There are more than a dozen women Panchebaja groups in the Gorkha Municipality area alone. Women have not only learned the skill of playing panjebaja, they have also made a means of running the household.
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Rama Basnet of Gorkha Municipality-9, who is over 50 years old, often has a burden on her shoulders. Be it an event in the Gorkha market or any work, Basnet leads the women and arrives with Naumati.
After his group sings and plays panchebaja, the atmosphere of the gathering becomes different. It has been 5 years since Basnet's group started playing Panjebaja. During this interval, Basnet Pokhn became the most difficult Narasimha in panjebaja.
says, 'So far we have played panchebaja in more than 400 places, no one has faked our baja.' She said that not only around Gorkha, but they reach neighboring Tanahun and Kaski with panjebaja.
"Even though you took the Gorakhpur khichdi from the Gorkha palace, you chose our baja, not only around here, we have reached all the way to Gorakhpur in India and played panjebaja," she said. She said that they used to take the wages for playing panjebaja depending on the time and work. "It took time to learn in the first year," she said.
She expressed her pain saying that women panchebajas are given less money than men. "We play just like men, but instead of men taking 1 lakh, we feel sad when women give 50/60 thousand," she said. She said that she used to share the wages in Damasahi. They have also made a provision to keep 10 percent women in Panchebaja group.
'Panchebaja has become our income, one person's share is from 2,500 to 3,000 per day,' she said. They have three sets of Naumati. Pampha Kunwar of Ward-9 says that the skill of playing the instrument has also become a way to earn income.
"Earlier, we used to go to the village to make jhyaure, others would play the instrument, we used to sing and dance," she said, "now we do everything by singing, dancing, and playing." Kunwar said that 1 hour is set aside every day to learn the art of playing the panchebaja. "You have to know a lot of things to play the instrument, Khayali, Jhyaure Mangal Dhun, there are many things," she said, "Now we have set aside an hour a day to learn everything and become proficient."
She said that she was happy to be honored as a female panjebaja. "In the beginning it was very difficult, the society looked at women playing panjebaza, it was difficult to accept it, it took time to change the family," she said, "Now everyone respects us, there is no restriction even from the family."
Women are competing to learn the art of playing naumati. Rozina Basnet of Gorkha municipality-9 claims that she has become proficient in playing panjebaza like men. She says, 'I only play four instruments, it took me two years to learn to play Jhyali, Damaha, Sanai and Narasimha.'
She said, "One dead lakh must have been taken, we also recovered that money by playing instruments and programs," she said. She said that the number of people coming to learn to play panjebaja in the group is also increasing.
Women have not only learned the skill of playing panjebaja, they have also made a means of running the household. Velimaya of Gorkha-9 says that after she started playing sirmal, it became easier to light the stove. "During the season of work, there are no free days, you can earn from 25,000 to 40,000 in a day," she said.
On the occasion of Chaite Dasain, five groups participated in the Naumati Baja competition at the fair held at Gorkha Darbar on Saturday. In the competition, the Gorakh Kali Women's Naumati Baja Protection Group of Gorkha Municipality-9 won 10,000 cash prize. In the same way, Shubharbhav Entrepreneur Women Group of Gorkha-9 became the second and Gandaki Women's Savings and Credit Cooperative Society of Gorkha-10 became the third. The second and third groups got 7,000 and 5,000 cash prizes respectively.
Gorkha Municipality and Gorkha Industry and Commerce Association organized the Chaite Dasain Mela at the Gorkha Darbar premises and the main attraction was the women's panjebaja playing competition. Rita Regmi, the former chairperson of Gorkha Udyog Commerce Association Women Entrepreneurs Development Committee, says that the
competition has also helped in cultural preservation. "The competition has also helped to empower women, it has also given a message that women can work just like men," she said.
