New generation active in preserving ancestral culture

By Thakur Prasad Acharya,Myagdi, Apr. 4: Myagdi youths have begun to actively participate in preserving the native culture of the Magar community, including endangered ancestral dances. 

Youths have started participating in Pukheyuli dance, Sorathi Bhaka, Madale-Maruni, and Kaura dances, traditionally performed by older generations in various villages of the district. There is growing hope that their culture will be preserved through generational transmission.

Kham Thapa, President of the Nepal Magar Association, Myagdi, said that awareness of cultural preservation has increased as both older and younger generations have become active in safeguarding their culture and passing on their skills to the next generation.

Thapa added that in recent years, there has been a rise in cultural activism among both older and younger generations in villages with dense Magar populations.

He further said that schools have started teaching the Pukheyuli dance. He said, “As school-age children and youth begin to join ancestral dances taught to them, there is growing hope for the preservation and transmission of traditional arts that are at risk of extinction.”

Amanparai Pun, 13, from Chimkhola, Raghuganga Rural Municipality-7, has been performing the roles of Madale and Maruni in cultural programmes organised in the village. Recently, after older artists taught the Pukheyuli dance, the younger generation has become actively involved in preserving and promoting it.

Senior artist Gam Pun Magar said that the Magar community traditionally performs ancestral dances at religious, cultural, and public events, including fairs, weddings, funerals, and when welcoming guests.

He also noted that it is a tradition to sing stories of gods and goddesses in the Khyali and Sorathi dialects during ancestral dances, along with short songs expressing love, harmony, and issues of rights and responsibilities.