Holi being celebrated as a campaign to preserve tradition

By Our Correspondent

Rupandehi, Mar. 13: The Tharu community of Rupandehi is preparing to celebrate the Holi festival with great enthusiasm. 

Sainamaina Municipality of Rupandehi has been preserving the festival for years through the Holi Milan Programme. 

While Holi celebrations had declined in recent years, Tharu youth have initiated a campaign to revive and preserve the festival.

The elders of the Tharu community in Sainamaina have organised three picnic programmes and discussed playing Holi for three consecutive days starting Thursday.

 According to Dul Bahadur Tharu, chairman of the Tharu Kalyankari Sabha, they have launched this initiative to preserve traditional Holi songs and cultural practices. 

He said that while the older generation celebrated Holi with great fanfare, there is a growing risk that younger generations may forget this ancient tradition. Tharu activist and writer Kewal Prasad Tharu said that the community would celebrate Holi on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 

Typically, Holi is celebrated for a single day in the Tarai, but this year, the Tharu community of Sainamaina plans to extend the celebration to three days to help preserve the vibrant festival.

Former president of the Tharu Welfare Sabha, Rambali Chaudhary, expressed concern that the traditional Fagu song ‘Jogira Sarrar’,  sung during Holi, is disappearing. 

He added that although many Holi songs exist in the Tharu language, they are gradually fading away. As a result, this year’s Holi celebrations will serve as a campaign to preserve these old cultural expressions. Tharu poet Bam Bahadur Tharu emphasised that organising programmes featuring Holi songs in Tharu villages would help revive the tradition and spark interest in these songs among younger generations.

 According to him, Holi songs are vanishing from Tharu households across the Tarai.

Tharu leaders believe that since the Holi songs once sung by their ancestors are now on the verge of extinction, the three-day Holi Milan programme will serve as an opportunity to educate the younger generation about these traditional songs and preserve their cultural heritage.