Sawane Sakranti: The Special Day We Pray to Mother Nature for Prosperity

We wish all our readers on Sawane Sakranti, today is a special day for the Gorkhali community

Following the असारको १५ [Asar ko 15 – दहि चिउरा खाने दिन] when people sow the paddy seeds, today people in the hills celebrate Mother Nature and request her to bestow happiness and prosperity….

Having planted the seeds since Asar 15, by today all the plantation is completed and tonight is the night of partying as well as making sure the new seedlings are safe…

Tonight hill folks take out a procession, wherein people carry a fire torch with local medicinal herb पट पटे to ward off the animals and pests, while crying out loud “ढंग ढंग राति…. सक्रंती…. उपिय्याँ जा रुपियाँ आइज” thus wishing for hardship to end and for prosperity to begin.

The aroma and smoke from Pat-pate is expected to kill the pests and the shouting is expected to scare away larger animals from destroying the newly planted crops. In many places farmers also throw out burning fire (अगुल्ठो) towards three direction around the farm.

Following the procession people (traditionally farmers) gather together to share food and celebrate the community solidarity and they party after having worked very hard in the past 15 days to sow seeds.

This is a unique festival which is representative of our pagan practices, please celebrate it and spread the work so that every Gorkha across the world celebrates

Ours is a unique tradition… lets keep it alive