Tharu Community Museum Established in Ramdhuni, Sunsari:
A museum has been set up at Ramdhuni in Sunsari to preserve the art, culture, and costumes of the Tharu community. The museum, built on the initiative of Ramdhuni Municipality, has been named Adivasi Janajati Museum.
Chairman of the Museum Management Committee, Fagulal Chaudhary, said that the museum has collected the cultural issues of the indigenous Tharu community from birth to death.
He said that the museum has been set up with the objective of reviving some endangered cultures and making it easier for future generations to understand history. The museum is also preparing to display materials reflecting the art and culture of Tharu and other tribals.
The wall of the museum depicts a biography of the Tharu community. This is said to make it clear that the indigenous Tharu community is an ancient caste here. In which the biography of the community has been dependent on agriculture since time immemorial.
According to journalist Dhirendra Chaudhary, the museum depicts traditional materials such as rice husks, rice seed huts, straw huts for animal husbandry, bamboo and wooden houses, courtyards, dwellings, dug wells for drinking water, drinking water containers, rice mills, jatos, and okhals.
According to Chaudhary, the museum is decorated with pictures of bullock carts, luggage boxes, plows, and spades used for transportation in ancient times.
Similarly, in the Kaul Vishwakarma community used for oiling in ancient times, agricultural tools made by the community in Tharu village, and a picture of the Thakur community combing their hair can be seen in the museum. Chief of Ramdhuni Municipality Jay Prakash Chaudhary said that the handicrafts of Tharu women include Kohbar, Dhama, Dhekiya, Mana, Daura, and Patiya.
They are also scattered in all the districts and hilly cities of the Terai in Nepal. Especially Sunsari, Morang, Chitwan, Kapilvastu, Nawalparasi, and Dang are considered to be the place of origin and civilization of Tharu. It is not that there is no museum of the Janajatis in Province No. 1, but it is because there is a lack of a museum that reflects the identity of the Tharu caste.
Tharu culture, dress, and religion:
The Tharu communities living in Nepal are considered to be rich in culture and traditions. There are many types of dance songs in the Tharu community. Tharu ancestors are found to have started dancing in different situations. The pastoralists carrying sticks in their hands while going to the forest to graze cows and buffaloes have become established in today's Tharu community under the name of lathi dance. Similarly, expensive bridal dances, Kathghori dances, Jharra, and Mungrauwa dances are disappearing in the Tharu community nowadays. Sakhiya, Jhumra, Lathi, Mayur, and Rhudangwa dances, which are danced according to time and festival, have become common dances in Deshaure, Dangaha, and Rana Tharu. In the Tharu communities, it is customary to give the same name to the dance that is performed while dancing.
The Tharu community has its own costumes. Men wear Bheguwa, Dagli, ascot while women wear Lehenga, Choli, etc. Nowadays, men wear shirts, pants and women wear saris and kurtas.
Tharu traditions and dishes:
Although there is no proven fact of any religion in the Tharu community, they consider themselves priests of nature. Along with the changing society, different religions have also started to be considered due to the presence of Hindus, Buddhists, and other nearby religions. In the Tharu community, especially festivals like Maghe Sankranti, Krishna Janmashtami, Holi, Gudiya (Nachpanchami), Itwari are celebrated with special significance. In the Tharu tradition, Maghi, Phagu Purnima, Nagpanchami, Krishna Janmashtami, and Itwari festivals are considered important. In addition, Dashain and Tihar are also celebrated.
On the eve of Phagun Shukla Purnima, there is a tradition of burning fire and bringing new fire to everyone's house, said Shakar Lal Chaudhary Tharu, a local intellectual. It is customary to keep the fire burning in the house for a year. In addition to this, the blessings of the big ward are taken to kill Jita (pig) and play Avir. Gudiya Shravan Shukla, an important festival of the Tharu tradition, is celebrated on the day of Nag Panchami.
Similarly, the second Sunday after Krishna Janmashtami and Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated especially for the Tharu community. On this occasion, fasting and vegetarian dishes are eaten. The custom of giving rice and bread to Didi Vahini on the next day of Itwari is found in the Tharu community. Nowadays, Dashain and Tihar are also celebrated in the Tharu community.
In the Tharu community, the Maghi festival is considered a special festival. This festival is considered the new year in the Tharu community. Jita (killing pigs) is practiced in the village on the eve of Maghe Sankranti. It is celebrated on the same day and Dhungru is sung at night. It is an important tradition of the Tharu community to bathe in a river, creek, or lake in the morning after singing the song. It is customary to give rice to Didi Vahini again the day after Sankranti.
On the third day of Maghi, Khujani is performed in this community. There is a special significance of this day to get rid of anything. Disagreements between siblings at home are also resolved on this day. From this day onwards, it is customary for the village headmen (leaders), watchmen, and teachers to be selected for the whole year. Before the government announced the release of Kamalari and Kamaiyas, it was customary on this day for men to work inside the owner's house as daughters Kamalari and for outside work as men Kamaiyas. Currently, the government has stopped the practice after the release of Kamalari and Kamaiya.
In the Tharu community, various dishes are cooked. It is customary to make different dishes on every festival and occasion. In the Tharu community, Dhikri, Anadi's rice, Chuni Variya are considered vegetarian dishes. Fish dishes including snails, squirrels, rats, pigs are also important in the Tharu community. Prem says that there is a tradition of eating and made from Andi's rice, especially on the day of Maghi, saying, Since the Tharu dishes are healthy and strong, snails clean the stomach and gingta is high in protein, so it is believed by the Tharu community that eating gingta can cure jaundice.
