Dashain swings disappearing

By Ramesh Kumar Bogati

Kalikot, Sept 28 : Dashain, the greatest festival of Nepali Hindus, has begun since Monday. People have already sowed grains to germinate jamaras.

With the arrival of Dashain, smiles have started lingering in the lips of children and youth as they take the festival as a merrymaking occasion.

However, of late, swings, which used to be a part of Dashain, have gradually started disappearing from the villages. 

In the past when televisions and mobile phones had not reached the villages, the villagers used to erect swings of different types soon after Ghatasthapana, the first day of Dashain, but now it is rare to see people erecting the swings. 

Nayaram Sahakari, 80, from Narharinath Rural Municipality in Kalikot district, recalled how the people used to go to search for bamboos and ropes to install the swings a week before the Dashain. 

Sahakari said, “Just before Dashain, swings used to be meeting points for children but now not only swings have disappeared, but also the joy of Dashain.”

There is also a popular belief that people should play swing and leave the ground at least once on the day of Vijaya Dashami. 

However, the swings, which carry Nepali culture, have themselves disappeared from the villages.

Surat Bista, a resident of the rural municipality, said that the local governments were not serious about preserving the culture of swings closely linked with Dashain festival.  

Lately, with the increasing number of people enjoying social media, the importance of the traditional way of celebrating festivals is also gradually fading.

Hikmat Jang Malla, a local of Khandachakra Municipality-2, said that the tradition associated with various festivals should be revived in order not to lose the original feature of the culture. 

He suggested that to preserve the originality of our culture and traditions, we should work to revive the traditional activities associated with various festivals.