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Maghi, the biggest festival of the Tharu community, is approaching. The Tharu community living in the Terai region of western Nepal is currently preparing for the Maghi festival. The Tharu community is busy preparing for this festival, which is celebrated with joy as the beginning of the new year. As the Maghi festival approaches, there has been increased activity in Kailali, Kanchanpur and other Tharu settlements.
To celebrate the festival in a grand manner, the members of the family have taken responsibility for their work. Men are going from village to village to make meat, while women are busy making duna and tapri. Dil Bahadur Chaudhary, the coordinator of Tharu Civil Society, informed that for the preparation of the festival, especially uncooked paddy rice, flour and other food items like joho, tying dunatapari, going to the forest to collect firewood, collecting mustard oil, cleaning the house and yard are going on in full swing. He said, 'Maghi has a tradition of eating meat, fish, ghongi, gangta, etc.
Since this festival marks the beginning of the new year, people have started going from the village to the city market to buy new clothes. Coordinator Chaudhary said that those who went abroad for employment have started returning home to celebrate the festival. Women are invited to prepare dishes such as dhikri, roti, etc., as there are many guests in Maghi. Madhav Chowdhury of Godavari Municipality-7 Fakalpur of Kailali said that since it is the main festival of the Tharu community, preparations are being made to celebrate it with pomp.
'Nowadays it is difficult to get bangur in the village,' he said, 'A few days ago, a village meeting was held and the responsibility was given to kill zita (bangur), whose zita is to be killed, and where to bring it from when it does not reach the village.' Chowdhury says that for the preparation of Maghi, the work of making egg bread, making flour for Dhikri, making Sidra, searching for Jita (Bangur) started a month ago. He said that preparations for the Maghauta dance, which reflects the culture of the Tharu caste, have already started.
'On the day of Maghe Sankranti, especially in the Tharu community, it is customary to wake up early in the morning and go to the nearby river basin to bathe and take blessings from elders,' Chaudhary said. In addition, it is a tradition to give it to the daughters of the house.'
In Maghi, there is a tradition of eating local food dishes, especially undi rice bread, dhikri, baria, ghongi, pork, fish, and gangta. Individual and collective dances reflecting the various folk cultures of the Tharu community are enjoyed. Similarly, fairs and festivals are also organized in villages to celebrate Maghi.
