KATARI, DECEMBER 9

Kirat settlements in the eastern parts of the country are celebrating Sakela Udhauli festival with fervour.

The largest festival of the Kirat community is celebrated with dancing and singing for 15 days from the full moon day in the month of Mangsir as per the lunar calendar.

Folk music of Sakela can be heard echoing in the Kirat settlements throughout this period with the playing of Dholjhyamta drums and cymbals. The revellers can be seen performing traditional dances following the customary rituals in the throbbing drum beats and cymbals. This year the festivity started from Thursday.

Sakela Udhauli festival is celebrated with much enthusiasm and gaiety in the eastern hilly districts of Khotang, Bhojpur, Udayapur as well as cities like Dharan, Itahari, Gaighat, Katari, Morang and in the federal capital Kathmandu, said Param Rai, President of Kirat Rai Yayokhkha Katari Town Committee.

The main celebration consists of a performance by participants standing in a circle in front of the Sakela shrine. It is said that the divine and the human, and the myth and the reality are reflected in the performance.

During Udhauli, the Kirats worship their ancestors and deities. 'Sakela is a cultural performance. It represents the history, culture, civilisation, identity and philosophical life of the Kirat indigenous people. It is performed in various sillis (steps). These sillis are an imitation of the ancestors' tasks,' said Shuvaraj Rai, an expert on Kirat culture.

The Kirats are animists and worship nature and this festival celebrates the nature-human bond.

A version of this article appears in the print on December 10, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.