Election campaigning revives Chatro greeting in Bajura

By Sher Bahadur Sarki

Bajura, Nov. 12: Up until the 1990s, those arriving at a village in Bajura for any special occasion used to be welcomed with a Chatro.

Be it a procession coming for a marriage, people returning for Dashain or, indeed, candidates on election campaigns, anyone entering any village in the district used to find themselves greeted by an array of cultural elements held in a vessel and collectively called Chatro. But that is not the case any longer.

“It was an honour to be welcomed with Chatro,” said Gyan Nepali, a local of Sigada, Budhiganga Rural Municipality–10. “And it was also a way to keep people safe.”

Nepali explained how, in the days before motor vehicles, people could only reach their destination on foot. “And this made them vulnerable to animals, looters and the weather.”

“Chatros were a way of asking the gods to protect the people until they arrived at their destination,” he said. “But this custom has been rapidly disappearing.”

A Chatro is a vessel filled with water placed in the middle of a road on a piece of white cloth. Bermuda grass, vermillion powder and money is then put on top of the vessel. If passers-by saw these vessels on their way, they would put the vermillion on their forehead and offer cash or coins. 

This was believed to make people’s journeys auspicious but “people do not know what Chatro is these days,” Nepali lamented. 

And that is due to the expansion of transportation services, said senior citizen Hira Saud, also a resident of Sigada. He said that he had not seen a Chatro for almost 20 years.

Chatro used to also build relationships, Saud recalled. “All the residents of the village would come out to greet an arriving individual. This helped villagers know each other and become friends. It strengthened the community,” he remembered. “We are losing all of that now.”

However, the campaigning for the November 20 elections has unexpectedly served to bring this unique cultural element of Bajura back from the dead. The locals of Naina, Khaptad Chhededaha Rural Municipality–7 have been welcoming every candidate coming to their village with traditional Chatros.

Patu Nepali told The Rising Nepal that it was a way for the voters to wish for the candidates to complete their election pledges.