The story goes like this. The name of the ancestral god of Pun Magars from the patrilineal side is Karpakeli who is generally referred to as Kul Deuta in Nepali. The name of his father was Hansa and his mother's name was Hanseni. Nobody can say where they lived, but the Pun Magar people unanimously agree that the place should be somewhere in Karnali Zone of western Nepal.
As soon as Karpakeli was born, his parents asked Kalo Jaisi, an astrologer, to find out the location of the stars and planets on his birth and to forecast his future. The astrologer told that Karpakeli was born in an inauspicious time called "Satmul." He further told that Karpakeli would leave his ancestral home and would settle in a different place far away. The astrologer further told that he must be treated well because that could bring changes in his life. A maid woman named Jasmati had taken care of him when he was a child.
As told by the astrologer, Karpakeli left his parents when he was very young and wandered different places. At first, he begged for his living, but later, he started to help people with raising cattle, sheep, goats or even farming. People liked him because he was a hard working boy. It was interesting that, whoever he worked for, the household was blessed with abundant crops and animals. Therefore, people tried to keep him in their house, but he never did stay in one house for a long time. He moved from one house to another house, from one place to another place, and so on. Another reason people liked him was because he was good in singing and dancing by beating a small drum called Damphu.
Once Karpakeli worked for a Brahaman, the highest caste of the Hindu religion, taking care of cattle. The numbers of cows increased in the herd and the Brahaman was happy with him. There were healthy cows in different shades of colors. One day, the cows went too far grazing, and didn't have time to come back to their place in the evening. The Brahaman became so angry with Karpakeli that he beat him on both cheeks with his hand. Since Karpakeli was innocent, he cursed the Brahaman. He said, "O Brahaman! You beat me without any fault of mine. Therefore, I curse you. Listen, when Kaliyug (iron age, one of the four ages as described in the Hindu mythology) comes, let your people eat meats and drink alcoholic beverages as the people from the lower caste do. Towards the end of Kaliyug, let your people even sell your Vedas (religious books of Hindu)." Then he left the Brahaman's house.
One day, Karpakeli arrived at the fair of Kumbha, wandering many places. As people were returning to their homes from the fair, he met two daughters of Dhumba Dhumbini named Himala and Phimala. The girls were so impressed that they fell in love with him. (Some people refer to the name of Himala as Raimasini and say that both sisters were married to Karpakeli at the same time.) After living some time in the house of Dhumba Dhumbini, he married Himala. Dhumba Dhumbini gave a yak's tail, of white and black color, to the couple as their wedding present. While he was living there, Karpakeli remembered his parents and decided to leave with his wife for his home.
It had been twelve years he was wandering. When he got to his home with wife, his parents became very happy. The mother was so excited that milk from her breast started to flow. Karpakeli, though a married young man, sat on the lap of his mother as a child and drank from her breast. That was the reason people in some villages pretend as if to be drinking from their mother's breast when they bring a new bride to their home.
As it was forecast by Kalo Jaisi, Karpakeli again decided to leave his home. He started towards the east with his wife and arrived in Beni, the present day district headquarters of Myagdi district. He crossed the Kali Gandaki river from there and moved to different places like present days' Banskharka, Garamdi, Kuepani, and Ramche, where there were only big forests. He spent his time hunting animals in the forest, extracting honey from wild bees, and catching Paha (a particular kind of frog people eat) in the stream. At that time, his wife became pregnant. She asked for something sour to eat. He went to a higher elevation where a sour wild plant called Chulthi Amilo could be found and brought some to her. Himala enjoyed eating the stem of Chulthi Amilo. It was from that time women like to eat sour foods when they are pregnant.
Himala gave birth to a son in her due time. They named the son Ramchan. After that, she became pregnant almost every year and gave birth to nine sons, in total. As soon as she gave birth to the youngest son, she died of an illness. Karpakeli was very sorry to lose his wife and was in trouble. He was very anxious because he was not getting ideas as to how he could raise his nine sons. He spent his days crying. Seeing the great problem of his son-in-law, Dhumba Dhumbini decided to give his youngest daughter, Phimala to Karpakeli. Thus, he was married to Himala's sister, Phimala. Phimala shared the burden of Karpakeli and started to take very good care of the family. Karpakeli, with his nine sons, was glad to have her.
Wandering in a nomadic life, Karpakeli arrived in Kaphaldanda with his family. This village now is in Myagdi district of Nepal. They found wild animals and bees in abundance there. There were also lots of nettle bushes (which could be eaten as a vegetable) to eat. Therefore, they decided to settle there and built a house near by a natural spring called Nigalpani of Kaphaldanda. (A few years ago, a landslide swept away Nigalpani.) Life was not so bad for them there.
As the time went on, the sons became young men. They were attracted to their stepmother. So they made a plan to kill their father and marry her. According to plan, they went to hunt a tiger. They asked their father to wait in a specific place and went to drive the huge tiger of the jungle toward him. They had thought that the tiger wouldn't leave their father alive. However, when the tiger went close to Karpakeli, he killed the tiger with a single shot of his arrow. The plan of the sons failed.
They made another plan. They planned to take their father to Kali Gandaki river for fishing and throw him in the river. Thus, they asked their father to go fishing. When they got to the river, Karpakeli started to catch fish, going in the middle of the big river. The river didn't sweep him away. The sons were angry in their hearts, seeing that their father couldn't be killed easily. Therefore, they started to make some other plans that wouldn't fail.
They planned to take their father to extract honey from the cliff of Mahabhir (a huge cliff) of Kaphaldanda and cut the rope ladder when their father would be hanging down to the hives. They requested their father to go extracting honey from the bee hives in the cliff. In order to make sure there was enough honey in the hives, he sent his sons to see if the nettles bush in the Sisne Khola (a river) and Pangro (a tree) in the jungle were blooming. The sons came back and told that the nettle bush and the Pangro tree were already blooming. Then he sent his sons to find out if the Chichankote bird and Gorkhe bird started singing. The sons came back and told that the birds had already started singing. Karpakeli sent the eldest son, Ramchan, to go to Mahabhir and check the number of bee hives. Ramchan came back and told that there should be about one hundred hives in the cliff. Karpakeli didn't believe him so he sent the youngest son Kul to the cliff. Upon his returning, Kul told that there must be at least sixty bee hives. Thus, Karpakeli made sure, after a thorough investigation of nature, that it was the right time for extracting honey.
The first thing they needed to prepare for extracting honey was a rope ladder called Parang. Karpakeli sent his sons to ask for bamboo of different varieties such as Deunali, Malingo, Ghure, Chiple and Tite so they could be the rope for the ladder. When they went to Deunali bamboo, it said, "There will be many shamans in Kaliyug. I need to be their Gaja (stick the shamans use to beat their drum). Therefore, I can't be the ladder." Then, they went to ask Malingo bamboo for help. The Malingo bamboo said that it was going to be Bhakari (a long mattress-like sheet made from bamboo strip that is used for roofing cattle shed) in Kaliyug and couldn't be the rope for the ladder. The Ghure and Tite bamboo said that they couldn't help because they were destined to be used as roofing materials for a house in Kaliyug. Finally, Chiple bamboo accepted to be the ladder rope for them.
They needed pieces of strong wood to put in the ladder they were making. The pieces of wood they used to make the ladder were called Aglo. Karpakeli sent his sons to ask the Sirmu tree. The Sirmu tree said, "I need to be the windows and doors of the people in Kaliyug. Therefore, I can't be Aglo in your ladder." Then they went to ask the Phalat tree. The Phalat tree said, "People will use me for making things such as Halo and Danra to plough their field. Therefore I can't help." In the same manner, the Kharsu tree told that it was to be fed to cattle and the Phulchus tree to be the bars to build houses in the age to come and so refused to be Aglo for the ladder. Finally, a Bhhakimlo tree agreed to help.
The father and the sons made two long and strong ropes from the strips of Tite bamboo. They put firmly the pieces of the wood of Bhakimlo tree in between the ropes. Thus, they made a rope ladder to reach down to the honey hives. They prepared one mana rice (about a pound), cow milk and a cock to offer to the god of the cliff. Before he left, he said, "Look, I am going to extract honey from Mahabhir. If something happens to me, and I die, check my Thenkro (case that is used to put arrows in). If you see blood coming out of it, I will be dead."
First of all, they worshipped the cliff, offering cow's milk, rice grain and sacrificing the cock they had brought. Then, they tied one end of the rope ladder in a tree on the top of the cliff and dropped down to the bee hives. Then, he asked his eldest son Ramchan to climb down the ladder. Ramchan told that he was acrophobic. (The cliff of Mahabhir is about 1000 ft high.) Then Karpakeli asked the second son who also gave the same answer. None of the sons became ready to go down to the beehives as they had planned to send their father down alone. Therefore, Karpakeli decided to climb down the ladder himself. When he got close to the bee hives, he smoked them with tree bark and bushes he had taken with him. Then he started extracting honey and put it in the cage which was tied to a rope on the top of the cliff.
A small bird called Maha Chari (honey bird) flew there and asked Karpakeli for some honey. Karpakeli didn't give it at first. Then the bird promised to tell bad news to him. Karpakeli gave some honey to the bird in order to know what was the bad news. After eating enough honey, the honey bird said, "Your sons have planned to kill you. As soon as you are done with the honey extraction, they will cut the other end of the rope ladder that is tied up to the tree and kill you. Therefore, send combs without honey to your sons and store the combs with honey in the cave there in the middle of the cliff for your later use. As soon as you finish extracting honey, move to the cave and be safe." It was only after listening to what the honey bird said that Karpakeli knew why his sons had refused to climb down the ladder. Karpakeli believed the bird and blessed the honey bird to eat honey always. The honey hunters say that even today, no matter where they go to extract honey, a honey bird always comes there to eat honey.
After that, Karpakeli started to store combs full of honey in the cave in the middle of the cliff. He sent only the combs without honey to his sons. The sons yelled from the top of the cliff why there was no honey in the combs. Karpakeli said loudly, "This is not a good year for honey. All the combs are empty." After getting all the honey combs in the cave, Karpakeli moved there and took a rest. When the sons asked him if he was done extracting the honey, he said, "Yes." The sons then cut the other end of the rope ladder. The sons saw the ladder swing down to the base of the cliff.
The sons were happy to see the ladder going down to the base of the cliff. They thought they killed their father and went back to the home. They told their stepmother, Phimala, what had happened and pretended as if feeling very sorry. When she heard the news, Phimala first went to see if blood was coming from the "Thenkro" (arrow case). She found no blood coming so didn't believe the sons. She started waiting for her husband for many months.
Many months passed by and Karpakeli didn't come back. Phimala wondered if her husband was still alive. Finally, she had to believe that her husband was not alive anymore. According to traditional custom, she went into a mourning period called Kiriya Basne for twelve years. The sons had their own plan. They came upon an agreement to hold an archery (Bhejo Khelne) competition. It was decided that whoever hit the bull (Gunjari Phorne) would marry their stepmother. They went on trying to hit the bull for twelve years without any success.
On the other hand, Karpakeli was spending his days in the cave eating the honey he had stored. The honey storage finally ran out and he was in trouble. As time passed by, he was so hungry that he started eating his own flesh from the arms and thighs. He didn't die even after he ate most of the flesh of his own body. He called upon the god for help. Hearing the plight of Karpakeli, the god sent a white monkey to rescue him. The white monkey sat on the top of the cliff and dropped his tail to Karpakeli and said, "Hold on my tail tightly. I will pull you out from there." Karpakeli didn't believe the monkey and refused to do what he was asked to do. Therefore, the monkey left. After that, a crow flew near him. Karpakeli requested the crow to fly to his house and tell his wife that he needed her help. The crow refused to help him. He cursed the crow to live on eating human excreta which the crows in the mountains still do. After some time, he saw some ants wandering near him. He repeated the same request to the ants. The ants also refused to help. Karpakeli cursed the ants, "You will always be poor and spend all your life searching for food." That is why the ants are always seen busy gathering foods for their stores.
Finally, the god from heaven sent a couple of vultures named Khakapati to rescue Karpakeli. The vultures flew to Karpakeli and requested him to ride on their back. Karpakeli was not sure what to do. So he said, "If you bring a big rock from Kali Gandaki river on your back, I will believe you." The vultures went to the Kali Gandaki river, held their wings together, and flew back with a huge rock. That made Karpakeli believe in the vultures. The vultures held their wings together and asked him to sit on it. Then, they flew to a place named Galeshwor on the bank of Kali Gandaki river and took a rest. Karpakeli quenched his thirst there. He told that the place would be a sacred place in the future. Now days, every year in the month of December, people go there for a pilgrimage. From there, the vultures took him to a flat place in Rakhu village and then to Thapana of Kaphaldanda.
Karpakeli created a rock with nine corners and a tree named Banjho in Thapana. He rested there for some time. The tree is not there any more, but the nine-cornered rock is still there in Thapana. People who pass by the rock offer flowers and coins there. Karpakeli asked the vultures to take him in the spring of Nigalpani near his house. After they took him there, Karpakeli blessed them, "May you live a life of one thousand years and be able to see the carcass of dead animals from high above the sky. Be the one to eat a carcass first." That is how vultures became able to spot carcasses no matter how high they are flying.
Karpakeli hid behind a tree near that spring and waited for his wife to come. After some time, his wife came with a water pot. As she was filling her water pot, Karpakeli made the water muddy to draw her attention, but Phimala was oblivious. She looked up towards the spring and saw a black bird named Kalchounra there. She said, "You are not treating me well because you think that I am a widow. Therefore, I curse you. From now on, you will spend all your life along the river bank." Karpakeli again made the water muddy when she started to fill her waterpot. Phimala saw a bird named Male Dhupini flying off from the spring. She cursed the same to the Male Dhupini bird. Because they were cursed by Phimala, both types of birds are seen these days nesting and living along the bank of mountain streams.
Finally, Karpakeli put his ring in the spring that took it and dropped it in the water pot. When Phimala saw something dropping in her water pot, she took it in her hand. To her surprise, she saw her husband's ring. The ring made her sure that her husband must be hidden around. So she walked along the trees looking for her husband. When she found Karpakeli looking like a skeleton, she started crying. Caressing her, Karpakeli asked his wife to keep quiet. When Phimala asked him to go to the house, he said, "If I go to the house during the day, my sons will come to kill me when they see me alive. Therefore, come to get me at midnight. Bring a stick, a Soli (basket) with namlo (strip) and a cover all made of Bet (a kind of bamboo) to carry me. Don't forget to put nine mana (about four kg.) of grains in the basket. Don't let anybody see you when you come to get me." He further instructed his wife that he should be taken into the house down from the roof.
Phimala went to the house and prepared everything as her husband had instructed. The sons went to bed on the ground floor after they ate their food. As midnight approached, she sneaked from her house toward the spring. She put Karpakeli in the basket and carried it to the house. Slowly, she took her husband into the house through the roof. At that time, the eldest son heard some strange noise upstairs and went to see what was there. He couldn't see what was going on there but Karpakeli gave him a big slap on his cheek. Silently, the son went back to his bed. When his brothers asked why his cheek was swollen, he just said, "A bee stung there."
The nine brothers had not quit the archery competition trying to hit the bull. As usual, they left for the archery after they ate their food. After they left, Phimala made some flour soup for Karpakeli. He felt some dizziness after eating the soup because he was eating grain after twelve years. When he felt a little better, he asked his wife where the sons had gone. Phimala explained everything about what they had been competing for. Knowing the vice attempt of his sons, Karpakeli became very angry with them. He asked his wife to bring his bow and arrow and make a small hole towards the wall where the sons were doing archery. Since he was very weak, it was difficult for him to stretch the string of the bow. Pointing towards the target, he released his arrow which went straight and hit the bull.
The nine brothers hurried to the target to find out who had hit the bull. They found that the arrow belonged to none of them. They were puzzled as to where that arrow came from. The eldest and the youngest son examined the arrow carefully and declared that it was their father's arrow. The second son also agreed with them. The others, however, didn't accept that claim. They began to ask how a dead person could shoot an arrow.
Karpakeli arrived in the meantime, looking for his sinful sons. All of them dropped their heads, seeing their father alive in front of them. The eldest and the youngest son went to their father and asked for forgiveness. So did the second son, but the others did not say anything. They remained silent, with their eyes and heads down. Karpakeli cursed the six sons from the third to the eighth to be the diseases of syphilis, gonorrhea. herpes, scabies, etc. The six brothers made a big fire in the jungle and jumped over it. Thus, they became different diseases to give trouble to human beings.
Karpakeli forgave three sons, the first, the second, and the last one. He blessed the first son, Ramchan, and the youngest son, Kul, to be the ancestral god of Pun Magar. He ordered Ramchan to protect the fire place and Kul to protect the main pillar of the house. He ordered the second son to be the god of "khala" (the place where people put their harvest for drying) and ordered him to protect people's grains.
Karpakeli spent the rest of his life with his wife living in the forest around Kaphaldanda. Ramchan and Kul lived together a nomadic life. Later, Pun Magar people living in that area decided to worship Ramchan and Kul. They asked the two brothers, "O Ramchan and Kul! We would like to offer you two animals, one with nine horns and the other with two horns. Its upon you to select one each." The youngest brother Kul asked his brother to chose first because he was older. Thinking that the animal with nine horns must be bigger than the one with two horns, he chose the nine-horned one. Later, he found that his was a cock with nine points on his comb and his brother's was a bull. (Some people say that it was a lamb instead of a bull. However, many Pun Magar believe that their forefathers used to worship their ancestral god with a bull. It was much later when the influence of the Hindu religion increased, and the Hindu rulers banned sacrificing bulls, that Pun people started to worship with a lamb or goat. However, they still offer hairs from the tail of a bull when we worship Ramchan and Kul).
Ramchan felt sorry about getting the smaller animal in his share. Seeing his elder brother unhappy, Kul said, "Don't worry, brother. Only a couple of people will come to worship you at midnight. So you will get to eat the whole cock by yourself. However, I will be worshipped in the dawn so I need to give my share to all of the guests who come to the house." Ramchan agreed with what his brother said. From that time, people worship Ramchan at midnight and Kul in the dawn.
Thus had started the worshipping of ancestral god by the Pun Magar. The worship is carried out mainly in the full moon day of June. However, it can be carried out at other times of the year, too. Three or five Panre (persons who make arrangements for worship) feast for the preparation of the worship. They make a small makeshift hut in the field for worshipping. They follow certain rituals for the worship. They sacrifice a cock at midnight in the fire. The cock must be eaten at night. Then at dawn, they worship Kul by sacrificing a lamb. The blood of the lamb is sprayed on the main pillar of house. All the villagers are invited to the worship. They cook the meat of the lamb or goat and eat.
The Panre carry the materials used for worshipping into the house. A village shaman is requested to find if the worship went well or not. The shaman starts his rituals beating either a drum or a bronze plate with a stick and tells all the stories in detail as written here. As he goes on telling the story of Karpakeli, he finds if the Panre did something wrong. It is very interesting that what he finds comes to be true. We don't know how it happens, but it is true.
The guests spend the whole night listening to the story of their ancestral god around the fire. People have worshipped this way for generations.
