During Chaite Dasain, the worship of Bikram Baba, which will be held near Kasara, the headquarters of Chitwan National Park, will start from tomorrow, Saturday. The puja will end on Chait 30. During Chaite Dasain, Bikram Baba has been worshiped from Aunsi till Purnima. Bikram Baba, which has traditionally been worshiped by the tribal Tharu community of Chitwan for centuries, has been increasingly attracted to Hindus in recent years.
Bikram Baba is worshiped inside the forest of Chitwan Park. There is no temple. There is a tradition of worshiping Baba in a Than built under the cover of a big sal tree. From Saptami to Navami Dashami, there is a rush of people coming to worship. Deepak Dawadi, Ward President of Bharatpur Metropolitan City-23, said that on other days too, people come from different places to worship Bikram Baba. He said that 6.5 lakh worshiped for 15 days last year.
Ward president Dawadi says that this number is likely to increase even more this year. President of Tharu Kalyankarini Sabha Chitwan, Lalit Chaudhary said that the Tharu community has been worshiping Bikram Baba for generations. He says that Bikram Baba is one of the great powers that the Tharus believe. He said that after the announcement of Chitwan National Park, the custom of worshiping has increased rapidly in recent years.
Shankar Mahato, who is the chairman of Patihani Intermediate Consumer Committee of Chitwan National Park, says that at first only Tharus would come to worship Bikram Baba, vow to have children and if the vow is fulfilled, they would sacrifice a rooster or a goat. The Puja of Vikram Baba is being managed by Ghailaghari Intermediate Consumer Committee of Jagatpur near Pahitani and Kasra.
Shankar Mahato has been worshiping Vikram Baba since childhood. From the very beginning, Bikram Baba has been worshiped during Chaite Dashain. Earlier, during Chaite Dashain, a bigger fair was held in Madi Godhak than in Bikram Baba. When we were young, we used to go to Godhak with our fathers. You could also buy clubs, spades, pots and pans there. Childless people used to come to Vikram Baba to ask for children. There would not have been such a crowd," said 69-year-old Shankar Mahato.
Ward President Deepak Dawadi said that the Nepali Army has also coordinated for security at the place of worship within the boundaries of Chitwan Park. A fair is held in Jagatpur Ghailaghari throughout the puja period. The security arrangements will be made by the police, city police. Ward president Dawadi says that because the place of worship is inside the park, the carrying of plastics has been banned. He said that not only from all over Nepal, but Indians from the border areas also come to Bikram Baba.
Chitwan Chairman of Tharu Kalyankarini Sabha, Lalit Choudhary, says that Tharus have a tradition of taking Gurus with them during puja and performing certain rituals during puja. Nowadays, as the number of people coming to worship from every place has increased, people who come to worship have started worshiping in their own style, not according to the Guru's style. That is why from this year Tharu gurus have been arranged at the place of worship, Chairman Chaudhary said.
