Ap Yoezer

The serpentine Hill of Nobulok, light on one side and dark on the other, is an earthly representation of Yin and Yang separating the Vale of Tsigo from the Hamlet of Khemdro. Where it tapers down south, it is said to resemble an elephant’s trunk – a holy likeness that signaled a great 14th century Lama to found a monastery there. Or so the local lore goes. Where it tapers up north, it culminates in an imposing granite massif where Ap Yoezer is said to reside.

Ap Yoezer, not to be confused with any uncle who may be named Yoezer, is venerated as the local deity of upper Phobjikha . In my opinion, which is woefully limited by my ignorance with regards to much of our own local culture, I think he can best be described as our own God of Harvest. After all, it is to him that the locals make their most important prayers. After sowings and plantations are done for the year, villagers celebrate a day each year to make offerings and pay their respect to Ap Yoezer for timely rain and bountiful harvest, as well as for the general well-being of the place, the people, and their livestock.

I recently had the opportunity to join my fellow villagers, and trudge up Nobulok to pay homage to Ap Yoezer. Partly, I was compelled by the feeling that as a native, I have to “be there” at least once in my life. Pity if I died having never visited the lofty peak of Nobulok. It would be a case of “ལྷ་ས་ལྡོད་མི་མྀ་གིས་ ལྷ་ས་ཇོ་བོ་མ་མཇལ།” – person residing in Lhasa has not been to visit the Lhasa Jowo. Put lightly, an occidental equivalent of a Parisian finding himself on his deathbed having never been to see the Eiffel Tower. Egregious, right?

But more so, I wanted to go because the annual rite of homage to Ap Yozer, known as “ཨཔ་འོད་ཟེར་ཞུ་ནི་” (Ap Yoezer Zhuni) is an important tradition in our locality that speaks to our identity and values as a community. The festival can best be interpreted as calling on Ap Yoezer to welcome his benevolent presence into our villages and homes. It brings together families, friends, foes, and strangers in our primeval desire for bountiful harvests and good health for all. During the eponymous festival, the villages follow a beautiful and ancient Bon rite that I like to think is as old as the history of the place itself.

By appeasing the benevolent deity of the place, the villagers pray for the following:

ཆར་ཆུ་དུས་སུ་འབབ། – Timely rain
ལོ་ཆུ་རྟག་ཏུ་ལེགས། – Good harvest
ནད་ཡམས་མུ་གེ་མེད། – No pestilence

As the titular deity of the place, Ap Yoezer is then expected to deliver on these humble hopes and sincere prayers from his worldly worshippers.

In addition, locals say that Ap Yoezer also has the gift of fertility. Local couples yearning for kids of their own climb all the way up to his abode where they find a stone and “adopt” it as their baby, and pray to be blessed with a real one around the same time next year. In this respect, Ap Yoezer can be better surmised as the local God of Fertility since bountiful harvests and numerous kids both signal fertility. For the young couple who were there this year, I pray they be blessed with a beautiful baby very soon, elevating their domestic joy beyond measures thanks to Ap Yoezer’s benevolence!

Much as I would like to write an exposition on Ap Yoezer, I regret to write here that as one of “these youngster” I do not really know much about the rites, and the significances of Ap Yoezer and his Festival beyond my own superficial observations during the recent festival.

What I can say, though, is that it is a beautiful tradition in decline. Today, there is only one ancient person who knows the proper rites for paying homage to Ap Yoezer. And where once crowds used to bustle with great joviality and celebration, fewer and fewer gather. Even those who do come are mostly occupied on their smartphones, myself included. No wonder the elders lament that the grandeur of yesteryears are long gone…

And perhaps that is why the weather this year has been rather off-putting, to say the least. A mild, snow-less winter gave away to a wintry spring with incessant rain. Even on the day we went up Nobulok to call on Ap Yoezer, the weather was drab.

Luckily, the skies cleared a bit towards the afternoon on our way down. I hope that happened because of the incense we burned and the prayers we made to Ap Yoezer at the crest of Nobulok.

But weather aside, my greatest hope vis-à-vis the Ap Yoezer festival is that through collective action and ownership, we will be able to revive the festival to its former pomp. While the utilitarian and philosophical significances such a tradition can always be debated openly by anyone, especially within the context of rapid economic modernization, I opine that the festival is important for our community identity, social cohesion, spiritual and mental wellbeing of the folks, and for preserving the cultural richness of the locality. After all, the relentless march of progress should not sound the death knell for such richness of tradition and culture.

There is a silver-line, however; Lumbering uphill, I was enthralled by the visual feast that Nobulok offered that day. And while my photography skills and phone-camera do no justice to the raw beauty of rugged landscape that hosts this dying festival, I do hope you will like the slideshow below: