Children find happiness in mud on the rice field during the celebration of Rice Plantation Festival in Kathmandu Nepal. 29 June 2013
Happiness In Nepali Mud
festival
Hindu women celebrate Rishi Panchami festival in Nepal
Hindu women take holy bath in Bagmati River on the occasion of Rishi Panchami festival at Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. Hindu women believe that the fasting, worship and the holy bath in the river will purify any offenses that occurred during menstruation period.
Hindu women celebrate Rishi Panchami festival by fasting and taking holy bath in rivers. Hindu women believe that the fasting, worship and the holy bath in the river will purify any offenses that occurred during menstruation period. In most of the Hindu family, Menstruation is taken as symbol impurity and women are not supposed to take part in religious ceremonies during this period. Women worship Sapta Rishi (Seven Saints) asking forgiveness for the offenses occurred during the monthly periods throughout the Year.
The Mud Holi Festival
By Nabin Baral
“Have you ever done plantation of Rice?”
“No!”
“And you?”
“I have not done the plantation but have seen farmers planting it during my last week trekking in Annapurna Circuit.”
The bus starts with big noise, the discussion of two tourists fades out and a member of Powerful Hands stands up shouts towards the driver “Guru Jee we have to pick-up two people from Damkal, near Jawalakhel”. No reaction from the bus driver, the bus moves from Thamel.
Three buses, two big and one micro full of local and international tourists with members of Powerful Hands and staff of Social Tour, heads towards the Bajrabarahi , in the southern outskirts of Kathmandu Valley to celebrate Rice Plantation Festival on the morning of last dayJune.
When monsoon hits Nepal, farm lands becomes play ground for Mud Holi on 15 of Ashad. This year 15th of Nepali Month Ashad was 29 June, which is officially Paddy Day in Nepal and farmers celebrate with water, mud, traditional songs and food. Rice terraces in the hills of Nepal makes great patterns that no one can forget in their life.
After a short stop at Bajrabarahi Temple at 12 in the noon three buses reached the destination, a small village in Bajrabarahi. The excited rice-planters-to-be get out of the bus and head towards the main rice plantation plot.
There were many foreigners, some even with their kids, from different countries. The steps of foreigner were not nicely balanced in the mud water.
Raj Gyawali, the founder and director of the Social Tours tries takes the attention of the crowed but it was possible because of the excited rice planters. Everyone started to attack the paddy seedling that were made ready by the local farmers and started to plant it. Locals started to teach the way to catch deep the paddy seedling into the mud-water.
Within a minute La Ma, a staff from Social tour started the Mud Holi. He entered in to the rice field like a king lion. Everyone started shout, “eeee…!”, and run out of the plot but in vain.
“No! No! No! Oh my God!! , different kinds of exclamation sound started come out from the rice plot with the background sound of splashed of the mud water. The revenge starts and in some minutes everyone looked like same daughters and sons of same mother, the mother earth. No white and black, no national and international, no rich and poor. Now all the planters are covered with same order and color of mud.
Raj Gyalwali shares his Mud Holi experience in his blog write like this “ And when work turned into play, there was no telling who was who, covered in mud from head to toe. After a typical Newari snack and a drink or two of the local rice beer filled up with new energy, some real mud wrestling also took place”. He further writes, “All in all, what a healthy, therapeutic, fun experience – a free mud bath treatment for everyone! It makes anyone regain some youthful enthusiasm”.
For Dwayne Leditschke, from Australia, the Rice Plantation is a festival is a event that he has never heard of before. He found out about the event from social media. “It was a fantastic, fun day spent with friends; rice planting is not as easy as you think”, He said. “I like the mud holi play at the end”, He added.
Local farmers were excited to see so many people playing and planting rice together at a time. It became strange for them, the attempt of tourists trying to learn the paddy plantation. Local farmer shaked their hands of bye! bye! From the plot with smile when the excited but tired crowed left the muddy plot. With smile a local women farmer said, “ Arko Basra Feri Aaunus Hai!”.
The mud holi recharged back memories from childhood for the Nepalese friends and it saved up a unique new experience for the tourists. It is sure now that the facebook profile photos of these mud holi players will be full of mud.
Play in the mud at Bajrabarahi Rice Planting Festival
Local and international tourists play in the mud at the Bajrabarahi Rice Planting Festival Tour organized by Social tour and Powerful Hands at Lalitpur. The fun event is organized to educate people about monsoon rice plantation. 7th June 2012. Photo by Nabin Baral.
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