Lathi Nach

Last updated
Lathi Nach
Tharu Dance Sauraha Chitwan 2018.jpg
Tharu women performing stick dance in Chitwan district
Native nameलाठी नाच
EtymologyStick dance
GenreCultural dance
Instrument(s)Wooden stick
Inventor Tharu people

Lathi Nach or Jharra Nach also known as Tharu stick dance is a cultural dance of the Tharu people. [1] This dance is mainly performed during the Dashain festival. It is danced striking the small sticks with each other and on its rhythm. It is similar to Dandiya Raas, performed in the Indian state of Gujarat, but varies in movement and style. [2] In this ritual dance all dancers should either be men or women only, as they must wake up holy sprite goddess Durga. [3]

Contents

Symbolic meaning

The Tharu people, like many indigenous communities, have a strong connection with nature. The use of sticks in their dance symbolize their relationship with the environment, acting as an extension of their daily interactions with the natural world. It also symbolize the Tharu’s need to protect themselves and their crops from wildlife threats. Moreover, the dance carries profound cultural significance, taking center stage during festivals, weddings, and various celebratory events. It serves as a captivating means of artistic expression, skillfully conveying the community’s history and values. [4]

Tourism

Tharu Stick Dance has evolved into a notable attraction for tourists, offering them a window into the cultural richness of Nepal. It plays an important  role in safeguarding and transmitting the Tharu’s distinct cultural identity across generations. Laathi Nach has become a popular tourist attraction in Nepal, particularly Chitwan. [5] [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

Music of Nepal refers to the various musical genres played and listened to in Nepal. With more than fifty ethnic groups in Nepal, the country's music is highly diverse. Genres like Tamang Selo, Chyabrung, Dohori, Adhunik Geet, Bhajan, Filmi music, Ghazal, Classical music, songs and Ratna music are widely played and popular, but many other less common genres are yet to be cataloged. Western musical genres like Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B also regularly feature on the Nepalese music charts. Most of the country's musical bands are based in the Kathmandu valley. Musical genres from Tibet and India have greatly influenced Nepalese music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tharu people</span> Indigenous ethnic group of Nepalese and Indian peoples

The Tharu people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India. They speak Tharu languages. They are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal. In the Indian Terai, they live foremost in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Government of India recognizes the Tharu people as a scheduled Indian tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rai people</span> Kiranti ethnic group Nepal, India and Bhutan

The Rai also known as Khambu and Jimee are ethnolinguistic group belonging to the Kirat family and primarily Tibeto-Burman linguistic ethnicity. They mainly reside in the eastern parts of Nepal, the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal and in southwestern Bhutan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Nepal</span>

The culture of Nepal encompasses the various cultures belonging to the 125 distinct ethnic groups present in Nepal. The culture of Nepal is expressed through music and dance; art and craft; folklore; languages and literature; philosophy and religion; festivals and celebration; foods and drinks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatpur, Nepal</span> Metropolitan City in Bagmati Province, Nepal

Bharatpur is a city in south central Nepal. It is the third most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu and Pokhara with 369,377 inhabitants in 2021. It is also the second largest metropolitan city in Nepal by area. It is the district headquarter of the Chitwan District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maghe Sankranti</span> Annual Nepali festival

Maghe Sankranti is a Nepali festival observed on the first of Magh in the Vikram Sambat (B.S) or Yele calendar marking the end of the winter solstice and the month of Poush. The Tharu people celebrate this day as their new year. It is also regarded as a major government-declared annual festival of the Magar community. Maghe Sankranti shares similarities with solstice festivals in various other religious traditions.

Tandi is a city in the Ratnanagar Municipality of the Chitwan District in Nepal. It lies on the eastern side of Chitwan district, and is at the entrance point of Sauraha Chitwan National Park, a Major Tourist destination in Nepal.It is the second largest and oldest Urban Area of the district..This Beautiful Town has got the Space for All Major Banks and isurance Co.Of Nepal.This is the fastes Growing Town in Chitwan.It has got a very well Equipped National level Hospital which serves the people around Eastern part of Chitwan and makwanpur District.Almost 95% of the municipal area has got well managed paved roads.Tandi being the heart of the Ratnanagar,it is famous for Entry point to Sauraha and also renowned for Especial Tharu cuisine like ghunghi,Haas ko chhoila etc.this town has got all the basic to advanced facility of a (A-) class Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorkha Municipality</span> Municipality in Gandaki Province, Nepal

Gorkha is a municipality in Gorkha District in Gandaki Province of Nepal created in 1996. It was initially named "Prithvinarayan" after King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who was born in Gorkha and united and founded modern Nepal. In 2009, the name was changed to "Gorkha" municipality after the end of the monarchy in Nepal. At the time of the 2021 Nepal census it had a population of 53,285 people living in 12,641 individual households. In 2014, the neighboring Village development committees Nareshwar and Phinam were merged into the municipality.

The Chitwan Valley is an Inner Terai valley in the south of Nepal, encompassing the districts of Makwanpur, Chitwan and Nawalpur. The valley is part of the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion of about 150 km (93 mi) length and 30–48 km (19–30 mi) width.

Ratnanagar is a municipality in Chitwan District of Bagmati Province in Nepal. It is the second biggest municipality after Bharatpur Metropolitan City that was formed in 1997 through the merger of the former Village Development Committees Old-Ratnanagar and Panchakanya. It is adjacent to Chitwan National Park, and serves as a gateway to the park. Agricultural products produced from Ratnanagar includes rice, maize, mustard and vegetables. This municipality is also a major place for production of poultry products and animal husbandry. Tourism is another source of income generation for the people in Ratnanagar. People are directly or indirectly dependent in tourism industry. Ratnanagar is also concerned in environment preservation so in order to preserve and protect environment, eco-friendly electric risk-shaw has also been introduced and available in different parts of this municipality. It lies on the bank of East Rapti River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tharu languages</span> Indo-Aryan language group of Nepal and India

The Tharu or Tharuhat languages are any of the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the Tharu people of the Terai region in Nepal, and neighboring regions of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India.

Meghauli is a small city and former Village Development Committee that is now part of Bharatpur Metropolitan City in Bagmati Province of central Nepal.

Devchuli Municipality is a municipality in Nawalpur District in the southern part of Gandaki Province in Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 42,603 people living in 916 individual households. The municipality was established on 18 May 2014 by merging the preexisting Devchuli, Dibyapuri, Pragatinagar VDCs and later Rajahar VDC. The Narayani River flows in the vicinity. Northern side of the municipality is covered by hills with major population of ethnic Magar people and their culture. Northern areas are also least developed, rural and lack basic infrastructures, such as roads, hospitals and clean drinking water supply. Southern plain areas are developing and has major concentration of population. Municipality has great ethnic and cultural diversity, made of indigenous Tharu, Magar and all other major ethnic groups and culture residing harmoniously.

Sangini is a particular type of song and dance perform by the Nepali womenfolk during the occasion of a religious festival Tihar and Teej. It originated in the hilly regions of Nepal and is performed by Nepali women from Nepal and parts of India and Bhutan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jhijhiya</span> South Asian folk dance

Jhijhiya (also called Jhijhari) is a cultural folk dance of Mithila region India and Nepal. It is performed during the Dusshera festival, in the Hindu month of Ashwin (September/October). The dance is performed to offer devotion towards goddess Durga—the goddess of victory as well as to protect one's family, children and society from witches and dark magic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madhesh Province</span> Province of Nepal

Madhesh Province is a province of Nepal in the Terai region with an area of 9,661 km2 (3,730 sq mi) covering about 6.5% of the country's total area. It has a population of 6,126,288 as per the 2021 Nepal census, making it Nepal's most densely populated province and the smallest province by area. It borders Koshi Pradesh to the east and the north, Bagmati Province to the north, and India’s Bihar state to the south and the west. The border between Chitwan National Park and Parsa National Park acts as the provincial boundary in the west, and the Kosi River forms the provincial border in the east. The province includes eight districts, from Parsa in the west to Saptari in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kochila Tharu</span> Indo-Aryan language of Nepal

Kochila Tharu, also called Morangiya, Saptari or Saptariya Tharu, Madhya-Purbiya Tharu, and Mid-Eastern Tharu, is a diverse group of language varieties in the Tharu group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The several names of the varieties refer to the regions where they dominate. It is one of the largest subgroupings of Tharu. It is spoken mainly in Nepal with approximately 250,000 speakers as of 2003. In addition to language, cultural markers around attire and customs connect individuals into the ethnic identity Kochila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dance in Nepal</span> Aspect of Nepalese culture

Dance is a performing art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. Dance (Nepali: नृत्य/ नाच) in Nepal comprises numerous styles of dances, including folk, ethnic, classical to modern dances. Lakhey is the dance of a demon in the carnival of God. Durbar Square, a historic plaza in Kathmandu, Nepal, facing ancient palaces and adorned by Hindu temples, is always full of eager crowds on the last day of Indra Jatra, the festival celebrating Indra, the Hindu king of heaven. In this divine stage, Lakhe the demon dances among gods and deities relentlessly and carelessly.

References

  1. ↑ Lawoti, Mahendra; Pahadi, Anup, eds. (2010). The Maoist insurgency in Nepal : revolution in the twenty-first century. Routledge. ISBN   978-0-415-77717-9. OCLC   874200782.
  2. ↑ "The folk dances enriching Nepali culture". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  3. ↑ "Nepali Dance: Classical and folk dances of Nepal". Mero Kalam. 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  4. ↑ Rue, Hayden (2023-11-27). "Tharu Stick Dance in Chitwan" . Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  5. ↑ Linnard, Adam (2007-10-01). People Moving Matters: Theorizing Tourism and Migration on the Nepali 'Periphery'. SIT Digital Collections. OCLC   870512458.
  6. ↑ Sharma, Bal Krishna; Phyak, Prem (2017-02-27). "Neoliberalism, linguistic commodification, and ethnolinguistic identity in multilingual Nepal" . Language in Society. 46 (2): 231–256. doi:10.1017/s0047404517000045. ISSN   0047-4045. S2CID   152074396.
  7. ↑ Dhakal, Narayan. Socio-cultural impacts of tourism in Third World countries : a case study of Nepal : submitted to Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Lincoln University as partial fulfilment of Post Graduate Diploma in Parks, Recreation and Tourism. OCLC   154199475.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.