Deumaya Gurung was preparing dhindo by mixing millet and wheat flour. She had prepared other Gurung khanki and local chicken meat. Mankumari Thapa Magar was making a batch of oil. The tomato pickle was ready to eat with the masa flour batter.
The pork was cooking there. Sobikamaya Bote was roasting dried red chillies and grinding them with salt.
She was promoting cooking big and small fish and prawns in the kitchen of Bote community. In the 'Raithane Food Festival' which started from Friday in Meghauli, tribals and castes of Chitwan were preparing original dishes in their kitchens. Those who came to watch the festival were enjoying the taste.
Nature guide Manesh Limbu was busy eating food from the Magar community. At the festival site, the local community not only cooked food, but also made models of their houses. While Manesh and his friends were eating batuk made by the Magar community, the Magar youths in the front dressed in original costumes were singing and dancing and having fun.
"It was as fun as going to the village and sitting in their house and enjoying the khanki cooked in their kitchen and dancing in the courtyard," Limbu said. The festival complex originally housed the Kumal community. Then Gurung, Tharu, Darai, Magar, Bote and lastly there is a model house of Brahmin community. Whatever is cooked in their kitchen, they have prepared the same dish in their model home.
At Tharu's house, they were equally addicted to eating Ghongi, Chichar made by steaming Anadi's rice and its poka, Dhikri roti cooked in steamed rice flour. The tools and equipment used by them were also kept in the houses. The design and coloring of the house was done traditionally.
Bharatpur Metropolitan Corporation has launched a 'Ghumaun Bharatpur' campaign celebrating the year 2024 as the Year of Tourism. As the year 2024 comes to an end, the metropolis has organized the Raithane Food Festival. Bahadur Singh Lama, Chief Minister of Wagmati Province, inaugurated the festival. Meghauli is a very old tourist destination of Chitwan.
Meghauli surrounded by Chitwan National Park, Rapti and Narayani rivers also has a dense population of tribal Tharu, Bote and Kumal communities. Tribal and tribal communities have their own fundamental khankis. Those foods are preferred by tourists. We have also organized this festival to promote their dishes,'' said Renu Dahal, head of Bharatpur metropolis.
Meghauli is 25 km west of Bharatpur. It is easily accessible from Bharatpur due to the wide tarred road. The food festival will continue till December 16.
There are many places for tourists to enjoy in Meghauli. Not only the forests, animals, but also our habitats and food are primitive. A little further on, a magnificent view of the sunset can be seen from Golaghat, the meeting place of Rapti and Narayani.
