Maruni and Sorathi dances in crisis

By Our Correspondent  Dailekh, June 7: Famous Maruni and Sorathi dances, which were popular in the Naumule area of ​​Dailekh district, with dominant population of the Janajati  (marginalised) community, is now on the verge of extinction.

Maruni and Sorathi dances are also under the attack of modern culture, as youth prefer to modern cultural practices.  There has been a tradition of singing different types of Maruni and Sorathi in the area.   Maruni dance is a popular and famous traditional dance among the indigenous communities, specially the Magars.

 In the Maruni dance, young boys disguise themselves as girls by wearing Gunyau Choli (Nepali female traditional attire) and dance to the rhythm of songs based on mythology.

 This dance, which used to be performed mainly during Dashain, is now performed at other festivals and occasions. It is now customary to dance Maruni after the farmers harvest their crops.

In Maruni dance, the stories of religious texts of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are sung in the form of folklore. Maruni is danced in the rhythm of Madal (Nepali traditional musical instrument).  The senior people of Naumule area fear that the cultural dance will disappear.

Likewise, dancing khyali, chutka, sorathi are also popular traditions, but as Maruni, they are also on the verge of extinction.

 Bal Bahadur Thapa Magar, Maruni leader of Naumule Village Municipality-1, said that when the new generation  people were influenced by the modern western cultures and the old ones were passing away, the stakeholders were not paying attention to preserve the traditional dances like Maruni. 

Khadga Bahadur Thapa Magar, who is leading Maruni dance, said that culture and folklore are disappearing. He complained that the government at all three levels had failed to take initiative for the preservation of indigenous culture.

 The leaders demanded that the local curriculum should include Maruni dance, conduct necessary training classes, construct cultural buildings and keep  records  for the conservation of such dances.