By Himanshu Kunwar
Barbaba Nimri Aziz is an anthropologist, researcher, and writer. You can visit her website at https://barbaranimri.com/ and find her new book Yogmaya & Durga Devi: Two Rebel Women of Nepal as an ebook on Amazon.
How did you first come to research Yogmaya? What about Yogmaya drew you to her and the topic?
I describe my arrival at the site of Yogmaya’s martyrdom and my work with survivors of her campaign in my early reports and in this book -available through Mandala Book Point, Kathmandu and in e-edition on Amazon.
Let me simply add: I didn’t set out in search of Yogmaya and Durga Devi. I stumbled upon their stories, almost accidentally, but fortuitously. I was smitten by those faint traces left for me and I felt compelled to pursue these ‘hidden histories’. Their grip on me is a testament to these women’s inherent power?
In the 1980s when you first went to research Yogmaya, the regions you visited lacked electricity and infrastructure and many people didn’t want to talk about Yogmaya. How did you overcome these obstacles?
Physical conditions at that time in Nepal were not onerous; they seemed normal for me, young and in good health. Walking for hours and days was what everyone did. For long treks I could hire a porter; or someone reliable was found to accompany me. Most villages had one petromax lamp for special occasions, and everyone had handheld torches for walking after dark.
By the time I began my work in Manakamana near Tumlingtar, I had had a decade of experience in rural Nepal- in Solu-Khumbu with Tibetans for 12 whole months (1969-70), then for subsequent shorter visits for ongoing research.
Admittedly I sometimes had indigestion from eating nothing except potatoes, the standard Solu diet then. Though yak butter provided me with protein.
Most important I had the trust of people I stayed with; they guided me.
I discuss in this book how the bhaktini at Manakamana revealed Yogmaya’s history to me. It may be because I’m a woman too; it may be after seeing how enamored I was by hazurbani; and we didn’t allow the presiding priest who opposed Yogmaya’s teachings to block my inquiries.
I’m perplexed when asked about conditions I confronted before roads and electricity arrived. In my book you’ll find semi-fictional chapters, portraits of 3 Nepalis—a blind girl violated by a teacher, a child employed in a carpet factory, a farmer hauling loads from Dhankuta.— accounts I based on conditions I knew from the 1970s and 80s. I include them so readers may better realize the conditions which Durga Devi and Yogmaya addressed, and to help us assess any basic changes.
Nepali lives have been fundamentally transformed by universal education. But the early absence of schools did not prevent Durga Devi from becoming a leader. Self-educated she learned court procedures, so she fought for her legal rights, and challenged established authority. Yogmaya was a poet whose powerful metaphors inspired a revolution; her sister-in-law penned hazurbani verses and we can read them today.
When you researched Yogmaya, it had only been 40 years since her death. What documents and artifacts were you able to find on Yogmaya then that might be harder to find now?
Oral documents about Yogmaya are unavailable now since almost anyone with direct knowledge of her are no more. Some individuals who were very young when she passed are reporting what they remember hearing from parents or grandparents.
It wasn’t until my second visit in 1981 that I was gifted a concealed copy of sarvatha yogbani (still banned at that time). But I understand it’s reprinted and widely available now. Still, we should continue looking for printed or manuscript copies of other hazurbani. Court documents and other government papers about Yogmaya may remain hidden, so searches must be intensified to uncover them. I hope that someone is pursuing sources in N.E. India where Yogmaya lived for some years since they could yield knowledge about early political influences on her thinking.
Regarding Durga Devi, she passed away in 1973, and some of her husband’s kin (Ghimire family living in Marwa) can help expand her biography. Records of Durga Devi’s legal activities in the Chainpur and Bhojpur courts wait to be researched.
Yogmaya lived during the Rana Regime, and there have been several changes in Nepal’s government and how it governs. Do you think the ‘dharma rajya’ that Yogmaya wanted has been fulfilled and to what degree?
Changes since the Rana era. Yogamya directed much of her energy to exposing corruption by businessmen and officials. From what I understand today under democracy corruption in Nepal is deeper and more widespread than ever. Her 2nd appeal was to end patriarchal practices; allowing high caste widows to remarry was a symbol of her fight for gender equality. Today, patriarchy seems as entrenched as in the past, in Nepal and globally. Yogmaya’s 3rd concern was the excessive power of Hindu priests. This I cannot comment on. But I know Tibetan Buddhist priests have become quite influential in Nepal and are amassing vast amounts of wealth as evidenced in their grand monastic centers.
What changes do you think there have been in the perception of Yogmaya throughout the years?
Yogmaya in the past 10 years has become a national icon in part due to the work of a group of dedicated scholars and activists whose families originated in Bhojpur. But a major shift of Yogmaya into national consciousness with the award-winning Nepali novel “Yogmaya” by Neelam Niharika drawing on her deep and authentic research. I have written about how art/literature can inspire and motivate in ways that scholarship cannot, although it may be inspired by scholarship https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/08/31/literature-can-displace-anthropology/ Fiction and film are powerful educational tools.
Your new book is titled ‘Yogmaya & Durga Devi: Rebel Women of Nepal’. Yogmaya has gained widespread recognition, but what should The Gorkha Times readers know about Durga Devi?
Regarding Durga Devi, in this book I argue for recognition of her place as a worthy historical figure. Is Nepal unable to admit more than one woman reformer into the history of that period? Durga Devi offers as much courage, drama, skill and leadership against patriarchy and corruption as Yogmaya.
When I made this claim, one scholar/devotee of Yogmaya replied that ‘Durga Devi was “ordinary’. He doesn’t consider her career worthy of attention. So let me put the question to TGT readers: read what I report about Durga Devi and decide how typical you find her? It’s a good subject for more discussion.