Dadhikad festival marked in eastern Terai

By Bishnu Prasad Pokharel, Damak, Sept. 9: The traditional Dadhikad festival of the indigenous communities of the eastern Tarai, has been celebrated in a grand manner in Jhapa. 

The Rajbanshi, Gangai and Tajpuriya communities observed the festival on Thursday.

Dadhikad is a festival observed every year a day after Krishna Janamashtami. It is celebrated to express happiness on the birth of Lord Krishna, worshipped as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

 According to journalist Indra Singh Rajbanshi, a distinctive feature of this festival is that people celebrate it by playing and rolling around in mud. "Krishna used to steal curd and eat and play around in it. The mud we play around in represents Krishna's curd," he informed. As per community elders, the word 'Dadhikad' means sludge made with curd. But because curd is not always available, the Rajbanshi community uses mud.

Rajbanshi said that people believed that celebrating Dadhikad would get their wishes fulfilled.

He shared that revellers marked the festival by chanting hymns and holding competitions to climb oiled bamboo poles, breaking curd-filled vessels, snatching coconuts and splashing mud on each other. The game to snatch coconuts is particularly fun where one group tries to take coconuts to the local Krishna Temple while another group tries to stop them.

However, Rajbanshi lamented that because of the weak financial status of the indigenous communities, they were finding it hard to continue their customs and traditions. "In recent years, other ethnicities have also started participating in the festival," he said. "This has enhanced its importance and sustainability."

Deputy Mayor of Birtamod Municipality Nagendra Sangroula said that the local government would do its part to preserve such native festivals. Sangroula himself participated in Dadhikad this year.