At one time, 28 families used to weave bamboo baskets, baskets and other materials, but now only five families have survived this traditional profession.
What you should know
The number of people making and selling bamboo products in Kothegaun, Malepatan, Pokhara Metropolitan City-32, is decreasing.
Earlier, 28 families in the village used to weave bamboo materials including kothe and sell them to the villages, but now that number has reduced to five.
'Sunar village in Malepatan, Pokhara-32, was called Kothegaun since ancient times because kothe is woven from bamboo sticks, but as the youth go out for education, employment and start pursuing alternative professions, the number of bamboo weavers in the village has decreased from 28 to five, and even those are only the old ones,' said local 63-year-old Gopal Sunar.
According to him, unemployed youth in Kothegaun are also reluctant to join this profession. 'Rather, they are ready to go to foreign countries and work, but they do not do this profession. Today's children are ashamed to work with bamboo,' he said.
Sunar says that he earns 30,000 rupees a month by weaving kotho, kokro, bhakari, doka, and nanglo from choya. 'Like before, there is no need to go looking for a market to sell choya materials, now traders come to your home and take them. After learning the skill, it ensures a source of income for the rest of his life,' he said.
The main occupation of the 28 Sunar families who came from Gulmi in 2027 BS and settled in Malepatan, Pokhara-32, was weaving choya materials and taking them to the villages to sell. He says that the village is named Kothegaun because kotho, which is used to store millet, is mostly woven.
He expressed his sorrow that this profession will disappear in Kothegaun in the next 10 years. 'The young people do not weave, the old people die, and the identity of the village is lost.' Even if one or two young people continued this profession, would the village have retained its identity?' he says.
Bamboo materials are being used for everything from household use to furniture, food, commercial purposes, and animal feed. It also helps in controlling soil erosion, floods, and landslides, said agricultural expert Beni Bahadur Basnet. According to him, bamboo is becoming an important source of income for rural farmers and poor communities.
More than 53 species of bamboo are found in Nepal under 12 castes, said agricultural expert Basnet. According to him, seven of these species of bamboo are endemic species that are not found anywhere else in the world. 'There are 10 species of cane under two castes in Nepal. Cane also falls under the bamboo species,' he said.
Bamboo is found in the Terai to the hilly regions of Nepal. Agriculture expert Basnet informed that bamboo can be found from the Kachankawal area of Jhapa district, the lowest part of the Terai, to an altitude of four thousand meters.
In Nepal, bamboo shoots are used for everything from eating to making bamboo handicrafts. Bamboo shoots are eaten as pickles and vegetables.
' Nepal is self-sufficient in the raw bamboo materials consumed here. However, cane materials are imported from India and Bangladesh. Nepal is facing a trade deficit in the import and export of bamboo materials,' said expert Basnet.
