President Bhandari’s message on Udhauli festival

December 19, Kathmandu: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has extended best wishes to the people of the Kirat community on the occasion of the Udhauli festival. She wished happiness, peace, good health and longevity to all Nepalis living in the country and abroad.

The biggest festival celebrated by the Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar and Yakkha people is observed for 15 days from Mangsir Purnima as per the lunar calendar every year.

In this festival, the Kirat community offers a new harvest of winter crops to their ancestors (departed ones) and worship the soil wishing for a good harvest. It is also the time birds migrate to the southern belt from the north to avoid cold.

A special sakela dance is performed in groups by the Kirat youths and elderly ones, wearing traditional attire and playing musical instruments as dhol and jhyamta.

“The festival of nature lover community has not only kept alive indigenous culture but also enriched tradition,” President Bhandari said, adding that Udhauli festival depicts inseparable relations between nature and human being.