In Pics: Marigold flowers for ‘Tihar festival’
Farmers are complaining that flower cultivation is poor this year due to heavy rains and an early Tihar.
KATHMANDU: Although it is not a Raithane species in Nepal, the marigold (sayapatri in Nepali) flower has long played an important role in Tihar, Nepal’s second-largest festival.
These flowers, which grow naturally in Mexico’s mountain jungles, were first cultivated by the indigenous ‘Aztecs’ there.
This forest flower from Mexico and Central America is thought to have arrived in Nepal in the mid-seventeenth century.
Marigold flowers bloom best where the sun shines, the water does not freeze, and there is more organic matter. Commercial cultivation of this flower is currently practiced in Ichangu, Batasedanda, Gundu, Suntakhan, and other valley locations.
Farmers are complaining that flower cultivation is poor this year due to heavy rains and an early Tihar.
Farmers who used to sell flowers for 300 rupees last year are now charging 800 to 1000 rupees, depending on the size of the flowers.
Photos:-
-Saroj Basnet/MK
