Urau Community Celebrates Sarahul Festival Across Sunsari

Inaruwa (Sunsari), March 21: The Urau community in Sunsari district marked the Sarahul festival with traditional rituals and gatherings in various areas, including the district headquarters, Inaruwa.

Celebrations were also held in Koshi, Bhokraha, Harinagar and Gadhi, where members of the community came together to observe their major cultural festival.

Community leader Ramkisun Urau said the festival was celebrated collectively at a Sarana Sthal in Inaruwa-8, following long-standing religious traditions. He described Sarahul as the most important festival of the Urau people, who are known for their deep reverence for nature.

Observed on the third day of the bright half of the month of Chait, the festival marks the beginning of the New Year for the community. Worship is performed around sacred trees such as Sal (Shorea robusta) and Karam, with the blooming of flowers symbolising the start of a new cycle.

The community also follows the tradition of offering newly harvested crops and fruits to ancestral deities before consumption.

During the rituals, the religious leader expressed gratitude to nature—earth, forests and water sources—and prayed for peace, prosperity and well-being. Participants took part in the ceremonies dressed in traditional attire.