Sakela Ubhauli being celebrated in Dharan

By Nisha Rai, Dharan, May 12: Sakela Ubhauli, a great festival of Kirant Rai community, has started today. Kirant Rais celebrate Sakela twice a year as Ubhauli and Udhauli festival.

Rajendra Rai, Chairman of Kirant Rai Yayokkha, Sunsari, informed that Sakela Ubhauli 5085 started from today in Sunsari with untying in due process of drum and other musical instruments from Bijaypur, Palace premises of Hang Buddhikarna Rai at Dharan-14.

Sakela Ubhauli is a festival when seeds of food grains are planted while performing Sakela dances after worshiping Simebhume (god of soil) and wishing for peace and prosperity of all living beings, a pleasant year for all, good harvest of grains and no famine. This festival goes on for 15 days.

Sakela Udhauli, on the other hand, is celebrated to mark food grains harvesting when ripe food grains are offered to sacred oven kept buried inside house and blessings is sought from ancestors and then only the newly harvested farm products is eaten inviting relatives to share happiness and dance together.

Sakela has become a symbol of unity of all Kirant Rais no matter where they live, whether inside country or abroad.

Chairman Rai shared that formal programmes are organized in 24 different places of Dharan alone to celebrate Ubhauli festival.

Kirant Rai Yayokkha, Sunsari, has been organizing Sakela sili, traditional performance wherein activities of grains sowing and weeding are performed in the form of dance, for the last 24 years, competition among the committees at the Kiraya ward level.

This year Sakela sili will be performed as competition on 31 May at Sakela Cultural Park in Dharan-17 and the first will get a prize of Rs. 40,000, the second will bag Rs. 30,000 and the third will receive Rs. 20,000 in cash along with certificates.