Twelve-Year Dance concludes in Chitlang

By Our Correspondent, Chitlang, Dec. 26: The fifth stage of the traditional ‘Baara Barse Naach’ (Twelve-Year Dance) of Chitlang area of Thaha Municipality-10 in Makwanpur district has been completed. 

 The dance is performed every 12 years.

The historically and religiously significant dance, part of the ‘Sanatan’ culture, is based on stories from the Mahabharata.

 The performance began on the day of the Champakeshwar Mahadev Jatra on Kartik 1 (mid-October) and was organised by the Champakeshwar Gopali Sanatan Culture Preservation Committee of Thaha Municipality-10.

According to the coordinator of the committee, Deepak Gopali, the Twelve-Year Dance, traditionally performed by the Gopali community, started this year on the day of the Champakeshwar Mahadev Jatra and must be concluded by the end of Falgun (mid-March). 

So far, the dance was performed three times at the ‘Khat’ located in Taukhel and twice at the ‘Khat’ in Nhulgaun within Thaha Municipality-10.

The dance, based on the Mahabharata, features characters from the epic, including sequences such as the Pandavas gambling and, ultimately, the battle between Duryodhana and Bhima.

Coordinator Gopali said that the dance involves about 90 participants, including the guru and characters from the story. 

He further added that the necessary resources for the performance have been arranged locally.