Once a common sight in every Nepali household, the tradition and skill of weaving itaa is now limited to just older female members.
“Everyone knew how to do this because it was a part of daily life,” Maharjan says, “But, now you can buy itaa easily and as people aren’t interested in learning how to weave, there are not many who can.”
Besides itaa, dhup or traditional Nepali rope incense is also homemade. However, as people started producing it commercially and as the purchasing power of people increased, these puja requisites became a profitable sell for many storekeepers.
“Itaa and dhups are still indispensable for any puja- from daily worship to grand rituals, so they sell well,” says Shree Krishna Shrestha, the fifth generation owner of a spice and herb retail store in Mangal Bazaar, Patan.
Shrestha, who buys itaa from both in and outside the valley, the bulk of which comes from Terai, still makes dhup at his home. “We have the ingredients for the Asta sugandha powder that is used in making dhup in our store, and lokta paper, used to wrap the powder, is also easily available. So, we make dhup ourselves but if we can’t meet the demand, we order it from Thimi.”
Though many housewives around the valley make incense and wicks in their free time for pocket money, some women in Thimi, Bhaktapur, have made this their full time job.
Naran Devi Shrestha, a resident of Thimi, has been making and selling dhup along with the female members of her family since she was nine. Carrying on the family business, she also collects the locally made incense and wicks from seven households in Thimi to sell it locally or in Mangal Bazaar.
“You’d think these materials would not sell anymore, but actually the demand is a lot higher,” she says. “Previously, I and one other friend used to meet the requirement making 70 bundles a day, but now I have more than six people working with me.”
According to Shree Krishna Shrestha, the sale of dhup and itaa has gone higher as not many people make them at home anymore. “With improving economic standards, people choose to buy these goods rather than make it themselves,” he says and adds, “When people have money, they tend to spend a lot on dharma or religious purposes. You can see how major temples in the valley are always full of people offering light by burning piles of wicks.”
Rameshwori Dhaubadel, who runs one of the many adjacent stores that sell puja materials in Ason, however, says that the sale has gone down. “It’s slow lately. The prices of raw materials for dhup is increasing and with that the retail price has gone up too. That has probably affected the sale,” she says.
For Tulsi Maya Dangol, who makes itaa herself, the commercially produced itaa and dhup are not her first choice but certainly an easy and affordable alternative. “I always buy dhup, as we don’t have the ingredients to make them. As for itaa, I only buy them when I need them in bulk for special rituals and pujas,” says Dangol.
However, she says that the traditional incense sticks available in the market no longer have the same strong aroma they used to and she never liked the market itaa.
Naran Devi explains that with the increase in the prices of ingredients, it is not feasible to make pure incense sticks like before. “Sandalwoods, saffron and such ingredients are expensive, so now many people buy readily available dhup powder which has sawdust mixed in it.”
Though foreign dhup has come to use in recent years, Naran Devi marks that the traditional incense and wicks still hold their unique significance. The light from itaa stands for pure energy and the aromatic fumes from dhup is said to attract gods.
“The significance of these elements for a proper Hindu or Buddhist worship is so deeply rooted in traditional beliefs that there can be no replacement,” she says.
Making dhups or itaa may no longer be a part of daily household life as it is for Maharjan, but they are still an indispensable part of the beliefs that society holds sacred. And hands like those of Shrestha continue the tradition, albeit for commercial gains.
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