Accra:Kavrepalanchok As families across Nepal celebrate the major festival of Dashain with tika blessings and reunions, the Majhi community in the Kavrepalanchok district observes the unique three-day ‘Pitara’ festival. This ancestral tradition honors deceased family members and is deeply rooted in generations of indigenous customs.
According to National News Agency Nepal, the festival occurs on specific days after Dashain’s Bijaya Dashami and Tihar’s Bhai Tika. Unlike the annual death-anniversary rituals of other communities, the Majhi tradition involves performing the Pitara rites once for a deceased relative, eliminating the need for the annual shraddha ceremony.
The rituals begin with drawings of elephants, horses, soldiers, deer, motor vehicles, and airplanes on house walls, symbolizing the means by which departed souls are believed to arrive. The figures may also depict clothing associated with the deceased. Throughout the night, songs, dances, and prayers are performed, concluding with the ceremonial immersion of the figures in a river the following morning.
Ram Krishna Majhi of Aapchaur, located in Mandandeupur Municipality-10, shared that community members gather to honor those who have died during the year. He noted that local youths are actively involved in preserving this tradition.
Local folklore recounts that the festival began after Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati asked a Majhi boatman to ferry them across a river. Pleased with his help, the divine couple blessed the community, promising that its deceased members would attain heaven if the living honored them with singing and dancing.
The Majhi, a marginalized indigenous community historically linked to boating, fishing, and river-based livelihoods in Nepal, maintain distinct cultural practices and oral traditions. The Pitara festival reflects their unique understanding of death, remembrance, and the relationship between the living and their ancestors.
For the Majhi people of Aapchaur in Kavrepalanchowk, preserving the Pitara festival is not only about observing a ritual but also about sustaining their ancestral identity and passing on a cherished cultural legacy to future generations.