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71-year-old Etoria Mahato of Khairhani Municipality-1 Bahera Tharu Basti of Chitwan started preparing 'Chichchar Pwaka', a special dish of Khichra, from Sunday evening.
Chichar is prepared by putting the soaked rice of Anadi in a pani (a special type of clay pot) and steaming it on Monday morning. After the sale, on Monday afternoon, she started poking chichar poka. Neighbor Budhni Mahato also came to her house and was making chickpeas in bhorla leaves. She said that she burnt it and ate it in the morning on the day of Maghe Sankranti on Tuesday.
The indigenous Tharu community of Chitwan celebrates the Khichra festival on January 1. This 'Chichhar Pwaka' is the special dish on the day of Khichra. It is customary to burn 'pwaka' and eat it with fish, meat or potato vegetables. On the day before Khichra, there is an old custom of going fishing in groups in rivers and ghols. which is called a fisherman. For 'Chichar Pwaka', it is used to cut bhorla leaves a month in advance. Which is called Patahari.
Kari Mahato, the central treasurer of the Tharu Journalists Association, says that fishers and fishermen are disappearing now. "Early on, Rapti or Budhi Rapti used to form a group and go fishing in the river. At present, it is not possible to fish like that in Rapti. There is no fish even in Budhi Rapti,' he said.
Lately, fish/meat shops are crowded on fishing days. Kari says that the practice of going to the forest and bringing bhorla leaves is also very less. Instead of going to the forest, poka is made on banana leaves. Kari said that eating poka polere in cold season warms the body. He said that he eats chickpeas and chickpeas throughout the winter.
'Andi's chichhar is a stubborn khanki in itself. If you make poka and burn it in the fire and eat it, it warms the body in cold weather,' said Kari. He said that there is an old custom of the Tharu community of Chitwan to conduct financial transactions, settle accounts, and make new plans in Khichra.
