DAILEKH, Oct 2: The Raute community in Dailekh is geared up to celebrate the Dashain festival. Rautes who live a nomadic life were staying at the highland of Mangarh Bayutada of Bhagawatimai-1 for a month before shifting to near the Bestada Bazaar that lies in the downhill of the same ward of the same municipality a week ago.
They arrived here from Jajarkot. They said they decided to move down due to the increasing cold. Raute main leader Mahin Bahadur Shahi said they planned to stay at the new place till Dashain is over. “We decided to move here thinking that it would be easier for us for Dashain. Shahi said it seemed that they would not stay at Bestada jungle for long as the area has lost much of its forest.”
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The livelihood of the last nomadic and endangered tribe in Nepal is primarily dependent on hunting and gathering. The team comprises 143 members of 46 households. The local government also lent helping hands to the nomadic people for festival celebration. The government said it reaches among them with he-goats, rice and mats so that they could celebrate the festival.
Gurans Rural Municipality said they have been demanding the allowance for the month of Ashoj (September-October). The government provides a monthly allowance of Rs 4,000 per person to the endangered community. They have started managing foods for Dashain. They reach up to the Dailekh headquarters for shopping. Shahi is the main leader of the community and he is assisted by other two leaders Surya Narayan and Bir Narayan for the team management.
They receive the Dashain tika from the seniors, sing and dance and wear traditional attire and jewelry. They consume home-made rice-based alcohol during Dashain. They worship deities and celebrate the festival and express their belief to the Hindu cultures. However they follow different death rituals unlike Hindus.
They bury the corpse of the dead at the site of the death and don’t observe the death ritual and don’t abstain from food and salt in case a member dies. The Rautes live in areas around Dailekh, Surkhet, Salyan and Jajarkot and they mostly prefer to stay in Dailekh.
(RSS)
