INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATARI, DECEMBER 9Kirat settlements in the eastern parts of the country are
celebrating Sakela Udhauli festival with fervour.
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The largest festival of the Kirat community is celebrated with dancing and singing for 15 days from the full moon day in
the month of Mangsir as per the lunar calendar.
Folk music of Sakela can be heard echoing in the Kirat settlements
throughout this period with the playing of Dholjhyamta drums and cymbals
The revellers can be seen performing traditional dances following the customary rituals in the throbbing drum beats and cymbals
This year the festivity started from Thursday.Sakela Udhauli festival is celebrated with much enthusiasm and gaiety in the eastern hilly
districts of Khotang, Bhojpur, Udayapur as well as cities like Dharan, Itahari, Gaighat, Katari, Morang and in the federal capital
Kathmandu, said Param Rai, President of Kirat Rai Yayokhkha Katari Town Committee.The main celebration consists of a performance by
participants standing in a circle in front of the Sakela shrine
It is said that the divine and the human, and the myth and the reality are reflected in the performance.During Udhauli, the Kirats worship
their ancestors and deities
"Sakela is a cultural performance
It represents the history, culture, civilisation, identity and philosophical life of the Kirat indigenous people
It is performed in various sillis (steps)
These sillis are an imitation of the ancestors' tasks," said Shuvaraj Rai, an expert on Kirat culture.The Kirats are animists and worship
nature and this festival celebrates the nature-human bond.A version of this article appears in the print on December 10, 2022, of The
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com