Chepang community celebrating mass election in Gorkha

Govindram Chepang, the central president of Nepal Chepang Association, said that this year, they have decided to celebrate Chonam i.e. Nwagi festival collectively in villages and thola where their community is densely populated. It is customary for Chepangs to celebrate this festival as a day to eat new grain.

President Chepang said that the central committee meeting held on August 8 decided to collectively celebrate Nwagi on August 22 in Gandaki Rural Municipality-6 Tomandanda of Gorkha . Central officers of the Chepang Association will arrive at the Nwagi festival to be celebrated collectively in Tomandanda, while government representatives will also be present at the event. This is the first time that Chepang Sangh is going to celebrate Nwagi collectively in Gorkha.

Makwanpur, Chitwan, Dhading and Gorkha are the areas where Chepangs are in majority. On the initiative of Chepang Sangh, they have been celebrating Nwagi Festival collectively since 2063. The association has been celebrating Nwagi festival collectively from Tikauli in Chitwan since 2063. On the 22nd of August, Nwagi is celebrated in their own way by placing jhankri on the ground where the Chepang community lives.

Although they celebrate Nwagi collectively on August 22, according to their clan, the Chepang community has a tradition of celebrating Nwagi from the full moon of August. "We have been celebrating Nwagi festival nationally on August 22," said President Chepang.

The Chepang community has a religious belief that they should not eat new fruits and grains without worshiping their ancestors. On the day of Nwagi festival, food and fruits including Ghaiya rice, Pindalu, Nivuva and other fruits are offered to Bhoomi and Pitru . On the day of Nwagi, the Chepangs eat new fruits and food after worshiping the Pandey . In this festival called Chonam in Chepang language and Nwagi in other languages, leading Chepang people from all over the country gather at one place and celebrate with great pomp at night . The Chepang people, who have been eating wild tubers for a long time, eat new grains and fruits along with the Chepang Jhankri drum.

The endangered Chepang tribe, which has been living by eating wild tubers for at least nine months a year, turns their mouths on August 22. This caste who lives in Bhirpakha celebrates the Chonam (Nwagi) festival in August with great enthusiasm because the grains and fruits, including corn planted in Pakhopkhera, ripen in August.

Chonam festival is also connected with the lifestyle and culture of the Chepang people. This festival marks where they live and what they eat. 'This is the biggest festival of the Chepang people,' said the Chepang president, 'The land and the ancestors are fed because they cannot eat the new grain and fruits until the ancestors are fed.' Paddy, Pindalu, Ghiraula and various sour fruits are offered to Chonam's father and eaten. On the day of Chhonam (Nwagi), the Jhankris chant the mantras by beating a drum with one arm. Chepangs call Zhankri Pande. Those Pandas are also Chepang.

'If the drum is not hit and the mantra is chanted on the day of chonam, Pitru and deity get angry,' said 70-year-old Somdas Chepang He told that there is a sad legend.

is a festival associated with the identity, lifestyle and culture of Nwagi Chepang caste. Some of the nature-worshipping Chepang community have embraced other religions. Chepangs who embrace other religions also celebrate Nwagi festival. On the occasion of Nwagi, the national festival of Chepangs, the Wagmati State Government Since 2079, Chitwan, Makwanpur and Dhading have also been giving a public holiday on August 22.

According to the 2078 census, the population of Chepang in the country is 84 thousand 364. Among them, 23 thousand 650 people live in Makwanpur, 35 thousand 637 in Chitwan, 17 thousand 160 in Dhading and 4 thousand 268 in Gorkha. It is said that the settlement of Chepangs is now spread over 26 districts.