Kirant community celebrates Udhauli festival
Kirant Yakkha celebrate Udhauli with Chasuwa, Sunuwar with Folsyadar, Rai with Udhauli Sakela, and Limbu with Chasok Tangnam.
KATHMANDU: The Kirant community celebrated the Udhauli festival on the day of Margashirsha Shukla Purnima as a mark of respect for their ancestors and nature.
Kirant Yakkha celebrate Udhauli with Chasuwa, Sunuwar with Folsyadar, Rai with Udhauli Sakela, and Limbu with Chasok Tangnam.
The Kirant community celebrates Chasuwa by Yakkha, Pholsyadar by Sunuwar, Udhauli Sakela by Rai, and Chasok Tangnam by Limbu as the day of offering to their favorite deity, asking for permission to eat, and remembering their ancestors after the harvest of their planted crops. The Kirant caste has a tradition of celebrating the Yawa or Ubhauli festival during harvest time.
For Bhumi Puja (land worship) Kirant women and men dress up in ethnic costumes and reach to a location where they celebrate the festival by dancing Dhan Naach to the beat of Chyabrung. Since the Kirant period, the Sano Hattiban of Lalitpur in the valley has been considered a historical religious pilgrimage site. Kirant festival is particularly celebrated in Sano Hattiban, Kirant’s historical holy place.
After the harvest of the crops, Jeevan Hatacho Rai, the central chairperson of Kirat Rai Yayokhya, expressed his gratitude to nature and informed that this festival was celebrated by worshiping ancestors, land, and nature and offering new grain. He stated that on the occasion of Udhauli, people worship at Sakelasthan in Hattiban in Lalitpur and exchange gifts.
Following the worship, they entertain themselves by dancing Chandi Naach, Chyabrung Naach, Dhol Naach, and other traditional dances. It has become a tradition for the Kirants who have gathered to celebrate the festival and organize their traditional cultural programs as well as various sports competitions.
In the Kirant caste, there is also a belief that worshiping for good farming in Ubhauli and celebrating Sakela (land) for good farming in Ubhauli is a festival. The Kirant community lavishly celebrates both festivals.
