our spiritual aspirations to see the sacred in every person, and to live Unconditional Love."
"This is an InterFaith event. Each hour of the Chant for Peace is led by a different spiritual tradition. We form one community and join our voice together."
The statement further added:" Chanting is spiritually potent medicine. It aligns heart and mind, connects us to Spirit and radiates waves of prayer and blessings into the world."
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Regular Activities in Vihara Continue
Manjushree Naamsangiti recitation was conducted by the Vihara intermittently for a month to mark the Gunla festival. In August, as usual and as always, Dharani chanting on zoom was conducted once a week Tuesday evening. Similarly, Sadhana practice and Buddha Bandana Bhajan singing practice were held on each Wednesday evening. Likewise, the practice of singing Charya giti was performed on the zoom in the mornings every Friday.
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