Sudurpashchim celebrates Gaura festival

By Pushkar Bhandari,Dadeldhura, Aug. 25: People in the Sudurpashchim Province have celebrated the Gaura festival with great excitement and fervour. Thursday was the main day of the festival known as Athewali and people celebrated it by placing representations of Gaura and Maheshwor in lawns outside their house (Gaura Khala) and worshipping them. 

A festival associated with the identity of Sudurpashchim, Gaura was celebrated in a grand manner across the province. It was also celebrated in several districts of Karnali Province as well as in parts of the Uttarakhand state of India, albeit with regional differences. People of Sudurpashchim currently living in the federal capital Kathmandu also observed the festival.

Although people outside Sudurpashchim may not know it, Gaura is not a single-day festival. It begins on the fifth day of the bright half of the Nepali month of Bhadra. On the first day, women soak five types of food items, collectively called Biruda, in a copper pot and officially welcome the festival. Because of this, this day is called Biruda Panchami, shared Gaura priest Lok Raj Bhatta.

On the second day, this soaked Biruda is taken to the nearest tap or pond and washed. On the third day, Goddess Gaura is worshipped in local temples and married women offer her a special kind of religious thread.

The fourth day is the Athewali when people observing the Gaura festival fast and worship Gaura, who is the manifestation of Goddess Parvati, and Maheshwor, who is Lord Shiva.

Although Gaura begins on the same day for all, different families and communities conclude it on different days based on their customs and traditions.

Gaura festival is also a time for merrymaking as people sing Deuda songs and perform related dances. Referred to as playing Deuda, people sing religious tales in various folk melodies including Chaitali, Dhumari and Dhusko. People also use Deuda to share happiness and sorrows among each other and satirise social malpractices and politics. 

However, Gaura has lost much of its lustre because many have left the villages, local Khadak Bohara expressed with sadness. "Our culture and tradition are dying," he worried.

Meanwhile, the Sudurpashchim Province government has declared Thursday and Friday as public holidays for the Gaura festival.