Prajwal R. Vajracharya (Portland) carries on the tradition of a thousand-year old Buddhist worship dance with origins in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. For many years, the dance was passed down in secret from generation to generation; only recently has Vajracharya’s father allowed it to be performed in public and by people from outside of his family.
Bio
Prajwal R. Vajracharya is from the Nepali Buddhist family of Newar Vajracharya, whose members carry on a thousand-year-old dance tradition from the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Vajracharya was only eight years old when he began dancing. His father, who first taught his son the foundational movements for this type of dance, is a scholar of Newar culture and the specific form of Buddhist sacred dancing called Charya Vritya. Now a Buddhist priest, Prajwal Vajracharva maintains the worship dance in his daily religious practice. Singing is also important to the sacred dance tradition, and certain words corresponding to specific dance movements. A typical dance consists of four different steps done in rhythms of seven or more beats. Individual dances are dedicated to everything from plants and animals to the numerous Buddhist deities. Around 2000, Vajracharya brought this dance tradition to the US and then to Oregon. He regularly teaches and performs at the Nritya Mandala Mahavihara Buddhist Temple in NE Portland. Until recently, Charya Nritya, as well as other traditional rituals, had been hidden from the world. This secret form of worship dance was passed down from one generation to the next, developing over hundreds of years. Eventually, Vajracharya’s father broke with tradition and allowed the dance to be performed in public and practiced by people other than his family members. This change inspired Vajracharya to expand and preserve his family’s heritage in Portland. Vajracharya offers movement workshops, classes, presentations, and dance performances at schools, universities, community events, and other venues for the public. As a Buddhist priest, he also performs religious rituals for births, marriages, blessings, and many other life-cycle events.
