LALITPUR: The Kirat community celebrated the Udhauli festival with great enthusiasm.
Members of the Kirat Rai Yayokha community gathered in Nakhipot, Lalitpur Metropolitan-14, to perform the traditional Sakela Sili dance as part of the festivities.
The Lalitpur District Committee of Kirat Rai Yayokha also organized a cultural program to mark the occasion.
The celebration was vibrant, with women adorned in traditional attire and ornaments, while men dressed in daura-suruwal and caps, carrying traditional drums and cymbals.
Sakela, the dance performed during Udhauli, expresses gratitude to the earth deity (Bhume) for a good harvest, following prayers during Ubhauli for a fruitful planting season.
Chair of the organizing committee, Bhupendra Puma Rai, explained, “On this day, we worship nature and give thanks for its blessings. During Ubhauli, seeds are sown, and during Udhauli, the harvest is dedicated to ancestors.”
Observed annually on the full moon of Mangsir, Udhauli is known by different names among Kirat communities but is celebrated collectively under this name.
The event featured traditional rituals like earth worship, followed by the Sakela Sili dance, where participants depicted ancestral activities from the Stone Age to modern times.
The festival concluded with a variety of traditional food and drinks, adding to the celebratory spirit.
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