TOWARDS AN ARCHEOLOGY OF NEWAR RELIGION: THE CULT OF MĀTṚKĀ/AJIMĀ GODDESSES IN THE KATHMANDU VALLEY.

In the Kathmandu Valley, Matrka/Ajima goddesses are worshiped by most Newar castes, whether high or low, Hindu or Buddhist, rural or urban. Their cults take different forms (Asta Matrkas, Navadurgas) 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, Matrkas are mostly referred to by a Newari word: Ajima, "divine mother." The indigenous components of these goddesses are particularly striking among the Jyapu rice cultivator caste and prevail mostly in the south and central part of the Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]