Todd Lewis films of Asan Tol
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: HSFA 1989.5.1
name: label: Creator
content: Lewis, Todd, 1952-
place: label: Place
content: South Asia
label: Place
content: Nepal
topic: label: Topic
content: Newar (Nepalese people)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received from Todd Lewis in 1989.
creator: label: Creator
content: Lewis, Todd, 1952-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Todd Lewis films of Asan Tol
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 9 Videocassettes (VHS) (15 hours 30 minutes, color sound)
label: Extent
content: 17 Videocassettes (U-matic) (sound annotations)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1987
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Previously titled "Asan Tol Project 1987."
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.1989.05
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Videocassettes (vhs)
label: Type
content: Videocassettes (u-matic)
label: Type
content: Video recordings
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Titles are supplied by the archivist for untitled films.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Full video record is a documentation project shot in a neighborhood (tol) of Kathmandu which derives its distinctive identity from its importance in the religious geography of the Kathmandu Valley. Shots document a "day in the life" of Asan Tol, a central marketplace bazaar intersected by six streets/lanes including sequenced views over twelve hour period of changing street traffic, vendors and merchants, ritual interactions between passersby and sacred cows which graze in the urban ecology, circumambulations of pedestrians around the Temple of Annapurna as they pass through the marketplace and offer ritual devotions; shots of festival processions as they pass through the square; ritual activity in the distinctive Newar courtyards known as "bahas" which are both residential and ritual spaces; religious observances in the Dagu baha--Buddhist offerings at ground level shrines (stupas, chaitryas) and at the kwapadyah (shrine/temple); shots in Asan Tol of religious festivals which transform the square into a theatrical space; Buddhist celebration of Pancadana (Feast day of the 5 gifts) during which voluntary associations give offerings to the Vajracarya (elite caste Buddhists); scenes of the Desan Festival during which blood sacrifices are made before the Temples of Annapurna; pilgrimages to Svayambu, an important Buddhist shrine, by musical groups known as bajams during the Buddhist month of Gulam (August); scenes in outlying rice paddy's in the Kathmandu valley--rice planting and cultivation; performance of the Mahakali dance in the Dagu baha (courtyard).

Supplementary material: sound recordings, annotations (recorded narratives)

Legacy keywords: Ritual offerings puja ; Bazaar markets ; Festivals religious Pachare Kathmandu ; Animal sacrifice Hinduism Kathmandu ; Markets Asan Tol Kathmandu ; Temples Annapurna Newar Buddhism ; Dance in festivals Pachare Kathmandu ; Drumming in festivals Pachare Kathmandu ; Shrines mobile Ratha Kathmandu ; Religion ritual devotion Bodhisattva Kathmandu ; Adornment for religious devotion tika Kathmandu ; Music musical groups bajans Kathmandu ; Shrines stupas chitya bahas Kathmandu ; Vendors Street sellers ; Houses courtyards bahas ; Rice planting cultivation of Kathmandu valley ; Alcohol as palliative to work ; Work groups women rice planting ; Tools hand hoe kodari ; Icons Buddah ; Celebrations Pancadana ; Architecture religious Buddhism Hinduism Kathmandu ; Ritual drama Mahakali dance Kathmandu ; Masks used in ritual drama Mahakali dance ; Language and culture