Aathpahariyas in Dhankuta marking 15-day festival of Wadangmet

BY KABIRAJ GHIMIRE.Hile, Nov. 9: The Aathpahariya community, residing mainly within Dhankuta Municipality, is currently busy celebrating their main festival, ‘Wadangmet’. 

The celebration involves carrying the ‘difficulties’ of the year to the Kokaha River in Barahaakshetra, offering them to Lord Barahaa, and symbolically cleansing the home and heart of sorrow and impurity.

Wadangmet is the only festival that lifts the Aathpahariya people from the grief of deaths that occur throughout the year. It is also a time of joy when new family members are welcomed and celebrated. 

The festival begins on the full moon following Tihar and continues until the new moon.

According to one local, Umesh Aathpahariya, all family members who have experienced bereavement during the year bathe in the Kokaha River in Barahakshetra, Sunsari, shave their heads and beards, and symbolically ‘wash away their sorrow’ before offering prayers to Lord Baraha.

 “This is our only ritual to purify ourselves from mourning and to celebrate renewal,” he said. “Even if a family member dies a day before the festival begins, we go to the Kokaha the next morning for the cleansing ritual. Likewise, if someone dies right after the festival, the mourning continues for a year and purification is done in the following year’s festival.”

The custom includes cutting hair and shaving beards as an act of letting go of grief. Upon returning from Barahakshetra, the community celebrates with devotional songs, drum performances, ‘Maruni’ and ‘Dallo’ dances, enjoying traditional dishes such as buffalo meat, ash gourd, and philuge pickle, said Surya Aathpahariya. 

The families also visit one another to exchange congratulations and blessings for new additions to their households.

There are around 6,000 Aathpahariya people, most of whom live in or around Dhankuta Municipality. However, community elders are concerned that with the influence of modern lifestyles, the festival’s unique traditions may gradually fade.

“The challenge today is to preserve the authenticity of our festival,” said Ashta Bahadur Aathpahariya, Chairman of the Aathpahariya Society. “We are working to raise awareness among youth about the importance of our culture, explaining the rituals, traditional dishes, music, and dances. More young people are now taking part, performing our own songs and dances using traditional instruments.”

Four-day pilgrimage 

In the past, when there were no vehicles, participants travelled entirely on foot. Despite availability of modern transport facilities, many Aathpahariya people continue the four-day pilgrimage from Dhankuta to Barahakshetra and back, following the ancient routes to uphold tradition.

The journey begins in Dhankuta, with the first night spent at Ahale or Simlibas. During the evening stopovers, travellers sing ‘Mundhum’ hymns and devotional songs that are performed only during this occasion.

On the second day, they reach Barahakshetra and bathe in the Kokaha River, shave their heads and beards, and let the river carry away the grief of the year. Clothes worn by the deceased, along with offerings and candles, are also floated downstream. Pilgrims then offer prayers to Lord Baraha and invite the deity to accompany them home, a symbolic gesture that marks the spiritual return of Lord Baraha to their households.

The third night is spent near Bhaguwa Khola, where the Tamor and its tributaries meet. On the fourth day, they visit their chosen sacred site, ‘Margathan’, perform prayers, and return home.

Upon returning, families perform ancestral rituals, change into white clothing, and begin 15-day of celebration, singing devotional songs, dancing Maruni and Dallo, and enjoying traditional meals. Only Aathpahariya musical instruments, songs, dances, and dishes are used during this period. “We don’t use any outside music or food in this festival,” said Dinesh Aathpahariya.

The festival concludes with a grand communal feast at the traditional ‘52 Chule Ghar’ (House of 52 Hearths), where Aathpahariya people from all areas gather to dine together and bid farewell to Lord Baraha, marking the official end of that year’s 

Wadangmet celebration.