Voice Of Rajbanshi

Siruwa Festival Celebrated by All Rajbanshies

2025-04-15T00:04:00.000+08:00

Siruwa pabni / New year

Siruwa pabni is one of the biggest festival celeberatd by koch people of Nepal.This is a special festival of the indigenous communities of Nepal which is celebrated for three days starting from the New Year's Day. There is a belief that the difficulties and crisis would be away when the village deities is made happy with worshipping.People here worship the village deities and mark the festival with the beginning of the Nepali New Year .On the first day of the festival which is known as Pani (water) Siruwa people splash water at each other. The second day of the festival is known as Kad (mud) Siruwa in which people put mud to each other and the third day is called the Rang (colour) Siruwa.on this day people enjoy the dayby putting with colours to each others.They forget their problems and evil thoughts and enjoy the day with colours with friend ,family and dearest one .In this festival ,they visit their relatives and friends too.also prepare delecious food on this ocassion.The famous koch food "Gaji muri " is prepared for all the three days during this festival.On the ocassion of siruwa KOCHES also organises different cultural programs on the third day of siruwa in different places of Jhapa,morang and sunsari.on this festival Goverment also gives Public holiday for three days to celebrate this festival.

Pani Siruwa

The koch people bless themselves by throwing water at each other on this day.ie first day of siruwa. The elders would get up early in the morning, take a bath and carry clean water in a jug and sprinkle it on the heads /body of the juniors giving their blessings while the younger sprinkle water at the elder’s feet seeking blessing from them. Also the people of equal age and ranks, especially the youngsters, throw water on each other’s body on this day. People also pour water on the passersby, depending up on their age and sex and nature. In this festival ,people get connected with the nature.they play with water and mud too.put mud to each others body and face and also it increases the feeling of brotherhood and unity.
Kado siruwa

The second day is known as Kado Siruwa. On this day people play mud i.e kado by splashing with each others. It is believed that this will prevent people from diseases because human body is ultimately (made up of soil) belongs to the soil.
Rang siruwa

On the third day they plays with different colours like the festival holi and greetings of Siruwa pabni is exchanged with each others.In this way the festival is celebrated /enjoyed for three days every New year .i.e on Baisakh 1 2 & 3.

सिरुवा पावनी एक परिचय (Siruwa Festival A brief description)

2025-04-15T00:03:00.000+08:00

नयाँ वर्षमा मनाइने यो चाड पूर्वी तराइमा मानिने प्रमुख पर्व हो यो पर्व विशेष गरी ३ दिनसम्म मनाइन्छ । यस पर्व लाई जुर शितल पनि भन्ने गरिन्छ यस पर्वको पहिलो दिन बैशाख १ गते अर्थात् यस दिनलाई पानी सिरुवा भन्ने गरिन्छ । पानी सिरुवामा आफूभन्दा ठूलाको खुट्टामा पानी हालेर आशिर्वाद लिने गरिन्छ । शुभकामना आदानप्रदान गर्ने गरिन्छ । वर्षको दुःख कष्टलाई धोइ पखाली नयाँ वर्षको शुरुवातसँगै वर्षभरि शरीर ठण्डा र शीतल रहोस् भनी कामना गरिन्छ

दोस्रो दिन अर्थात २ गतेलाई कादो सिरुवा भनिन्छ । यसदिन एक अर्कालाई हिलो छ्यापा-छ्याप गरेर मनाउने गर्छन् । बर्षभरिका दुःख कष्ट, पीडा र थकानलाई मेटाउन कादो सिरुवा खेलिने चलन छ । यसो गर्नाले माटोको शरीर अन्ततः माटो मै विलिन हुने भएकाले शरीरलाई कुनै रोगव्याधी नलाग्ने बिश्वास गरिन्छ नवबर्षको तेस्रो दिन रंग सिरुवा खेलिन्छ । रंग सिरुवामा एक अर्काबीच रंग छ्यापेर शुभकामना आदानप्रदान गर्ने गरिन्छ । रिस, राग त्यागेर मनमुटावलाई बिर्सेर रंग खेली हर्ष उल्लासका साथ मनाइन्छ । सबैले नयाँ बर्षको उपलक्ष्यमा नयाँ लुगा लगाउने, मिठो-मिठो परिकार बनाएर खाने चलन छ ।

This is one of the major festivals of Rajbanshi of Eastern Reigon. It is celebrated on the occasion new year in Baisakh and goes on for 3 days. This denotes their faith on the forth-coming time and their optimism to life. This festival is also called Baisakhi or Siruwa or Bishuwa. In fact the meaning of Siruwa is the beginning of the year. On this day, the female members of the family get up early and have bath. Then they worship their family deity and take a hand full of clean water and is poured on the legs of elders and asked the blessing. Similarly the seniors give the blessing to juniors by pouring water on head of them.All the members of the family on this day seem very clean.

The second day is known as Kado Siruwa. On this day people play mud splashing. It is believed that this will prevent people from diseases because human body is ultimately belongs to the soil.

On the third day colors are played like the festival holi and greetings of Siruwa is exchanged. They eat delicious food and variety. Basically they prepare the delicious food by cooking in ghee or mustard oil. They prepare the homemade wine by millet and rice and drink it with bitten rice and spicy varieties.

राजवंशी समाज विकास समितिका केन्द्रीय अध्यक्ष अभयलाई नगदसहित रत्न अवार्ड २०२३ प्रदान

2023-01-18T21:28:00.001+08:00

राजवंशी समाज विकास समितिका केन्द्रीय अध्यक्ष अभय राजवंशी रत्न अवार्ड २०२३ बाट सम्मानित भएका छन् । झापा कनकाई –९ मन्त्रीबारीका राजवंशीलाई भारत उत्तर दिनाजपुरको प्रभावशाली मानिएको सामाजिक संस्था राजवंशी गाभुर संघद्वारा राजवंशी रत्न अवार्ड २०२३ प्रदान गरिएकाे राजवंशी गाभुर संघका महासचिव महलाल सिंहले बताए । माघ २ गते (जनवरी १६ तारिक) अभयलाई रत्न अवार्ड २०२३ सहित नगद ५० हजार भारू रूपैयाँ प्रदान गरिएकाे हाे । सामाजिक संस्था कोचिला गाभुर फ्रन्टका संस्थापक तथा राजवंशी समाज विकास समितिका केन्द्रीय अध्यक्ष अभयले राजवंशी जातिको धार्मिक, साँस्कृतिक एवं समग्र जातीय विकासका निम्ति गरेको योगदानको कदर गर्दै उनलाई राजवंशी रत्न अवार्ड २०२३ प्रदान गरिने राजवंशी गाभुर संघका महासचिव महलाल सिंहले बताए । ग्रेटर काेचविहार पिपल्स एशाेसिएसनका महासचिव, पश्चिम बंगाल राजवंशी डेभलपमेन्ट एण्ड कल्चरल बाेर्डका अध्यक्ष राजवंशी भाषा एकाडेमी बंगालका चेयरमेन बंशीधर बर्मनले अभयलाई रत्न अवार्डसहित नगद रकम र ट्रफी प्रदान गरेका थिए। झापा, मोरङ र सुनसरीलगायतका जिल्लामा बसोबास गर्दै आएका राजवंशी जातिको भाषा, धर्म, कला, संस्कृति, भेषभूषा तथा सिरुवा, घाटोसरी, डोलपावनी, गरुवाँसी, भाक्का दिवसलगायत पर्व र उत्सवहरुको संरक्षण तथा सम्वद्र्धनमा जुटेका अभयले आफूलाई सामाजिक संस्था राजवंशी गाभुर संघद्वारा राजवंशी रत्न अवार्ड २०२३ प्रदान गर्ने निर्णयको स्वागत गर्दै यो सम्मान आफ्नो मात्र नभएर झापा, मोरङ र सुनसरीलगायतका जिल्लामा बसोबास गर्दै आएका सम्पूर्ण राजवंशी जातिको सम्मान भएको बताए । राजवंशी रत्न अवार्ड २०२३ ले आफूलाई अझ राजवंशी जातिको जातीय विकासमा लाग्न प्रेरित गरेको उनले बताए ।

झापामा छैटौं 'राष्ट्रिय भाक्का दिवस'

2023-01-14T21:51:00.002+08:00

आज झापामा छैटौं ‘राष्ट्रिय भाक्का दिवस’ मनाइदै छ। कोच राजवंशी समुदायले पुष २९ गतेलाई भाक्का दिवसका रूपमा मनाउदै आएका छन्। चामलको पिठो (खासगरी कनिका) बाट बन्ने भाक्का राजवंशी समुदायले चिसो मौसममा खाने प्रमुख परिकार हो। झापाको बिर्तामोडमा आज सांस्कृतिक कार्यक्रम सहित छैटौं भाक्का दिवस मनाइदैछ।राजवंशी विकास समितिको आयोजनामा भएको कार्यक्रम बिभिन्न स्वादका अचार र तरकारी सहित भाक्काको स्टल राखिएका छन्। सो समुदायका महिलाले आफ्नो मौलिक पोशाक पेटानी लगाएर भाक्का पकाइरहेका छन्।पछिल्लो समय कोच राजवंशी समुदायसँगै अन्य समुदायले पनि रुचाएपछि भक्का खाने प्रचलन बढेको छ। कोच राजवंशी समुदाय बाहिर पनि यो परिकार प्रचलनमा आएपछि भाक्काको व्यवसायीक प्रबर्द्धन गरेको पाइन्छ। खानेकुरामा सिमित रहेको भाक्का यतिबेला राजवंशी समुदायको पहिचानसँग समेत जोडिएको देखिन्छ। ग्लोबल नेप्लिज सेफ फेदेरेसन झापाले भाक्का दिवसका अवसरमा भाक्कालाई नयाँ स्वाद सहित प्रदर्शनमा राखेको छ। फेदेरेशनले भाक्कालाई तिनतारे होटलको मेनुमा समेत राख्न तयारी गरिरहेको फेदेरेसनका झापा अध्यक्ष राज पौडेलले बताए। पुर्वी तराईमा भाक्कालाई जाडोको मौसममा चोकमा पाइने एक सामान्य खाजाको रूपमा लिने गरेको भएपनि भाक्का दिवस मनाउन थालिएपछी यसको चर्चा बढेको छ। चामल र कनिकाको पिठोलाई पानीको बाफमा पकाएर भाक्का बनाउने गरिन्छ। पिठोमा कुनै मिसावट नहुने हुँदा यसलाई स्वस्थकर परिकारको रुपमा लिइन्छ। पुर्वी तराई र विषेश गरि झापा, मोरङ, सुनसरीमा प्रचलित भएपनि अहिले काठमाण्डौ लगायत देशका विभिन्न स्थानमा पनि यसको लोकप्रियता बढ्दै गएको छ। Sources: nagariknews.com

भाक्का दिवसको भव्यता........ पूर्वी तराइम रहेका राजवंशी समुदायको मौलिक भाक्का दिवस मनाउन भारतमा रहेका राजवंशीहरूको पनि उपस्थिति

2023-01-14T21:47:00.002+08:00

बिर्तामोड — पूर्वी तराइका आदिवासी राजवंशी समुदायले मौलिक खाना संस्कृतिको रुपमा भव्य तरिकाले भाक्का दिवस मनाएका छन् । झापा र मोरङका विभिन्न स्थानमा सांस्कृतिक कार्यक्रमसहित उक्त समुदायले शुक्रबार छैठौं राष्ट्रिय भाक्का दिवस मनाएको हो । कोचिला गाभुर फ्रन्ट र राजवंशी समाज विकास समितिको संयुक्त आयोजनामा झापाको बिर्तामोडमा बृहत कार्यक्रमको आयोजना गरिएको छ । नेपाल र भारतका विभिन्न राज्यबाट समेत आएका राजवंशीहरुले बिर्तामोडमा भाक्का दिवस मनाएका हुन् । राजवंशी जातिको सिजनल परिकार भाक्का पछिल्लो समय व्यवसायिक बनेपछि यसको संरक्षण र प्रवर्द्धनका लागि भाक्का दिवस मनाउन थालिएको हो । जाडो सिजनमा पूर्वी तराईका चोक बजारमा बिहानको खाजाको रुपमा भाक्का बेच्ने व्यापार निकै बढेको छ । राजवंशी जातिको विपन्न परिवारका महिलाले बिक्री गर्दै आएको भाक्का पछिल्लो समय गैर राजवंशी समुदायका महिलाले समेत व्यापारका रुपमा भाक्का बेच्ने गर्छन् । राजवंशी समुदायमा जाडो सिजनमा विशेष परिकारका रुपमा भाक्का खाने चलन छ । छोरी चेलीलाई बोलाएर परिवारका सबै भेला भएको दिन बिहान माछा, तरकार, धनिया–टमाटरको अचार र चियासँग भाक्का खाने चलन छ । तर, चोक बजारमा सामान्य अचारसँग मात्र भक्का खाने चलन रहेकाले यसको परम्परागत स्वाद आम मानिसमा पुर्‍याउनका लागि भक्का दिवस मनाउन थालेको राजवंशी समाज विकास समितिका केन्द्रीय सदस्य प्रमोद राजवंशीले जानकारी दिए । राष्ट्रिय भक्का दिवसको अवसरमा प्रधानमन्त्री पुष्पकमल दाहाल प्रचण्डले शुभकामना सन्देशसमेत जारी गरेका छन् ।

Source: ekantipur.com

राष्ट्रिय भाक्का दिवस

2023-01-14T21:36:00.000+08:00

कोच राजवंशी समुदाय तथा पूर्वी तराईमा बसोबास गर्ने समग्र आदिवासी समुदायले पुस २९ गतेलाई राष्ट्रिय भक्का दिवसका रूपमा मनाउने गरेका छन् । बिस २०७९ सालको भक्का दिवसमा सबैलाई न्यानो स्वागत छ । पछिल्लो समय कोच राजवंशी समुदायसँगै अन्य जातजातिले पनि रुचाएपछि भक्का खाने चलन व्यापक बनेको छ । राजवंशी जातिमा मात्र सीमित रहेको भक्का खाने चलन सबै जातजातिबिच लोकप्रिय बनेपछि यसलाई प्रवर्द्धनात्मक कार्यक्रमसहित पुस २९ गते भक्का दिवस मनाउन मनाइन्छ । भक्का के हो ? राजवंशी समुदायको परम्परागत परिकार भक्का, पूर्वी नेपालको सर्वाधिक रुचाइने एउटा परिकार हो जुन विशेषतः हिउँदमा बढी खाने गरिन्छ । चामलको पिठोलाई पानीको बाफमा पकाएर तयार गरिने भक्कालाई चटनीसँग खाने गरिन्छ । भक्का अथवा भक्का जे भने पनि यसको मौलिक विशेषता र स्वास्थ्यकर फाइदा दुवैलाई प्रवर्द्धन गरिन जरुरी भएको ठम्याइका साथ हरेक वर्ष पुस २९ मा राष्ट्रिय भक्का दिवस मनाइन्छ । भक्का दिवसको सबैलाई शुभकामना ।

Ref:www.hamropatra.com

Bhakka- Eastern Rajbanshi Delicacy

2022-12-24T23:44:00.000+08:00


Steaming bhakka

Bhakka, simple fluffy rice flour steamed cake, is a traditional delicacy of the community living in eastern plains of Nepal especially of Rajbansi community. It is typically eaten as breakfast or as a snack with freshly prepared tomato pickle. Although it looks very simple, the process of making it amazingly soft and fluffy is very creative. The one prepared with freshly harvested rice flour has some sweetness. If you happen to visit villages or other cities and towns in eastern plains, you are likely to see women steaming and selling bhakka early morning in the chowks. It has become popular street breakfast!

Too many bhakka to eat

The rice flour prepared from milling soaked rice is first sprinkled with some water to make lightly moist and then massaged with palms to form moist sand like texture. It is then sieved through the sieve, which helps in forming small round sand-size grits. It is then lightly compacted in a small bowl and then steamed. Traditionally clay pot with the narrow opening is used for steaming. The opening is covered by muslin cloth where the rice cake is placed and steamed with lid-on.

Rajbanshi women in production unit

2022-12-24T23:43:00.000+08:00

Rajbanshi women collect fern, yam, rhizome, knolkhol and aurum as well as leafy vegetables from marshland and canal areas. Women are involved in fishing in local ditches and small fishes there along with nadiali fishes in local steams are converted into dried fishes by just leaving the fish pieces in dry sun beam without using salt or turmeric. They have invented various techniques for fishing of pond fishes, river fishes and fishes with extra respiratory organ. Activity of fishes, fish eating birds, frogs, snakes and ants are natural indicator of weather to them.

Rajbanshi women are good with poultry and goat raring, whereas cattle management is mostly managed by male elders of the family. Duck, goose and swans control the population of snails in the pond and actually help in fish cultivation; their stool is a good source of fodder for the fishes. They know about the shrubs like bichhilara controlling infectious diseases in poultry. They know about the grasses and herbs that increase the milk productivity of cows. Women are really good will kitchen garden in uchu or danga or upland places where they propagate vegetables and spices. Turmeric, zinger, peppercorn, chilly, cardamom, cabbage and broccoli, cauliflower, mustard, rapeseeds, sunflower, bitter gourd, gourd, potato, sweet potato, carrot, beat, chal kumra or pani kumra (Pumpkin), lady finger, brinjal, snake gourd, cane and bamboo, jack fruit and guava, kaon, marua and maize are the basic items of highland. visit www.voiceofrajbanshi.blogspot.com


		From jute, fibers are collected in special way. Hollowed jute sticks are used in roof manufacturing of traditional house. Fibers of jute and flex are raw material of clothe and sitting mattress (dhokra). Indigenous looms are generally used. Sona and tita are two important verities. Leaves of later variety are consumed as vegetable for their bitter taste and medicinal importance. Fibers of the second type are generally used for making of mattress and such other rough products. The jute sticks are submerged in stagnant ditches with the help of floating trunks of banana inflorescence. Then those jutes are washed with clean water of little streams and easily fibers are extracted leaving the hollow sticks (pat kathi). Both the products are dried: sticks are used in roof construction: they are light in weight and capable of air conditioning. They are also good source fuel. Fibers of sona variety are used in making clothes. Short and harsh fibers of tita variety are used for rough use. Jute and flex are cultivated during rainy season in lowlands submerged under flood water. And in late monsoon season when raining is being reduced, fibers are collected. Jute fibers are hanged at first and then thread is manufactured. The entire process is called panjipara. A slate stone chip of 9 inches diameter with a hole at the center is taken and a bamboo stick is pierced in through that hole. That tool is called as takuri. The stick is used as liver and by rotating this stick clockwise torque is created and it actually works as a spinning machine. visit www.voiceofrajbanshi.blogspot.com Rice is consumed in various ways, such as, boiled rice with salt, rice with pulses, vegetables and other non-vegetable items. They stored the rice in dry preserved condition. They first wet the rice, then fry it hot, and press in chham (husking machine) with gyin (leaver/handle) manually so that the rice portion comes out from the seed coat; the seed coat is used both as manure and fodder; whereas the pressed rice, chura, is served with card which is till the most auspicious item for any kind of religious ceremony or festival for the Rajbanshis. The community is fond of card/dahi, and unsaturated fat, i.e.,ghee. Fresh milk from the cow is immediately kept in earthen pot in cold place and in this way they prepare the card (goleya dahi). So, dahi-chura was one of the most delicious items for them. Foktoi is a pulse-like dish prepared from mixture of fried dust of chura and garlic which is cooked in boiled water with mustered and chilly. They also prepare vapa, another exclusive rice item with some specific economic attribute to the Rajbanshi society. Here, they take some rice dust and prepare a soft watery lye of it, then give shape of disk-like cakes that they cook on steam one by one. For steaming, they again take a handi (earthen cooker) on fire with boiling water inside and the vapor coming out of the single pore at the center of the lid automatically bakes the rice cakes into delicious vapa cakes. Till now they fry their home-made soft rice and take this fried rice (chal bhaja) with tea in the early morning. They boil rice in water which is their main food item (bhat) and also consume the nutritious watery emulsion of the boiled rice, fen or telani, with garlic. Husked rice in home in chhum-gyin is only decoated but the nutritious cotyledon part remains attached. Rajbanshis pour slight water over cooked rice and preserve this for the whole night which becomes another item (panta bhat) for the breakfast meal. Watery cooked rice could be further fermented so as to prepare alcoholic substance added with sucrose and dust of rice coat (kind of fodder). Rajbanshi females used to engage in preparation of dahi, ghee, chura, muri, salted muri, husked rice and vapa within homestead whereas the males go to the field and participate in the process of crop-cultivation. Females generally prepare the vapa at night and then early in the morning go outside for selling the cakes at the exchange of other goods- a typical barter system. They collect rice by selling the vapa. And from these collected rice, they feed their family and again produce the rice cakes for next day selling. Prosperous families do not let their women to go into the field, maintain joint-extended families to meet the manual labor and generally apply day labors on temporary basis. From the dried straw of the paddy, the Rajbanshis prepare sitting blocks and cautions, shade their roves, produce guard rings of round-shaped earthen pottery, and arrange good quality of fodder and fuel. They use paddy straw on the fishing net with cow dung and superfluity; it helps in quick fishing in village ponds. Airy and hollowed straws in bunches over the roves are good for controlling the home temperature in both hot summer and cold winter. The slopes of uplands are often found covered with ferns of numerous types, some being highly edible and nutritious. Women are involved in collection of the newly grown leaves which they cook as their daily vegetable. These Rajbanshi womenfolk have the capability to use their fingers very swiftly with the very consideration that the leaves do not have sores. Such capabilities are highly required in tea gardens so as to collect the young tea leaves with buds. But still now, no one of Rajbanshi womenfolk is interested in accepting the job of leaf collection in tea gardens. They prepare delicious dish of fern with young tips of new bamboo shoots; for the latter, they cover the out-coming shoot from subterranean rhizome under an earthen pot. The next most important vegetation is of bananas. Sweet bananas of chinichampa variety with small and dark spots on their body are essential in religious ceremonies. Anaji is the green banana used in curry. Sabri, Madna, Fans and Martaban are some of the sweet varieties. Banana local variety with seeds, daya kela or bichia kela (bichia= seed; kela=banana) at the green condition used in medicinal purpose (curing abdominal diseases and constipation). The banana fruit inflorescence in the good variety of malvog grows to the optimum level and therefore riches up to the soil. They cook the banana fruit inflorescence. The ‘trunk’ leaf inflorescence is also cooked as a food item. They use banana leaves as plates for serving food and also for packaging of various types. Bichia kela is with medicinal importance: seeds are curative for worms, a glass of fresh water coming out of a young leaf inflorescence helps in stomach problems and it is the main item for the preparation of traditional food item chheka. The filtered water of sun-dried dust of subterranean rhizome of the plant coming out from the hole at the bottom of coconut shell provides waxy nature in the vegetables. Small lafa leaves grown in spring-winter are tastier and with this chheka the dish prepared is called pelka- it reduces body temperature and prevents the germs and dust to enter into the lungs through nostrils during thrashing the paddy throughout the weather-changing season of Hemanta. Sun-dried fresh pieces of local varieties of small fishes in ponds and streams (shutka) are dusted in chham-gyin with waxy leaf-base of certain aurum varieties (mann/kala) locally propagated. Mustered oil, garlic, chilly and turmeric are used to prepare fish-balls from this waxy fish dust (sidal). Balls are then fermented in tightly closed earthen pots filled up with chheka dust. After 5/7 days, seal is broken up to release the balls then baked (autha) or cooked with curry and water of chheka. For washing the clothes, Rajbanshis use soda which they produce from the base of the banana tree (this base is the actual portion from where the leaf inflorescence comes out as “the tree” from the underground rhizome). They submerge this trunk base for long in water and when it started to be rotten out, the waxy extract they collected and used as soda. Edible soft inflorescence of ferns (dheki) is a good source of food. Rajbanshis eat non-vegetable items also: fish, hen, duck and goat are domesticated, bartered and reciprocated. Rajbanshi women are also aware of agro-forestry, kitchen garden, sacred groove, medicinal plants and fencing.

Bhakka

2022-12-24T23:40:00.000+08:00

Bhakka

Bhakka is a traditional indigenous food of Rajbanshi community of Nepal and is popular in the eastern part of Nepal especially Morang district, Jhapa district and Sunsari district where there is superfluity of tharu community.Nowdays the popularity of bhakka has been spread throug out Nepal. This bhakka has been taken as breakfast or as fast food item in most of the areas.

It's a product prepared from rice. The rice is pounded into the flour on traditional milling device 'Dhiki' or 'Jato' or 'Okhli'. The prepared flour is placed in a small bowl and the bowl is covered by the muslin cloth from the top and cooked over the steam for about 5-10 minutes produced by a special type of pot in which the water is boiling. The steaming process gelatinise the flour and make it edible cake like product known as Bhakka. It is served along with macerated chilly and salt. It can also take along with fish curry , cauliflower and potato curry. It's mostly consumed during the cold season.

The product may not be accepted by the one who occasionally take it but it is the best product for the one who is habitual in it.

Preparing Bhakka

Some Nepali News Articles About Bhakka

आय आर्जन को स्रोत भक्का
भक्का बाट मनग्ग्यै आम्दानी
फरक स्वाद
तराइको जाडोमा फास्टफूड भक्का
चिसो मौसमसँगै भक्का व्यापार सुरु
सामग्रीः एक रातअघि आवश्यकताअनुसार चामल भिजाएर राख्ने । भोलिपल्ट बिहान त्यसलाई कुटेर दाना-दाना बनाउने । दाना बनाउँदा थोरै पानी प्रयोग गर्ने ।
विधिः चामल कुटिसकेपछि त्यसमा थोरै मात्रामा पानी हाल्दै जाली भएको कपडाले छान्ने । उक्त पीठोलाई एउटा सानो प्लेट अथवा कचौरामा राखेर पातलो नरम कपडामा बेरेर मःम पकाउने अथवा बाफ आउने भाँडामा राखेर प्लेट अथवा कचौरा निकाल्ने । ५ मिनेटजति बाफमा पकाएर निकाल्ने । यसलाई धनियाँको अचार अथवा दूधसँग सर्भ गर्ने ।

Bhakka:The 500 km journey of a popular Jhapali dish to Kathmandu

2022-12-24T23:39:00.000+08:00

On a chilly December morning, there is quite a buzz near Anamnagar bus station, east of Singhadarbar. A crowd has gathered around a stall, which is selling a popular dish of eastern Nepal, bhakka.

“We come to this didi’s place every morning for this. This food reminds us of our teen years, when we used to eat bhakka every day while going to the high school,” shares Rabin Khatiwada, a native of Birtamod in Jhapa district.

Made famous by members of the ethnic group called Rajbanshi, who live in Jhapa and Morang districts, bhakka is a popular dish made from fresh rice flour. It is normally eaten during winters in the areas.

However, this dish has recently travelled to Kathmandu. Whereas other street foods are popular among roadside crowds during afternoons and evenings, bhakka has been a favourite for morning folks.

The Indigenous Taste

“It’s a dish of one of Nepal’s indigenous peoples. Rajbanshis, who were based in the Gangetic plains of the Terai developed a lot of dishes with the help of rice. Bhakka is just one of them,” informs Dipak Rajbanshi, an anthopology teacher from Jhapa, currently based in the capital.

He shares that back in the day, the dish was only made in winters after the harvest season, mostly by women. “Women would cook these bhakkas early mornings and evenings for their family members and serve with tea. It was much later that they started to go out and sell it as a breakfast item.”

The dish then started to gain popularity and quickly spread around eastern Terai. “Rice is something that is easily available around the region, which is why this dish quickly spread.”

The quickness that Rajbanshi mentions is reflected on the crowds that gather around bhakka stalls of Kathmandu these days.

Commercialisation

Earlier this year, Biwash Kafle and a few of his friends in a bid to do something new decided to open Bhakka House in Kathmandu. “We were looking for things to do in the country itself. We didn’t want to go abroad and decided to open a business here and create employment opportunities for others,” shares Kafle, who is also a native of Jhapa.

“We decided to go with bhakka because the dish was popular in Jhapa. As a child, I and other friends used to eat it too. And not wanting to open the same momo/chowmin joint, we decided to bring something new, something that all our brothers and sisters from the east could enjoy,” he continues.

Bhakka House, located in Purano Baneshwar of Kathmandu, has been open for nine months now.

Kafle shares that even though the beginning was hard, it is now doing good business. The owners have also tried to add their own touch to bhakka, by creating two of their own dishes. “We just improvised in the already good dish by making one a bit sweet and the other chocolaty.”

Ever Increasing Popularity

Rajbanshi believes the reason bhakka is doing well in Kathmandu is due to the climatic conditions in the capital.

“Apart from the afternoons, it’s quite chilly here in Kathmandu in almost every season and that is why the dish is doing well here. Growing up in Jhapa, we were always told that the dish keeps your body warm, which is why it was made only during winters.”

He also adds that it is quite fulfilling as well. “You have two bhakkas for breakfast and you’ll be good enough till lunch time. As it is oil-free, it’s quite healthy too.”

Changing Taste

Rajbanshi feels that a cuisine traditional to the Rajbanshi community living in eastern Nepal has lost its charms over the years due to the change in people’s taste and preference.

“Like bhuja (rice crispies), which is also a Rajbanshi dish, this too is changing with commercialisation. Earlier, it used to be made in earthen clay pots, but now its not the case,” he adds.

Nevertheless, Rajbanshi is happy that other people, including those living in urban Kathmandu, have loved the dish of his ethnic group. Such interactions would help people strengthen cultural and emotional bonds, according to him.

The 500 km journey was worth it.

Published on December 10th, Monday, 2018 10:59 AM,Onlinekhabar

बाह्रदशीको अध्यक्षमा चारजना राजवंशी भिडेपछि…

2022-05-17T22:47:00.002+08:00

गत स्थानीय निर्वाचनमा बाह्रदशी गाउँपालिकामा धेरै राजवंशी जनप्रतिनिधिहरु निर्वाचित भएका थिए । ७ वटा वडा रहेको सो गाउँपालिकामा गाउँपालिका अध्यक्ष , उपाध्यक्ष, दुई वडाध्यक्षसहित ८ जना राजवंशी जनप्रतिनिधि निर्वाचित भएका थिए । अध्यक्षमा खड्गप्रसाद राजवंशी , उपाध्यक्षमा रत्ना राजवंशी , वडाध्यक्षमा शम्भुसिंह राजवंशी , विरेन्द्रप्रसाद राजवंशीलगायत राजवंशी जनप्रतिनिधिहरुको राम्रो पकड रहेको थियो । तर, यस वर्षको स्थानीय तहको निर्वाचनमा आफू–आफूबीच भोट काटकाट गर्दा बाह्रदशी गाउँपालिकामा राजवंशीहरुले आफ्नो वर्चस्व गुमाएका छन् ।

स्थानीय तहको निर्वाचनमा बाह्रदशी गाउँपालिकाको अध्यक्ष पदमा चार जना राजवंशी उठेका छन् । नेपाली कांग्रेसका तर्फबाट निवर्तमान अध्यक्ष खड्गप्रसाद राजवंशी , राप्रपाका तर्फबाट रामकुमारसिंह राजवंशी , जनता समाजवादी पार्टीका तर्फबाट रंगलाल राजवंशी र जनमत पार्टीका तर्फबाट आसिनलाल राजवंशी अध्यक्षमा उठेका हुन् । पार्टीगत भोटसंगै जातिगत भोटबाट निर्वाचन जित्नुपर्ने अबस्थामा एउटै पदका लागि चारजना उठेपछि आदिवासीहरुको भोट छरिएको छ । जसका कारण ती चारैजना राजवंशी उम्मेदवारहरुले निर्वाचन हार्दैछन् ।

हालसम्मको मतपरिणाम अनुसार नेकपा एमालेका तर्फबाट अध्यक्षका उम्मेदवार देविन्द्रप्रसाद चम्लागाईले ४६६३ , कांग्रेसका खड्गप्रसाद राजवंशीले ३४५२ , राप्रपाका रामकुमारसिंह राजवंशीले ३३९० , जनता समाजवादी पार्टीका रंगलाल राजवंशीले ९८ र जनमत पार्टीका आसिनलाल राजवंशीले ३२ मत ल्याएका छन् ।

बाह्रदशी गाउँपालिका राजवंशीहरुको बहुल क्षेत्र हो । करिब ४१ जातजातिको बसोबास रहेको बाह्रदशी गाउँपालिकामा राजवंशी जातिको जनसँख्या सबैभन्दा बढी रहेको छ । २ हजार घरधुरीमा रहेका राजवंशीहरुको जनसँख्या ९ हजार १३१ रहेको छ । जुन कूल जनसँख्याको २३.०५ प्रतिशत हो ।

Sources:Pratidin National Daily Newspaper

Balen Shah- A Youth Leader of Current Nepal

2022-05-14T22:55:00.000+08:00

Balen Shah: He is one of the popular person in current days. In this ongoing political moment, Er. Balen has stated to be on Nepalese politics. Starting from the candidate of local politics, he is standing as a candidate for Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City in the local election. Everywhere people of Nepalese citizen are being reacted in positive connection to the youth leader Balen Shah. Voting count has been leading to the ahead position in every minute and hour. The youth of Nepal are surrounded with positive vibe. They are chanting with good slogans Balen Shah- Balen Shah. Definitely people are looking ahead of youth leader for drastic change in the local development, mind set of new themes and good proposal and the like. Balen Shah is very poplar in social media network now days. Hope to be the best to win the candidate post. He is neither belongs to any party nor any organization. He is the candidate of independent party. The people are full of supports to Er Balen Shah. The craze of young people are the fullest support. Balen Shah is young with engineer in professional and will definitely can be the icon for all the youngsters in Nepal. Its an good example to motivate all the youth in further days.

We know Er. Balen Shah in multiple ways. Some know him by his profession of Engineer whereas some are familiar with him by his singing career “Hip-hop”.He lives in Sinamangal.

Er. Balen is best known for his freestyle in Battle raps (Raw-Barz). He is the winner of the Second Season of Raw Barz ( A Nepali Rap Battle League). Er. Balen was born on 27 April 1990. So he is a 31-year-old male. He is an active youngster with `the mindset of leading the nation with the abilities and strategies he has learned.

Balen Shah is a Nepali Rapper, Music Composer, Song Writer, Director and Structural Engineer.

His Home town is in Kathmandu. He is well-known for his famous video on youtube “Raw-Barz”. Lately, his new song album was released.

मनिशा राजबंशी र जवाहिरको “आजै हो दिन मायालु”

2022-05-08T22:32:00.004+08:00

मिस राजवंशी २०१८ की सेकेण्ड रनर अप विजेता मनिशा राजबंशी र खेलाडी जवाहिर गुरुको फिचरिङमा रहेको “आजै हो दिन मायालु ” गीतको भिडियो तरेली कुञ्जको अफिसियल युटुव मार्फत सार्वजनिक भएको छ । सार्वजनिक गीतमा प्रेम दिप रम्जालीको शब्द , स्वर तथा संंगीत रहेको छ ।

Please Click The Picture To see the video

प्रेमको सुनौलो पललाई गीतमा समावेश गरिएको छ । आफनी प्रेमीकाको मायामा मनमा उठेका भावलाई गीत मार्फत ब्यक्त गायक रम्जालीले गरेका छन । सरोज शाहीको छायाँकन , सम्पादन तथा निर्देशन भिडियोमा रहेको छ ।

राजबंशी साहित्यमा योगदान पुर्याउदै गोपाल

2022-05-01T00:38:00.001+08:00

बिराटनगर/ लामो समयदेखि राजबंशी साहित्य क्षेत्रमा योगदान पुर्याउदै आएको एक नाम हो गोपाल राजबंशी । झापास्थित गौरिगंज निवासी ३८ बर्षीय राजबंशी शिक्षण पेशा संगै साहित्य क्षेत्रमा पनि लामो समयदेखि योगदान दिदै आईरहेका छन् । धेरै चर्चित राजबंशी गीतहरु लेखिसकेका उनको रचनामा गायक बलराम राजबंशीले एक गीत गाएका छन् । ‘पन्ता भात खाबर मजा’ बोलको उक्त गीत एकदमै चर्चित बन्यो जसको कारणले पनि गीत लेखनमा उनलाई थप उर्जा मिल्यो ।

यता अर्का गायक बलबहादुर राजबंशीले पनि उनको सब्दमा ‘मन रे मन’ बोलको गीत गाए, सो गीत पनि अहिले सम्म राजबंशि समुदायमा चर्चित छ । सानै उमेर देखि यस क्षेत्रमा रुचि भएता पनि घरायसी समस्याको कारणले गोपाल साहित्य क्षेत्रमा आउन सकेका थिएनन् । तर उडने पन्छिलाई कसले पो रोक्न सक्छर भनेझैं बि.स. २०५८ सालदेखि उनी राजबंशी साहित्य क्षेत्रमा सक्रियताका साथ लागे । २०६३ सालमा बैवाहिक जिवनमा बाधिएका उनलाई बिवाहपछि यस क्षेत्रमा लाग्न झनै उत्साह मिलेको उनी बताउछन् ।

‘मनेर फुल’, ‘बेदना भाग-१,२ र ३’, ‘याद आसेछे त्रिसना’, ‘तोर बीना’ लगायत थुप्रै एल्बमहरु उनले बजारमा ल्याईसकेका छन् । ‘तोर बिना’ एल्बममा समाबेश गरिएको उनको सब्द रहेको ‘तोर सगे जीवन मोर’ बोलको गीतको गीतको म्युजिक भिडियो पनि सार्बजनिकको तयारिमा छ । जस्लाई गायक केशव राजबंशीले गाएका छन् । सार्बजनिक पश्चात् गीतले राम्रो प्रतिक्रिया पाउनेमा आफू ढुक्क रहेको गोपाल बताउछन् । राजबंशी भाषा साहित्य र कलालाई जगेर्नाका साथै यसलाई अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समुदाय सम्म पुर्याउनको सधै लागिरहने बताउने उनी राजबंशी समुदायलाई अझै सरकारले ध्यान दिनु आवस्यक छ भन्छन्

३ करोड नेपालीले हेर्नु पर्ने ज्ञानु राजबंशीको देशभक्ति गीत ‘पागल’ भिडियो

2022-04-26T00:31:00.000+08:00

गीतकार ज्ञानु राजबंशीले नयाँ देशभक्ति गीत ‘पागल’ सार्वजनिक गरेका छन् । गायक निरोज लामाको स्वर , संगीत र एरेन्जमेन्ट रहेको गीतमा एक देशभक्त नेपालीले देखाउने देशप्रेमलाइ बर्णन गरिएको छ भने गीतको भिडियोमा गीतकार राजबंशीलेने नै गीतको भाव अनुसारको अभिनय गरेका छन् ।

देशभक्ति गीत पागलको म्युजिक भिडियोमा दिपुकृष्ण डंगोलको क्यामेरावर्क रहेको छ । हरि महर्जनको निर्देशनमा बनेको भिडियोलाई ओ एस आर डिजिटलको अफिसियल युट्युब मार्फत डिजिटल बजारमा आएको हो ।

गीतकार ज्ञानु राजबंशीको यसै एल्बम ‘मेरो प्यारो नेपाल’ मा सामबेश गीत मै हु ढाका टोपी यो गत बर्षको टोपी दिवसलाई मध्यनजर गर्दै सर्वाजनिक गरिएको थियो जुन धेरै रुचाइएको थियो ।

बि.स . २०२८ सालमा बिर्तामोड नगरपालिका ०२ चारपाने, झापामा जन्मेका राजबंशी भाषामा बिस २०७१ र २०७४ मा क्रमशस् ‘प्रेमेर बाउधिया’ र “साली तोर मुई रसिया” गरी दुइ वटा गीति एल्बम आइसकेका छन भने उनले स्थानीय राजबंशी चलचित्र ‘बागनेर फुल’मा अभिनय समेत गरिसकेका छन् । यसै एल्बममा समाबेश अन्य गीतहरुको पनि म्युजिक भिडियो छिट्टैनै निर्माण गरिने गीतकार राजबंशी जानकारी दिए ।Sources"sansarnews.com

लोप हुदै राजबंशी भाषा र संस्कृति

2022-04-26T00:10:00.002+08:00

पहिलेको समय भन्दा अहिलेको समय धेरै कुरामा फरक छ । पहिले भने शारिरिक शक्तिले हरेक कामकाज जस्तो धानलाई चामल बनाउन मिल थिएन घरमै ढिकी र ओखलीमा कुट्थे काही जानु पर्दा पैदलनै यात्रा गर्थे। अहिले जस्तो गाडी र मोटरसाईकल थिएन। अहिलेको समय मेसिन र इन्जिनको रहेछ यि कुराहरु प्रिवर्तन स“गसगै आÏना संस्कृती र परम्परा पनी परिवर्तन हुदै छ । यो परिवर्तनलाई के–को रुपमा लिनु, अहिलेका युवायुवती धेरै जान्ने बु¤ने भएर कुनै अन्धविश्वास जस्तो कुरालाई नमानिएको भनौ या पुराना रितिरिवाज,संस्कृतीलाई वास्ता नगरेको भनौ विस्तारै–विस्तारै सबै लोप हुदै गईरहेका छन् । हाम्रा हजुरवुवाहरुले मान्दै आएका संस्कृतीलाई पुरानो फेसन विदेशी डिजाइन र भाÈालाई नया“ किन हुदैछ यस्तो एकचोटी सबैले भित्री रुपमा सोच्नै पर्ने कुरा हो । यसरी आÏना सस्कृतिलाई बिर्सिदै गए भने हाम्रो कुनै अस्तिव नै रहदैन एक राजबंशी जातीको मात्र समस्या होइन यो समस्या सबै जातजातीमा भएको पाइन्छ । यसरी नै राजबंशी जातीको हुन किन राजबंशीलाई आदिबासी भनिन्छ । पहिला कस्तो थियो रहनसहन ?के थियो परम्परा ?किन हुदैछ लोप ? नेपालको विभिन्न ठा“उमा छरिएर रहेपनि सुदुरपुर्वी तराई मोर¨का आदिवासी वा मुलवासी हुन । अतःराजवंशी जातीलाई नेपालका आदिवासी भनिन्छ । नेपाली राजवंशीहरु

तत्कालीन मोर¨का आदीम भुमिपुत्र हुन । मेरो भन्ने शब्दलाई राजवंशीमा मोर भनिन्छ र ‘रमाइलो’ शब्दलाई ‘रंग’ वा हाउस रंग शब्दलाई राजवंशी भाषामा पनि रंग नै भनिन्छ । (मोर ं रंग) मोरङ राजवंशी शब्द हो । जसलाई मोर¨, जिल्ला भनेर नाम राखिएको थियो झापा र मोर¨ जिल्लामा, चौधरी, कोचकाहाल,बंहा राजवंशी, वर्मन, डम, हारी, माझी, ग्वाल, देशिया, सुडी, तेली, वैरागी, अघोरी माक्रा, गोस्वामी, केवरत, नाउ, हल्वाई, आदी थर भएका जातीहरुको बोल्ने मातृभाÈा हो जसलाई राजवंशी भाÈा भन्दछन् ।जात बेग्लै भए पनि भाÈा संस्कृती मिल्न जान्छ । झापा र मोर¨ जिल्लामा बसोवास भएको ताजपुरियाहरुको भाÈा र संस्कृती राजवंशी झाषास“ग मिल्छ । (वि.स.२०५८)को जनगणना अनुसार राजवंशी भाÈा बोल्नेको संख्या
झापा जिल्लामा ८४,८४६ रहेको तथ्यांक झापा जिल्ला विकास समीतीद्धारा प्रकासित डिस्ट्रिक प्रोफाईलमा देखिन्छ । तर (२०६८)को जनगणनामा राजवंशी भाÈा बोल्नेको संख्या घट्दै गएको छ । किनभने झापा जिल्ला विकास समितिको कार्यलय भद्रपुरद्धारा प्रकासित “झापा जिल्ला एक झलक” ले राजवंशीको संख्या झापा जिल्लामा (५८०२४) मात्र देखाएको छ ।यो दश बर्षको अन्तरालमा झापा जील्लामा राजबंशीको संख्या घटेको पाइन्छ । यो घटेका राजबंशी के भए? काहा हराए ? यसको खोज— खबर कसैस“ग छैन । नेपालमा मात्र नभएर भारतमा पनि राजबंशीको बसोबास छ । राजवंशी साहित्य, संस्कृती, उत्थानकालागी तराईका नेपाली राजवंशीहरुले वि.स. २०३९ साल(पञ्चायती व्यवस्थाको शासनकाल) मा राजवंशी भाÈा प्रचार समिति नामक संस्था स्थापना गरेका थिए । संस्थाका सम्पादक अध्यÔ फुलसिंह राजवंशी जी ले संचालन गर्न भएको थियो । राजवंशी भाÈा संस्कृति जर्गेणा गर्नुपर्छ भन्ने उदेश्यले गरेका थिए । तर अहिले आएर यो नाम बदलेर राजवंशी समाज विकास समिति राखिएको छ । यसमा पनि आÏनो धर्म भाÈा संस्कृति बचाउने उद्येश्य लिई संचालन गरेको भन्छन तर काम भने नाचगानमा मात्र सिमित छ । त्यतिले मात्र कहा“ पुग्छ आÏनो भाÈा संस्कृित जोगाउन नाचगान फेसन सो ले मात्र पुग्दैन अब केहि गर्छन होला किनकी संस्थाको नाममा जग्गा प्राप्त भएको छ । भवन निर्मान गर्ने निर्णय भएको छ सहयोग गर्न चाहनु हुनेहरु अवश्य सम्पर्क गर्नु होला रा.स.बि.स जिल्ला कार्यालय झापा । हुनत अहिले २१ औ शताब्तिमा आएर बदल्नु पर्छ । भेÈभुÈा चलन अनुसार चल्छन् तर आÏनो सानै देखि बोलिने मातृ भाÈा समेत बोल्न लजाउ“छन् किन यस्तो भएको होला ? हाम्रा हजुरबुवांं हजुरआमाका बेला गाउ“मा ठुलो इज्जत हुन्थ्यो देउनिया चौधरी प्र्रधान नामले चिनिथ्यो । चाडबाडका बेला साह्रै रमाईलो हुन्थ्यो राजबंशीहरुको महान चाड सिरुवा बैसाख महिनामा मनाउने गरिन्छ । पहिलो दिन पानी सिरुवा दोस्रो दिन काद सिरुवा पहेलो माटो भिजाएर हिलो बनाइ एक आपसमा जिउमा हिलो लगाउने त्यही दिन घरका कुल देवतालाइ प्रसाद चढाइन्छ अन्तिम दिन रङ्ग सिरुवा खेलिन्छ साथै गाउ“घरमा हुने थानलाइ ग्रामथान भनिन्छ । सिरुवाको बेला ग्रामथान भएको ठाएमा मेला लाग्ने गरिन्छ पहिला मेला एक रोचक तथ्य हुन्थ्यो त्यति बेला गोरु गडा लिएर सबै परिवार मेला जान्थे त्यो गाडिको नाम सम्पनि गाडि हो । त्यो गाडि फरक किसिको हुन्थ्यो बिभिन्न सामग्रीले र रङ्गले सजाएको हुन्छ । अहिले आएर यसको नाम निसान छैन पहिला मेला जानलाई महिलाहरु जिउ भरि गरगहना लगाउने गर्थे हातका नाडिमा सुनका तथा चादीका चुरा पाखुरामा सिपीतार,बाघ त्यसैगरी घाटीमा गोठ,हार खुट्टामा मोटा मोटा पाउजु ,छारा लगाउने गर्थे अहिले यो एउटा कथा जस्तै मात्र जस्तो लाग्छ भन्दा तर यो सत्य तथ्य हो । अहिले आएर सबै लोप भएर गएका छन् पुर्खाले दिएका कुरालाई संरक्षण गर्नु हामो्र कर्तब्य हो । नभएर या पुरानो फेसन भनेर किनभने अहिले बिदेशी सस्कृति र फेसनलाई अंगालिएका छन । सबैले सोच्नै पर्ने कुरा हो आºना सस्कृतिलाई पछाडि पारेर अरुको सस्कृतिलाई अपनाउनु भनेको आºनो अस्तिव गुमाउनु हो । राजबंशी महिलाहरुको जातीय पोशाक पेटानी ,बरहती, सारी, ब्लाउज, चादर हो । पेटानी पाच“ हात लामो र तिन हात चौडाई भएको हुन्छ यसलाई छातीमा बा“ध्छन अहिले यसको प्रयोग छैन भन्न मिल्दैन कति बेला लगाउ“छन भन्दा मात्र कुनै कार्यक्रम छ भने यसो फेसनसो देखाए जस्तो गर्छन । राजबंशी जातीको पहिला बिवाह हुने बेला बेहुलीले रङ्गिबिरङ्गी सारी लगाउने चलन थिएन बरहती हुन्थ्यो सोह्र हात लामो जिउमा लाउने सोह्र हात लामो अनुहार छोप्ने हुुन्थ्यो मोटो र गुलाबी रङ्गको हुन्छ । बेहुलीको अनुहार देखिदैनथ्यो तर अहिले रङ्गीबिरङ्गी सारी र घाग्रा चोलीरे घुम्टो पनि नामको मात्र नेटको हुन्छ पुरै अनुहार देखिने यो सब बाहिरी संस्कारको देखासिकी हो । त्यसरी नै राजबंशी केटाको बिहेमा बेहुलाले गुलाबी रङ्गको गन्जी र धोती लगाउ“थे र खुट्टामा रङ्ग लगाएर खरङ काठको चप्पल बिशेÈ गरी बेहुलाको लागी बनाएको हुन्छ साथै सिरमा कपडाकै टोपी बनाएर लगाउनु पथ्र्यो ताकी सिर कहिलै नझुकोस भनेर तर अहिले कोट र पाइन्ट लगाएर बिहे गर्छन् । यो सब बाहिरी संस्कृतिबाट आएको हो अहिले जुन स्यम्वर गरिन्छ यो राजबंशी संस्कृति भन्दा बाहिर को हो । आºनो भाÈा संस्कृतिलाई बिर्सेर अरुको नक्कल गर्नु आºनो अस्तित्व गुमाउनु हो । भाÈँ संस्कृति संगै खाने परिकारहरु समेत लोप हुदै गएको छ । पहिला कम्पोष्ट मल यानिकी गोबर मल लगाएर बालीनाली गर्थे तर अहिले सब थोक रासायनिक मलको प्रयोग नगरिकन केहि उब्जाउ नै हुदैन । पहिला सबै स्वस्थ्य र निरोगी हुन्थे अहिले भने म रोगी छैन भन्ने कोही नै हुदैनन् कुनै न कुनै रोगले पिडित छन् । राजबंशी जातीको खानपिनहरु पेल्का,फोदको,खारी,भाक ,पिठ,सुकाती, दर्कच,अदरी,पअ,कान्जी,बरी,पेरपेरी,दोभाजाचाउ,गाजीमुरी ,खिर,खिचडी,खेवा, यी साहाकारी खानपिन हुन । का“खर,सितु,गुन्जुर,सिदल, आदि हुन यी कतिपय खाने कुराको नाम सुन्दा नि अचम्म मान्छन अहिलेका युवायुवती पकाउनु र खानुको कुरै नगरौ स्वाद पनि थाहा छैन पुर्खाले नसिकाएको भनौ या युवयुवतीले ध्यान नदिएको समय संगसगै हरेक गतिविधीहरु परिवर्तन भइरहेको छ । म पनि एउटा राजबंशीको छोरी हु मलाई आङ्खनो भाषा सस्कृति के हो ?हामी कहा“का हौ ? हरेक कुराको जानकारी लिनलाई म मेरो हजुरबुवा वा अग्रजहरुसंग सिक्न जरुरी ठान्छु र सोधिराखेको छु । मलाई जातीको घेरै कुरा थाहा थिएन खोज्ने क्रममा धेरै कुराहरु जाने सिके र बुझे पनि हो यसरी नै तपाईहरु पनि आजै देखि आङ्खनो भाषा संस्कृतिको बारेमा खोज तलास लिनुस् र संरक्षण गर्नुस् हामीले नगरे कसले गर्ने अहिले नगरे कहिले गर्ने भन्ने भनाईलाई पछयाउदै अगाडि बढनुस.

पुर्णिमा राजवंशी From Kochila News.com

राजवंशी जाति

2022-04-25T23:53:00.002+08:00

मुख्य बस्ती

यो जातिको बसोबास झापा जिल्लाको सबै क्षेत्रमा पाइएता पनि विशेष गरेर जिल्लाको मध्य तथा दक्षिणी भेगमा पाइन्छ। यो जाति खास गरेर भद्रपुर, पथरिया, अनारमनी, गरामनी, काकरभिट्टा, लखनपुर, गौरादह, गुवालडभा, गौरीगञ्ज, घैलाडुव्वा, पाँचगाछी, सिबगन्ज, माहाबार, कोरोबारी, डांगीबारी, वैगुनधुरा, राजगढ, घेराबारी, बालुबाडी, महेशपुर, हल्दीबारी, बनियानी, शरणामतीमा वढी केन्द्रित भएको देखिन्छ। त्यसैगरी मोरङको विराटनगर , कटहरि गापा, जहदा गापा, बुढिगंगा गापा, धनपालथान गापा आदि नपा, गापामा अत्यधिक संख्यामा विराट राजवंशी बसोवास भएको पाईन्छ।

पूर्वज आगमन

पश्चिम बङ्गाल (कोच विहार ) र आसामको सिमानामा बस्ने कोचहरूकै वंशज हुन् भन्ने नृवंशशास्त्रीहरू भन्दछन्। शारीरिक बनोटले मंगोल आकृतिका भएपनि यिनको भाषा बङ्गाली र असमिया भाषासँग मिल्दोजुल्दो छ। यिनीहरूको भाषालाई धेरै नामले चिनीन्छ, ती हुन राजवंशी, रंगपुरी, कामतापुरी, ताजपुरी, गुवालपाडिया, पोलिया, सृजापुरी साथै कोच भाषाको नामले पनि चिनीन्छ। पुर्वजको आगमन भन्दा पनि यो क्षेत्र (झापा, मोरङ, सुनसरी) राजवंशीहरुकै राज्य कामतापुर थियो।

जातीय संस्कृति

प्रकृति पूजक यिनीहरू ठाकुर ब्रह्मानीको पूजा गर्दछन् र धामी झांक्री मान्दछन्। राजवंशीहरूले आउँसिया, सिरुवा पर्व, दधिकाद पर्व, होली आदि पर्वहरू मान्दछन्। नव वर्षको वैसाख १ गतेको उपलक्ष्यमा मनाइने सिरुवा पर्व, तथा भगवान कृष्ण जन्मको उत्सवको रूपमा मनाइने दधिकादो पर्वमा यिनीहरू हिलो र पानी खेल्दछन्। विहेवारीमा केटीको आमाबाबुलाई केटा पक्षले दस्तुरको रूपमा पैसा दिने प्रचलन छ। यो प्रचलन अन्य केही जनजातिमा पनि पाइन्छ।

पेशागत रूपमा यो जातिको प्रमुख पेशा खेती किसानी हो। यो समुदायमा दामदुम ( केटीका आमा बाबुलाई जानकारी गराउने तर विधिविधान नगर्ने ) डाङुवा ( पतिको मृत्यु पश्चात् विधवाले अर्का केटासँग विवाह गरी पूर्व पतिको घरमा नै बस्ने संस्कार ), समद ( पतिको मृत्यु पछि अर्का सँग विवाह गरी उसैको घरमा गई बस्ने गरी गरिएको विवाह ), घन्जिया ( अविवाहित केटा केटी विच विवाह भई केटीको घरमा घरज्वाई बस्ने किसिमको विवाह ) र मागि विवाह गरी ५ किसिमका विवाह संस्कार प्रचलनमा छन्। यो जातिले जादु, टुनामुना, मोहिनी, धामीझाक्री, बोक्सीमा विश्वास राख्ने गरेका छन्। तर सबै राजवंशीको भेषभुषाा, भाषा र संस्कृती फरक छ। जस्तै विराट राजवंशीहरुको भाषामा झापाको भन्‍दा केही फरक रहेको छ।

किताबहरुको प्रकाशन:

राजबंशी भाषामा बिभिन्न पुस्तक पुस्तिकाहरु पनि पाउने गरिएको छ। राजबंशी भाषाको नेपाली-राजबंशी- अंग्रेजी शब्दकोश, राजबंशी भाषाको बाइबलको नयाँ करार र पुरानो करार अनुवादको क्रममा रहेको छ। राजबंशी भाषाको स्कुलका बिभिन्न किताबहरु र बिभिन्न किसिमका कथाका किताबहरु रहेको छ। त्‍यसैगरी राजबंशी भाषामा नै फिनलेन्ड सरकारबाट आमगाछी, चिल्‍हारा र गौरीगन्जमा ३ ओटा स्कुल चलिरहेको छ। जहाँ ५ क्लास सम्ममा पढाइ हुन्‍छ, त्‍यसपछि ति बालकहरु सरकारी स्कुलमा गएर पढ्छन्।

Sources From Internet

Siruwa Paabni

2022-04-22T00:45:00.000+08:00

Jal Siruwa, Kaada Siruwa Aajhi Rang Siruwa

Savaaye Mili Aash Khelwa, Aajhi Rang Siruwa

Haamaar Jaater Bara Paabni, Siruwa Paabni Manaayi

Ghumni Muri Paijir Saana, Pet Varaaye Khaayi

Maner Aasha Manntey Rahabey, Jadi Ni Khelban

Khelwa Aash Siruwa Paabni, Gatey Dukhla Bhulban

Siruwa Paabni Kheliye Haamaa, Ek Jut Habaar Dekhaayi

Buddhi Jiwi Han Tamahala, Savakey Bujhaayi

Jaater Pahichaan DeshBidesh Laak, Siruwa Paabni Janaayi

Haamaar Lakhshya Pura Hobey, Siruwa Paabni Manaayi

Jal Siruwa Chyaap Chyaap, Kaada Siruwa Ged Ged,

Rang Siruwa Range Range,Kenang Asal Paabni,

3 Din Kaar Siruwa Paabni, Paabni Re Paabni

Jagira Sara ra ra ra ra ra Jagira Sara ra ra ra ra ……..

जल सिरुवा-रंग सिरुवा-कादो सिरुवा

2022-04-22T00:44:00.000+08:00

राजबंशीहरुको महान पर्ब सिरुवा पावनी बैशाख को पहिलो दिन देखि सुरु हुन्छ ! परापुर्वकाल देखि बसोबास गर्दै आएका राजबंशी, ताजपुरिया, गंगई, थारु, धिमाल लगायेत आदिबासी बस्तिहरू माँ यो पावनी को रौनक बडेको हुन्छ ! प्रतेक नया बर्ष माँ मनाईने यो चाड नेपाल को तराई का अधिकांस आदिबासी हरु ले मनाउने यो सबै भन्दा ठुलो पर्व हो ! यो पर्व विशेष गरी ३ दिन सम्म मनाइन छ ! यस पर्व को पहिलो दिन बैशाख १ गते अर्थात यस दिन लाइ पानी सिरुवा भन्ने गरिन्छ ! पानी सिरुवा माँ आफूभन्दा ठुलाको खुट्टामा पानी हालेर आशिर्बाद ली ne गरिन्छ ! शुभकामना आदान प्रदान गर्ने गरिन्छ ! बर्षको दुःख कस्ट लाइ धोई पखाली नया बर्षको सुरुवात संगै बर्ष भरी शरीर ठंडा र शीतल रहोस भनी कामना गरिने राजबंशी हरुको भनाई छ ! यसै दिन राती जरिबुट्टी खोजेर ल्याई कसैले न देख्ने ग़री घरको चारै किल्ला मा पूजापाठ गरिन्छ ! बर्ष भरी कुनै पनि शत्रुले परिवारका कुनै सदस्यता माथी बैरभाव नराखोस भन्ने कामना गरिन्छ !

दोस्रो दिन अर्थात २ गतेलाई कादो सिरुवा भनिन्छ ! यसदीन एक अर्कालाई हिलो छ्याप-छयाप गरेर मनाउने गर्छन ! बर्ष भरिका दुःख कष्ट, पीड़ा र थकान लाई मेटाउन कादो सिरुवा खेलिने चलन छ ! यसो गर्ना ले माटो शारीर अन्तत माटो मै बिलिन हुने भएका ले शारीर लाई कुनै रोग ब्याधि न लागने भनेर राजबंशी हरु को ! विश्वास छ !

नव बर्ष को तेस्रो दिन रंग सिरुवा खेलिन्छ ! रंग सिरुवा मा एक अर्का बीच रंग छ्यापेर शुभकामना आदान प्रदान गर्ने गरिन्छ ! रिस, राग त्यागेरा मन मुटाबलाई रंग खेली हर्स उल्लाश का साथ मनाइन्छ ! सबै ले नया बर्ष को उपलक्ष्यत मा नया लुगा लगाउने, मिठो - मिठो परिकार बनाएर खाने चलन छ !

पर्व को पहिलो दिन सातसागी (७ प्रकार को तरकारी) खाने गरिन्छ ! यो पर्व मा घाटो सरि समेत बगाउने गरिन्छ ! दुइ दिन सम्म घर मै पुजा ग़री नजिक को खोला मा घाटो लाइ बगाइंछ ! यसको प्रसाद खायो भने मुखमा हुने घाउ खटिरा निको हुने जन विश्वास रहे को छ ! रंग सिरुवा दिन देखि नै विभिन्न ठाउ मा मेला लागने गर्द छ ! बिशेस ग़री झापा, मोरंग र सुनसरी जिल्ला बाहेक भारत को कोच बिहार, जलपाईगुरि, पानीटंकी, आसाम र भुटान मा समेत राजबंशी हरु हर्सो उल्लाश का साथ तीन दिन सम्म मनाउने गर्दछन ! यस दिन मेला मा यस समुदायका युवक युवती ले आफ्नु मन् परेको केटा केटी रोज्ने प्रचलन रहे को छ !

Link More-----सिरुवा पावनी---नया बछर आर डोल पावनी (Siruwa Naya Bachhar Ar Dol Paabni)

Interview | 'There Are Few Documents on the Diverse History of Koch Rajbanshis'

2021-12-19T22:13:00.003+08:00

Guwahati: A few days after the lynching incident of two youth, Nilotpal and Abhijeet Das in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, a Koch Rajbanshi boy was brutally beaten in public. The video of that incident was streamed on social media and selectively ignored by both regional and national press. The mob had aggressively questioned whether his name appeared in the National Register for Citizens (NRC) or not.

This is not the first time that the rights of a Koch Rajbanshi individual have been violated. In the peak of the Bodo Movement (1989), more than 200 Koch-Rajbanshi families belonging to 43 villages from the northern part of Bongaigaon (now Chirang) district, fled from their homes, leaving behind their valuables and took shelter in various designated camps to escape the slaughter of armed Bodo militants. The dominant cultural amnesia might have wiped out these events but the long lasting trauma among those inflicted has remained intact.

Historically, the term “Koch” has three meanings and uses – it is the name of a dynasty, an ethnic group and a desh (country) i.e. Cooch Behar. Accounts from the Mughal period, like the Ain-i-Akbari and Baharistan-i-Ghaybi, have referred to the area as “Koch”. Within India and South Asia currently, the term “Koch” has been (almost) replaced by “Rajbanshi” in North Bengal, Bihar and Nepal. Since 1996, the terms ‘Koch’ and ‘Rajbanshi’ are officially used as one term ‘Koch–Rajbanshi’ in Assam.

When Cooch Behar was merged with Bengal with the disappearance of Koch Royals in January 1950, the Royal Heritage buildings were either occupied by the government or left abandoned to survive on their own. The former pride associated with the term ‘Rajbanshi’ (heirs of the King) has been lost. Very little is known about their social life under the royalty and the complex geographical division thereafter.

The Wire caught up with Arup Jyoti Das, whose fifth book Kamateshwar Biswasingha – The Last Rise of the Koches will be out in October. As a managing trustee of the Centre of Koch Rajbanshi Studies and Development (CKRSD) at Guwahati, he has worked extensively with the Kamatapur movement led by indigenous Koch-Rajbanshis for more than a decade. Excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about your new book – how is it different from the previous historical accounts on Koches in Assam?

My new book is about Biswa Singha, the founder of the last Koch State (Koch or Cooch Behar) in this part of South Asia. He came from the matrilineal tribal society (he’s popularly known as Hira Kuchoni’s son and his paternal ancestry is rather unclear). He rose from the humble position of the leader of cowherds (Gorokhiyar Roja) to the prestigious Kamateshwar (ruler of Kamata). He freed the territory (present North Bengal and Lower Assam) from Bengal rule and stopped the Bengal Expansion in Karotowa (now in present-day Jalpaiguri). He had also eliminated the stateless upper caste Bhuyan ruling structure from Kamrup (lower and middle Assam) to bring order and to form the Koch State in the region. His kingdom comprised areas in present-day Assam, West Bengal and Bangladesh. I try to capture and document these historical changes keeping Biswa Singha at its centre.

Kamateshwar Biswasingha – The Last Rise of the Koches,

Arup Jyoti Das,
2018

There are few documents on the multifarious Koch history. What’s worse, there is no work at all on the ruler Biswa Singha. Hence, the book has the advantage of being the first of its kind. I should not claim this as a benchmark, but I see a lot of hope. Its main objective is to fill up a huge gap in the historical chronicles of the region and bring justice to the living histories of indigenous peoples. My book is neither colonial, nor (sub)-nationalist – it does not try to impress any ideology.

How has the term ‘Rajbanshi’ evolved since Biswa Singha’s rule?

The term ‘Rajbanshi’ came into existence from Biswa Singha’s period as a section of the common Koches started calling themselves Rajbanshi or the royal descendents. This was a crucial period for the identity construction of the Koches. Once Biswa Singha consolidated power, a strong wave of Brahminical Hinduism entered the Koch administration and royal families. With this, their Tibeto-Burman tongue and traditions were mostly lost. Noticeably, majority of the Koches had decided to shift from a matrilineal tradition to a patriarchal set up. Among other political changes, women lost their importance in the royal family with this shift from the matrilineal tradition. I explore the folklore of Kuchoni (Koch Women) and Siva to critically discuss these altercations intertwined with caste, gender and geography.

How is it going to be different from colonial ethnographic history and hagiographies of rulers?

I have freed this book from the “white men’s burden” and the pressure of a nationalist hero-worship. It has paved its independent path. Ruler Biswa Singha does not need to be god-like at all, though rooted mythologies around him very much exist. Instead, I aim to present how a member of the peasantry i.e., Biswa Singha, by his virtue and leadership became a conqueror of the commoners. He had his flaws, like any ordinary man of his time – but the challenge is to offer a real prism of that period.

Rulers of the Koch dynasty have been glossed over in the Buranjis. Their names appear in brief chapters. Why do you think that is the case?

Biswa Singha and the indigenous Koches belong to a “disappeared nation”, which no longer serves any purpose to language-based Assamese or Bengali nationalisms. Hence, the mainstream impulse is to discard it from the pages of history. Assamese sub-nationalism is largely derived from historical incidents where the Ahoms fought with the Mughals (who are described as the enemies of the state in colonial and nationalist history writing). Interestingly, Koch rulers too had invaded Assam and subdued it for a while in the 16th century. They also invaded Bengal by making the Mughals an ally in the later half of the 16th century. Nationalist writers of modern Bengal and Assam may not like to write about powerful Koch invasions as part of their historical literature.

How has the response of the dominant media houses in Assam been with regard to raising issues of the Koch Rajbanshis. You are also a regular contributor to some Assamese newspapers.

Raising issues of the Koches and social justice in the Assamese media is not that easy. It takes months at times. Around 2007-08, I had written an article criticising late Rajanikanta Bordoloi’s novel Dandua Droh where he referred to Koches as Nihkulia (of lower caste). He had also advocated in his writing that an upper caste Kalita girl should rather die than marry a Koch prince. This was straightaway rejected by the editor on the grounds that I can’t criticise Bordoloi – a respected author in Assamese literature.

But, discrimination need not always be caste-based. It can also be inflicted by tribal nationalist groups. I have been trolled on social media for some of my writings on Koches by people from the Bodo community. Many from the community see Koches as the main hurdle for the creation of Bodoland – (an exclusive homeland for the Bodos).This is rightly opposed by the Koch-Rajbanshis because that area is a shared homeland for many.

Things have changed somewhat; yet, we have a long way to go. The fissures in the jatiyatabadi movement have been exposed today by the Koch Rajbanshi Civil Society Organisations in North Bengal and Assam. The Assamese language belongs to all of us, including Koch Rajbanshis, but not its nationalism. We have our own nuances and commentary on it; our languages – Koch (the Tibeto-Burman one) and Koch Deshi (Kamatapuri/Rajbanshi, the Koch State language) are fascinating examples of an ethnic and regional mix. And that doesn’t make us any less indigenous—we too, belong to this landscape.

Your second book Kamatapur and the Koch Rajbanshi Imagination (2009) dealt with the demand for Kamatapur. What are the challenges of leading the movement today?

The present trans-border reality of the Koch areas is the main challenge of the movement. Besides that, the leadership is not informed by research. The demand for Kamatapur rose from both West Bengal and Assam, but so far, there has been no united movement. The insurgent outfit KLO (Kamatapur Liberation Organisation) is mostly inactive. Given such a situation, I still think there’s much resistance in these histories that makes our dissent worthwhile.

Your forthcoming book closely observes changing maps. Tell us more.

It was only in the reign of Naranarayan (son of Biswa Singha), for a short period, that Ganga became the frontier of Mughal India and the Koch State when joint forces of both subdued Bengal. The huge Koch State was divided as Koch Behar (Koch Kamata) and Koch Hajo (Kamrup) between Biswa Singha’s sons and grandsons in 1581. It’s a complex map that changed multiple times – perhaps better comprehended by forgetting present political boundaries.

Koch Hajo became Bijni (Assam) along with two more small Koch principalities namely, Darang and Beltola (both in Assam). The Raikot family, descendant of Biswa Singha’s brother Siva Singha, continued to rule Baikunthpur (Jalpaiguri in West Bengal) and had fought with the Mughals many times to protect the Koch State. Two more Koch States emerged parallel to the main Koch state – they were Panga (now in Bangladesh) and Sidli (Assam). Modern day West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh were created by dividing Koch territories. We tend to not recall that way too often.

So, the map of Kamatapur is not an exclusive one?

Kamatapur is not the name of a community, but of a historical region, a region which took shape in the mid 13th century. Though the area came to be known as Koch Behar, Biswa Singha declared himself as Kamateshwar or the ruler of Kamata. Kamatapur is inclusive; I say this because the monarchs who ruled it many years ago have been shown to have risen above ethnicity. Hence, it is not exclusively for the Koches, it can’t be. Otherwise, the demand would have been for Kochland, like Bodoland which advocates exclusive rights only for the Bodos. Since the Koches protected the frontiers, their inhabitation in this area goes back eons ago.

You’d mentioned that the Koches lost their privileges post the merging of Koch Behar (Cooch Behar) as a district to West Bengal.

Yes. Actually, the upper caste Hindu Bengali immigrants, who came to North Bengal, became the most powerful land holding class in the course of time. They were a privileged community in terms of education, social mobility skills and wore their caste on their sleeves. They treated the local Koch Rajbanshis as untouchables. Therefore, the Koch Rajbanshis were compelled to claim a dignified place through an upper caste mobility movement. It would sound harsh but Cooch Behar was conquered by Bengal in 1950 without a battle. With the annexation of Cooch Behar as a district, the last traces of Koch identity were effectively obliterated.

Why do the Koch Rajbanshis seek the Scheduled Tribe status today?

The growth of the ST movements of the Koch Rajbanshis in Assam is due to the tribal discrimination rather than caste. The dominant upper caste Assamese have lost their former authority to discriminate tribals, though they will continue to rule politics and government policies. Today, Bodos are the ruling majority of most Koch areas in Assam. This area is Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) which is an autonomous arrangement for the Bodos, a ST (plains) community. Koch Rajbanshis do not have any rights in this area because they have been refused inclusion in the ST category. Koches around South Asia have their local problems too – in Bangladesh they are harassed as Hindus by majority Muslims. Then, in West Bengal, they are discriminated by Bengali Hindus on ethnic lines. Furthermore, in Assam, (particularly the BTAD region), they are discriminated as non-tribals.

Biswa Singha always sought to protect the commoners. When did the native insecurity crop in?

When Koch Rajbanshis became part of the peripheries of West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh – they tried their best to adopt new identities as Bengalis or Assamese. Unfortunately, this peaceful process failed due to the resistance from puritan upper caste Assamese and Bengalis. Currently in Assam, it is not just the East Bengal origin Muslims, but the Koch Rajbanshis too, who are humiliated as “Bangladeshis”. When you are discriminated for decades for not being with the mainstream (politically, culturally, and ethnically), you internalise inferiority. Post 1950, Koch Rajbanshis became completely stateless – having no place to belong.

Do you then think the NRC will bring this indigenous community to justice?

Many Koch Rajbanshis were unable to find their names in the final draft of NRC – there were also those who were marked “D or Doubtful voters” by the state authorities. Koches are a trans-border community, like the Garos and the Khasis. They live in separate countries which were carved out of their ancestral lands. This involved a lot of invisible brutality on these communities that was created by Partition. The “two-nation” theory was to benefit Hindus and Muslims, not ethnic groups whose land they divided. Hence, these communities have a Bangladesh connection – as parts of their cultural memory and geographical reality. This bit is taken to discriminate them by teasing them as “illegal immigrants”. Such harassment is encouraged by the ruling government to get support from Koch Rajbanshi Civil Societies for the Citizenship Amendment Act which seeks to settle Hindu Bengalis in the region.

Will we get to read about Biswa Singha in English too? What’s next?

Hopefully soon, yes. I wish to write a history of Lower Assam (roughly areas of present West Assam and central Assam). Lower Assam was ruled by the Koches, sometimes independently and sometimes as a tributary. We need to tell stories of leaders like Sanatan Koch who challenged the Mughals in what is now the Barpeta district in the 17th century. Besides that, there was Koch King Krishanarayan who fought the British in 1791 in Assam. The next book will try to explore these lesser-acknowledged alternative histories.

Rini Barman is a Guwahati-based independent writer and researcher.

Sources Through Internet...

Viswakarma (Biswakarma) Pooja

2021-09-17T22:53:00.000+08:00

Who is Viswakarma (Biswakarma)

Vishwakarma is regarded as the main craftsman and architect of Gods. Biswakarma is so n of Lord Brahma, the creator of the whole universe. Viswakarma is the official builder of all the gods' palaces. As per Hindu mythologies Vishwakarma is the designer of all the flying chariots of the gods and goddesses. He designed and made the weapons for them of too.

In Mahabharata, the world’s biggest epic, he is described as "The lord of the arts, executor of a thousand handicrafts, the carpenter of the gods, the most eminent of artisans, the fashioner of all ornaments and a great and immortal god."

When is Biswakarma puja

This year, Viswakarma pooja is on September 17, 2014. That is on Aswin 01, 2071 as per Nepali Bikram Sambat calendar. There is a tradition of celebration of Biswakarma pooja on the ninth day of Dashain festival, Navami in Nepal. As well, some celebrate Biswakarma pooja on Dipawali too.

What is Biswakarma Pooja

It is a pooja of Lord of art, architecture or engineering, Lord Biswakarma. In a word it is a worship and tribute to all those who invented the technology. It is salutation to all who worked in the field of physics for the betterment of people.

Lord Biswakarma has four hands, wears a crown, wears lots of gold jewelry, and holds a water-pot, a book, a noose and craftsman's tools in his hands.

Hindus widely regard Bishwakarma as the god of architecture and engineering.

Biwakarma puja is regarded as “a resolution time for workers and craftsmen to increase productivity and gain divine inspiration for creating novel products”.

How do we celebrate Biswakarma pooja

The celebration generally is done within the factory premises or shop floor, office or workshops. All the machineries are worshiped along with the worship of Biswakarma. People worship their vehicle along with machinery. Red and white cloth and holy treads are offered to machinery and vehicles. Picture of Biswakarma is taken out in procession in many part of Nepal after the pooja is over. People install picture of lord Biswakarma at the corners of cross roads and put statues and idols of him in corner of street. Puja is also associated with the custom of flying kites. This occasion in a way also marks the start of the festive season that lasts till Diwali.

Bishwakarma and his architectural wonders

Hindu mythology is full of Vishwakarma’s many architectural wonders. Hindu mythology divides whole era of this earth in four yugs (span of time), Staya yug, Treta yug, Dwapar yug and Kali yuga. He had built several towns and palaces for the gods. In Satya yuga, he built the Swarga Lok, (heaven), the abode of the gods and demigods where Lord Indra rules. Bishwakarma built the Lanka of Ravan in Treta yuga, the city of Dwarka in Dwapar yuga, and Hastinapur and Indraprastha in the Kali yuga.

डिकमान पुरस्कारबाट प्रतिदिनका सम्पादक राजवंशी पुरस्कृत हुँदै

2021-08-12T23:01:00.000+08:00

झापा , साउन २७ । डिकमान विरही उत्कृष्ट पत्रकारिता पुरस्कारबाट प्रतिदिन दैनिकका सम्पादक इन्द्रसिंह राजवंशी पुरस्कृत हुने भएका छन् ।

नेपाल आदिवासी जनजाति पत्रकार महासंघ(फोनिज) जिल्ला कार्य समिति झापाले २२ औं स्थापना दिवसको अवसरमा आज सो घोषणा गरेको हो । डिकमान विरही उत्कृष्ट पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार २०७७ राजवंशीलाई प्रदान गरिने भएको हो । त्यस्तै यस वर्षको पुरस्कार भने पत्रकार कमन देवानलाई प्रदान गरिने भएको छ । सो पुरस्कारको राशि जनही २५ हजार नगद रहेको छ । कोरोना महामारीका कारण गत वर्ष सो पुरस्कार प्रदान गर्न सकिएको थिएन । त्यस्तै उदयीमान पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार २०७७ मिना नेम्बाङ, सुभला तामाङ, २०७८ का लागि डिल्लीश्वर मुसाहाङ (अम्याङ्सा) र लीला राईलाई छनौंट गरिएको फोनिज झापाका अध्यक्ष बिशाल नेम्बाङले बताए । उदयीमान पत्रकारिता पुरस्कारको राशि जनही ५ हजार रुपैयाँ रहेको छ ।आगामी अधिवेशनमा सो पुरस्कार वितरण गरिने अध्यक्षले नेम्बाङले जानकारी दिए । फोनिज झापाले हरेक स्थापना दिवसमा डिकमान विरही उत्कृष्ट पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार एकजना अग्रज पत्रकार र उदयीमान पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार २ जना नयाँ पत्रकारलाई वितरण गर्दै आएको छ ।

फोनिजका झापा जिल्ला अध्यक्ष नेम्बाङको अध्यक्षतामा भएको भर्चुअल कार्यक्रममा फोनिजका केन्द्रिय सचिव कमन देवान प्रमुख अतिथि रहेका थिए । त्यस्तै अतिथिहरुमा फोनिजका प्रदेश १ अध्यक्ष अर्जुन जम्नेली राई, पत्रकार महासंघ झापाका अध्यक्ष एकराज गिरी, प्रेस चौतारी झापाका अध्यक्ष टिकाराम उप्रेती, प्रेस युनियन झापाका उपाध्यक्ष गिरीराज भट्टराईलगायतको उपस्थिति रहेको थियो ।

प्रमुख अतिथि देवानले कार्यक्रमलाई सम्बोधन गर्दै भने ‘ कोरोना संक्रमणबाट संक्रमित पत्रकारहरुलाई निशुल्क उपचारको व्यवस्था गरिदिन राज्यसँग अनुरोध गर्दछु ।’
शुभकामना मन्तव्य दिदै पत्रकार महासंघ झापाका अध्यक्ष गिरीले फोनिज झापासँग सहकार्य गर्दै अगाडि बढ्न महासंघ सधै तत्पर रहेको बताए ।

News From www.kochilanews.com
August 11, 2021 मा प्रकाशित

The Elephant Riders === Goalpara folk songs keep alive the unknown, uncertain lives of the mahouts

2021-08-05T23:08:00.004+08:00

The green carpet of tea gardens in Assam spreading for miles, with majestic elephants trotting as per their mood, reminds me of the Goalpara folk song ‘O Mor Mahut Bondhu Re’.

This working class song, woven around mahouts (elephant riders) and mela shikar, the traditional method of capturing wild elephants, has been immortalised by two singers, Bhupen Hazarika and Protima Baruah.

It is perhaps the only pop song associated with elephant trapping and the risks that mahouts undertook while the womenfolk awaited their return.

Bhupen Babu’s other song, ‘Ek Kali Do Pattiyaan, Nazuk Nazuk Ungliyaan’ (delicate fingers plucking two leaves and a bud: tea) also has a nexus with mahouts and mela shikar, as elephants and mahouts have been integrally associated with tea cultivation in Assam for decades.

Tea plantation in Assam was started by the British in 1838. Back then, the British planters could not do anything without the hasti or elephants.

Creating a tea garden was no easy task for the British planters. Jungles had to be cut down to create land for the tea plantations and the very heavy logs carried to other places by the hasti and mahouts.

Besides, hasti was also the only means of transportation from deep inside the jungles to the urban areas.

The life of a mahout back then was full of peril, being exposed to snake bites, attacks by wild animals and frequent deaths during mela shikar.

A wife would often wonder if her husband was alive or dead. Often, he would not return.

Any news about them from the jungle was not good: fellow mahouts from the same village might divulge, on a short trip back home, that he was no more, that he died a few months back either by snakebite or being mauled by wild elephants.

Even after returning home alive, the wife would cry when he left again for the jungle with his Hasti, unsure about his return.

This feeling has found the best expression in this Goalpara folk song which runs:

Tumra geile ki aashiben,O mur mahout bondhu re?Hostir noran hostir choran hostir paye beri Shottya koriya kon re mahut ghore e koye jon naari re?

(O my Mahut, you catch elephants, you tend them and you chain their feet, but tell us the truth, do you really know how we wait for you? Once you go, will you ever come back?)

This is a Kotch Rajbonshi song. The most famous Kotch Rajbanshi of India was Gayatri Devi, maharani of Jaipur state and princess of the Cooch Behar kingdom.

The Kotch Rajbanshi (royal blood) claim to be an ethnic race living in Assam, North Bengal and Bangladesh.

They had established their powerful kingdom in Cooch Behar adjacent to Assam.

Goalpara folk songs however are mostly sung by peasants, mahouts and common people, with Mahut Bondhu Re being the most famous of all.

In 1959, Bhupen Babu and Protima Baruah made it a cult song of Assam. Both of them hailed from Assam.

Belonging to a zamindar family, Protima was the niece of Promothesh Barua, legendary director of the first Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay filmed in 1935.

In the mela shikar, wild elephants were caught by lassoing them, in use in Assam, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia for centuries together, with the help of Koonki, a trained elephant.

An extremely risky enterprise, mela shikar often resulted in the death of the mahouts, and in some cases the elephants too.

Much to the relief of the elephants, the practice of mela shikar, continuing since the 12th century, was made illegal in 1977.

Clandestine trapping of elephants, however, continues in Assam and other states of the northeastern region. The mahouts sometimes also die but their death from deep inside the jungles hardly gets reported.

The risky method of catching elephants has not changed over the last few centuries.

In his paper ‘Elephant Catching in Assam’, published in 1927, A.J.W Milroy gives a vivid description of the process of catching an elephant in Assam.

In the time of Milroy, a Firangi, three or four Koonki (trained elephants), one of them being a big male, were used in the process.

If something went horribly wrong with the wild elephant who might be a rogue, this big male elephant would help counter it in a fight. In the process the mahouts often were killed, along with the helpers who assisted in the mela shikar.

During the era of the British Raj elephants were an essential part of Assam’s daily life. In those days, at least 300 elephants would be trapped in a year as they were integrally associated with tea cultivation, transporting heavy logs, the shikars (hunts) of the royals and British officers, and in circuses.

Successful catching of an elephant depended on the successful lassoing of a wild elephant by the mahout.

A minor mistake might result in the death of the person who had lassoed the elephant, as the animal may pull the lasso with its tremendous strength, thus throwing the mahout off the back of the elephant he was sitting on.

He would be thrown to the ground and trampled by the lassoed elephant.

Besides, other elephants might also come to the rescue of the lassoed elephant. In this process, their first enemy would be the mahout or those trying to catch the elephant.

Naturally, the wrath of elephants coming to rescue their friend would fall on the mahouts and others with two legs, as the Bihari writer George Orwell described mankind in Animal Farm.

Sometimes the lassoed elephants also broke the rope and attacked the mahout, resulting in his death.

Milroy wrote that during one mela shikar he saw an elephant that broke seven ropes in succession.

The folk song genre of Goalpara, also known as Goalparia Lokogeet, is very old, developed mainly by the Kotch Rajbonshi and also kept alive by them till now.

It captures the scenes, moods and purely the flow of regional instruments, depicting scenes such as the catching of the elephants, a fisherman throwing his net in the river, peasants sowing paddy, scenes of harvesting crops or a person riding a bullock cart through the village.

Protima Baruah, who played a major role in bringing Goalpara Geetika into the global musical theatre, herself became a subject of research. As the daughter of a rich zamindar, she would often go to Hatishaal or special quarters of elephants, which were widely used by her father.

Instinctively she developed a bond with the elephants, which found its best musical manifestation in ‘O Mor Mahut Bondhu Re’.

The first reference of Goalparia or Goalpara language can be found in a letter written by Maharaja Naranarayan in this dialect to the mighty Ahom King Swargdeo Sukhampha in July 1555. This historical letter was written in Goalparia or Rajbonshi (or Kamtapuri) language.

What is really great is that the current Goalpara song retains the ancient folk-singing tradition in its original form, even after the linguistic tradition of Rajbonshis has changed over the centuries.

Preserving food and preservation techniques used by the Rajbanshis

2021-08-03T22:46:00.001+08:00

vFish preservation: Washing, cutting, and sun-drying are performed one by one; dry fishes are then dusted and mixed up with paste of arum leaf base and finally, round hand-made fish balls are prepared. In dried fish production, with the cleaned fishes, Rajbanshis donot mix up salt before keeping them under the sunbeam on dry soil. They even donot treat these fishes with turmeric or warm them on any tawa (plate) on stove. In other places, salt and turmeric are used. There the proportion of salt and turmeric depends upon the nature of the fish variety. In some cases, fishes are often stored under the dried soil. But here, fishes (washed and cut) are often but simply sun dried and then dusted to form fish balls with the help of sticky extract from black arum leaf base; these balls are generally prepared in monsoons or post-monsoon period; these balls are cooked as curry or consumed in fried condition. Fish balls are generally termed as sidal.

vPickle production: Green mango, carambola, tamarind, pine apple and plum could be stored as pickle. Sweet fruits (even banana) could be fermented and stored as tari, juice of palm and date or rice alcohol for long. Alcohol is produced from rice, malt, and millet. These stuffs have to be fermented at cold place in earthern or wooden pots or bucket with water. Foam comes out and alcohol is produced.

vPreparation of Gur [the unsaturated sweet solid fragranced crystal of date-palm juice]: Experienced peoples are engaged in collection of the juice under some supervision. Or they on their own responsibility could collect the sweet juice coming out of the cut channels in the trunk portion into the earthen pot bound tightly with rope at the cut portion. This collection is specifically done in winter season. In very early morning the pots filled up with fresh date juice. After this collection process; the juice is heated in a pottery on earthen stove; with the help of dried date leaves, this mixture is continuously serrated in mild flame for long time under thorough observation; and ultimately, the mixture is poured on a clothed pot to let it be cool down and form a sweet hard cake. The juice gradually starts loosing its moisture, becomes crystallized and saturated with a specific taste. Lack of experience regarding preparation of this gur can bring bitterness in it. It is a day long process under the bright sun in the clear sky and only at the late afternoon, the cluster is poured off and throughout the night kept for cooling. Here, the dried debt leaves are often used as the fuel. Actually the Rajbanshis do not prepare sweet milk items themselves, but depend on the Bengali sweet makers. Gur for them is right alternative of milk made sweets. This is also used to give sweetness in milk products.

vTari preparation: Tari is produced from freshly taken juice of palm in the same process as the date-palm juice is collected. The fresh juice is kept freely to be fermented and the alcoholic substance of Tari is thus produced. Palm fruits are available in the season of spring. Fruit is crush to get in the fibrous pulp of it which is then extracted by hand into juice. This yellow juice with milk and even cocomut or coconut milk is consumer as mixture. Sometimes, this juice mixture is heated to make it a condenced texture. That is called as taal kheer. This emulsion is often fried in cooking oil and these small pancakes or boras are kept air tight in jar.

vVapa preparation [rice cake]: Some Rajbanshi women make a delicious dish with rice dust. This is called as the Vapa Pitha which is nothing but one type of soft fluffy rice cake. On a dice with a single hole placed at the mouth of a Handi (earthen pot) on fire (earthen stove) with boiling water inside, they put the rice dust (prepared in husking machine) packed in a piece for two to three minutes. In this way, the dust is baked on steam and turns into the pancake. This is then served with a small crystal of gur. The Vapa used to be prepared at night time or early morning and the women preparing it would go out to barter their produce in exchange of some rice. They use this rice to produce Vapa again for the next day from the collected rice and the extra rice left aside would feed her family. One kind of distribution, barter and cash transaction has been developed. Regular supply of food to the less prosperous or non-agriculturist families is there beyond the periphery of modern cash system and monetary economy. Now, this seasonal food item for late spring and winter is largely produced in post-harvest leisure time from husked rice. Thrashing, winnowing, stock eaising, husking and rice cake preparation are general works of the womenfolk. Rice cakes are now sold in market through monetary transaction.

vRice grain preparation: Rajbanshis either keep the coated rice in water for the whole night or heat in regulated flame to some extent; both types are then husked to get uncoated rice grains. The rice produced by water treatment of the paddy grains is little bit thinner and softer. It is called atop variety. This thin rice is easy to cook, used in festivals and its dust emulsion is taken for painting the floor with designs. Rice is again soaked with water and stored in big bamboo thatched baskets. Such buskets are plastered with dung that in dry condition serve as hard coat. Cow dung in water emulsion with rice seed coats is a natural pluster that is used on earthen walls and floors and inner and outer courtyard. Neem leaves in dry condition are put into these buckets full of rice or paddy to set free from harmful insects. Neem or Azadirechta is good pesticide.

vTelani preparation [water left after collecting the boiled rice]: It is used in wash treatment of old clothes. Rajbanshis also consume the telani with adding some salt in it to taste; they consider telani as the most important type of nutritious food good for health.

vChalvaja preparation [one type of fried uncooked non-boiled rice]: Rajbanshis take fried uncooked (non-boiled) rice with tea in the early morning in their breakfast before getting involved in their daily work.

vPanta bhat preparation [salted rice]: The cooked rice or Kaon millet is kept in water throughout the night and only when the sun appears to arise the Rajbanshis do their breakfast with this watery rice after putting a pinch of salt in it (called as panta bhat).

vRajbanshis prefer rice cultivation the most. The rice varieties they have preferred the most are Kukra or Kukurjali, White or Sada Nunia, Black or Kalo Nunia, Tulaipanji, Swarna,

Kalam, Payejam, Mala, Dharial and so on. Black Nunia paddy is black in texture and because of that when the crops are full grown, the field is looking black and the air is filled up with a special fragrance. Grains of Black Nunia are relatively small, but very much tasty; it is sold in market in higher price level than the hybrid varieties and it has a low yield. White Nunia is also there, their seed coat color is as usual non-black and hence golden. Rajbanshis are concerned about high nutritious value of Nunia rice. A small quantity of Nunia rice can fill up the belly for the whole day. A handful of Nunia paddy after decoating the paddy seedcoats could provide ample amount of cooked rice. Swarna gives a greater yield (about 18-20 mon/ bigha), while the lowest is documented in case of Kalam (8-10 mon/ bigha). But Kalam is the rice with elongated grains of thin size and also good in taste. Kaon or Kamon is a variety of millet with smallest grain size. Being extremely minute, Kaon looks like mustard, but it is not any kind of rapeseed. It is not too tasty as paddy. Mala ripens most quickly. Kaon grows up reluctantly in the natural environment of North Bengal. Usually the Rajbanshis eat boiled Kamon or Kaon. It is consumed in hotchpotch (khichuri). It is also cultivated in the hill areas or at foothill pockets by other ethnic groups. Kaon and rice varieties are stored in dry condition, sold in market and consumed by the people.

vAn important variety of paddy, Dharial, contains grains with pressed shape and therefore used exclusively in production of the preserved rice products (muri- puffed rice; chira- bitten rice; khoi- pressed rice).

oPreparation of chira or chura (bitten rice): Coated rice is here put in water for the whole night or for some days so that the seed coat would be loosened; then they heat the same in mild temperature for long but under strict observation; control the flame and lastly, husk it in husking machine (Chham) with the help of a wooden beam (gayen) continuously and only then some kind of pressed rice or chura is produced. This chura is then left to be sun-dried for some days and in this way could be preserved for a long period. Here, the flame of fire and time of flaming are both different from that in the preparation of simple uncoated rice from paddy. The softened seed coat here transforms into the dust and is used as fodder. The pressed processed rice, chura, is usually served with card (dahi). Dahi-chura is one of the most delicious food items to the Rajbanshis.

oPreparation of muri (puffed rice): Rajbanshis have learnt the preparation procedure of puffed rice, muri, from the immigrant Bengali and the other Rajbanshi fellows emigrated from Bangladesh (now well overlapped with one another). Basically, Bangladesh is a rice bowl. Muri preparation needs an oven. The uncoated and uncooked rice is kept in salted water for the whole night or two to make it softened and diffuse the salt particles into the grains. Then on the open-air earthen stove, these rice particles after this salt treatment in the presence of sand and controlled fire is baked for several times. These rice particles in the earthen handi (pot) with heated sand are constantly stirred with jute sticks. In this way, salted rice becomes heated, softened, aired and puffed. Some people like salted muri where quantity of the soluble salt applied is higher. After this preparation, the muri has to be winnowed from dry heated sand by sieve (chaluni) or simply be shaking the mixture in a koola. This Koola is a semi-circular utensil made up of thatched bamboo strips with concave floor and deeper inside. There the muri has to taken atop and be shaken by hand. So, the muri particles heavier would go to the deeper end and the sand dust and other unwanted light weight particles to the other outside end.

oPreparation of khoi (pressed rice): Old paddy is often heated in sand with continuous stirring by jute stick on high flame and eventually the crunchy soft rice grains are jumped out of the paddy seed coats. This white colored food item (Khoi) is another form of rice preservation. This is a type of pop. We can say it as pop-rice.

v Preparation of bori (pulse cake): Pulse-dust of maskalai or thakurkalai or khesari is preserved after it is thickly mixed up with water and then sun dried in the form of small cakes over a white cloth. Sun-drying can continue for three to four days. Pulse is a winter crop whose cultivation begins at late-spring when temperature is being decreased and air still contains moisture. It is harvested in autumn and early summer. Pulse grains are dusted in husking machine. The residue is a good fodder for cattle and poultry. Pulse is a mitrogen fixing plant. Pulse grain can be stored for seasons like the rice. Pulse grains can be baked and that is termed as dalmut. This dalmut is mixed up with bhujia, nuts and coconut and in tjis way, a dry food chanachur is produced. But, Rajbanshi women are the most familier with making bodi or bori from pulse dust emulsion. They often add jira spice and pulp of bottle gourd (chalkumra or panikumra) in the same before drying them in small cakes.

vPreparation of alu bhaja (potato chips): Potato chips are also manufactured by the Rajbanshi folk community; for this, they usually give the sliced potato chips sun-treatment, often make them salted (salt is a natural preservative) and before frying them in cooking oil, some even add the dry chips into the vinegar for few minutes so as to make these crunchy. Potato is growing in large amount in North Bengal highlands with multiple harvests in the same season. Potato is basically a winter crop and bulbs are grown underground. Wild potato, airy potato and spiny potato are also there. Potato can be propagated in mixed cultivation. There are indigenous varities from Bhutan. Potato leaf is also consumed as vegetable. Potato buds from the bulbs are cut off and stored in dry condition for the next season. Potato however now in growing throughout the year. Potato is a perishable product. So, potato can be preserved to some extent in the form of chips.

v Preservation of pumpkin: Pulp of pumpkin or bottle gourd is preserved in form of jelly and sauce. They are extracted, mixed up with water, given a texture of lei, added to sugar, and in this way, sweet jelly is manufactured. Vinegar is often added to this. Watering this product brings in a kind of sauce by adding a few squeezed tomato and hot spices (especially chilli). This emulsion has to be stirred up in a big pot under constant heating. Sometimes, mildly boiled and softened pieces of pumpkin are preserved in condenced sugary water emulsion with vinegar and chilli. Pumpkin cakes are then sun dried. This type of preservation is called murabba. Excess ripened pumpkin or bottle gourd are actually good for these jelly, sauce and murabba. Papaya can also be preserved in jelly form.

vPreservation of milk [in the form of card or dahi]: Card is the most auspicious item for any kind of ceremony. In order to prepare card, the Rajbanshis keep fresh milk in an earthen pot for several days in a clean, dust-free, cool dark room (with earthen wall and roof made by jute sticks and straw acting like a natural cooler or heat resistant chamber); they could also hang the pot from the beams of the roof; and after some days, the card is formed due to the activity of the bacteria and then they pull it down and intake with salt. They do not put any lime extract or sour fruit substance in it like the Bengalis do. Nor they even heat old milk on mild temperature. Rajbanshis for the festival purpose mix some more milk within the card and put sugar on it and stir it continuously while heating; and in this way, sweet card is prepared. Rajbanshis are not usual with the use of milk, but fond of card.

vPreparation of ghee (unsaturated fat from milk): Rajbanshis also prepare unsaturated fat from milk called ghee. They warm the milk and take off the upper creamy layer. This collected creamy substance is then again stirred vigorously and a sticky matter is developed. This sticky amount is then warmed up and the upper yellowish unsaturated fatty layer therefore formed is taken out as ghee.

vPreparation of chhana: Addition of lime juice or tamarind extract into mildly warm milk reacts with the milk and forms an easily digestible clumsy clustered white mass, chhana, nutritious and helpful in cooling the body temperature.

vVarious seed are sun dried and stored in basket or pot by covering the mouth with cloth. These seeds in many cases were fried with sand in an earthen pot. In case of bitterness, they are mildly boiled and again dried. They are winnowed and beaten or grinded to make their dust. Such treatment we can see with jack fruit seed (kathal), amla (malaki) fruit without the seed and with a sour taste, tamarind seed (tentul), corn seeds (makoi), and so forth.

vRapeseeds like sarisha, tishi and til fruits are first harvested, thrashed and the oil is extracted from them. The oil is stired in high neck earthen pots with a knob. Such pot is called as pechi. Oil is used in curry. However, Rajbanshis usually prefer food in boiled and baked condition. The waste product of the rapeseeds is used as cattle feed and manure (khol or khoil) served with seed coats (tush) and waste products after winnowing (bhusi).

vMany vegetables are there that are pieced into chips, baked in mild heat and then fried in oil. This serves for preservation for a short period for two to three days. These fried chips are to be stored air tight.

vPickles: The vegetables and fruits are here to be cur into pieces and after removal of the seed portion and fruit coat dried in the sun for a week. Then salt, turmeric, oil, chilli, ginger and some other spices are added to this. Pickles may be of chilli itself. Plum (buguri) is often preserved as pickle for whole of the year.

vFruit coats of orange can also be preserved after sun dry. But this is not a usual practice of the Rajbanshis. Orange fruit coat can be used in bakery in producing cakes.

vVarious spices like cassia and curry leaves (tejpata and karipata) are grown up in near the Rajbanshi habitat and they are simply sun dried. They are put in curry to add taste.

vMango and banana are perishable fruits with pulp. They are often collected in immature condition. They then put in a closed kiln underground with alternative layers of dry paddy straw burning into fume. The system underground is covered up by soil at the top layer. But there is a whole and from that through a blow pipe air is forcefully passed into the chamber. In this way, crops are ripened. So, we can preserve our fruits in green and in time bake them into ripened condition.

vMango pulp: Mango juice is extracted from ripened fruits and dried under the sun for 2-3 days. A thin layer is thus formed and on that layer some extra juice is added and sun dried. This layer after layer formation is a constant and lengthy process. As a result, a thick layer is produced. This preserved form of mango bar is known as amsatta. People of Malda in North Bengal where many mango gardens are there are involved in producing mango bar. Green mangos are converted into pickles. Mango tree needs cow dung manure not at its base but in circular modes at its shade. Other organic manure and water are to be added in these circles with time intervals. In these circles, pineapples are often propagated. Pineapple juice, pickles and manure are other productions from mango-pineapple system. Today, Rajbanshis are propagating pineapples in large scale.

vRajbanshis also know preservation of non-food items like hard shell of fruit coast, jute fiber, jute stick, bamboo and cane items, wooden crafts, rain teak (shrish), rubber, mulberry, silk cotton (shimul), silk (tasar), and lac (lacca). They sell the skin of their dead animals from where leather products have been manufactured. They know medicinal benefit of so many plants and often stored their dried liaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, barks and roots with them. Various underground food substances can be kept for some days without any decaying.

Alternative sources of food and non-food items

Lichens, mushrooms, pork, toad, mud fishes, crabs, and snails are seldom considered as food items during natural calamities and scarcity/acute food shortage. Snails they cooked with pulses boiled alive and then suck the juicy portion from inside the shell directly to the throat. They believed in its high protein value without any the scientific evidence and strange! They were all correct. They were the Bengalis who at a time avoided the Rajbanshis for this type of food practice and as a result of this; they gradually shed off this food item from their meal list. Lizard, leech, green leech, fly, ant, spider, ant-like eight feet spider, big spiders without any net formation, large garden snails, apple snails, earth warm and centipede are other components of the garden. Ducks control the excess amount of snails in the pond eco-system. Snails are of three types: apple snails (harmful for the gardening), small snail Nautilus (consumed by man) and mussel (which is actually not a snail). Triton shell (shankh) is used as a musical instrument and also ornaments (bangle) are produced of it. Besides Toad, there are frog and flying frog also in the region of North Bengal.Often, snail, snail consumption, use of snail shells for production of lime, use of lime in preparation of ponds for fishing, consumption of lime either with only tobacco or with betel leaf anf nut have built a relationship among themselves. The trade of betel nut – betel leaf – lime – paddy – snail shell – snail through barter system has become very crucial here. Here, the snail collector, the fishermen, the lime producer, the paddy grower, betel leaf grower and the betel nut raisers are equally important. Potters in one hand provide the essential earthen pots and the crop raisers the straw as fuel source to the lime producer.

Curd that is considered to be a main element necessary in any religious or social festival of the Rajbanshi community (cow meat is not taken by the Hindus as it is sacred in Hindu religion); boar, hen, duck and grey hen are eaten also. The bear (Ursidae sp.), wild boar (Sus scrofa) and monkeys (Macaca spp.) of different kinds, like capped langur (Lemuroidac sp.) are found in this area of North Bengal. Fox, wild dogs, tigers, deer, bison, wild pig and gharial type of fish-eating crocodile are rapidly decreasing in number or have completely lost from the bio-diversity of the North Bengal. In nearby forest areas, animals like rabbit, squirrel, bat, chamchika, rat, mole, deer, macaque, bison, tiger, leopard, wild cat, wild boar, elephant, wild dog, fox, civet, water cat and black bear could be found. In old days, beating drums and bugle made up of bison or deer horn are used to call all the villagers in the common meeting place. Rajbanshis generally avoid the consumption of tortoise or its egg [probably due to their origin in Kashyap clan; Kashyap was the name of a Wise Man, literally meaning ‘The Tortoise’ in Sanskrit. Rajbanshis, during the period of availability of wood, used to prepare their wooden house on wooden trunks. The ladder (with or without wooden handled) was also there; it might be temporary or permanent in nature. That type of housing was basically in order to protect themselves from heavy flood and dampness in the soil. Many tribal communities of North Bengal are still living in such houses and they set up piggery under the house. On later days, pig cultivation was reduced and pigs were fed vegetables and underground foods like potato and yam. Pork, sheep, and pigeon were also highly favored by them. These items were actually associated with the blood sacrifice in their religious ceremonies, other social festivals and various types of magico-religious performances of the Rajbanshi social fold. Often when a full grown goat is cut, every family of the village or lineage or among the neighbors, the meat was served; the major share goes to the actual owner of the goat. That owner had also the right to sell the skin, bone, horn and head of the goat to the outside market.

Coronavirus/COVID-19

2020-03-31T23:38:00.001+08:00

Overview

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.

Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.

The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face.

The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).

At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings become available.

Prevention

To prevent infection and to slow transmission of COVID-19, do the following:

Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, or clean them with alcohol-based hand rub.
Maintain at least 1 metre distance between you and people coughing or sneezing.
Avoid touching your face.
Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
Stay home if you feel unwell.
Refrain from smoking and other activities that weaken the lungs.
Practice physical distancing by avoiding unnecessary travel and staying away from large groups of people.

Symptoms

The COVID-19 virus affects different people in different ways. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease and most infected people will develop mild to moderate symptoms and recover without requiring special treatment. People who have underlying medical conditions and those over 60 years old have a higher risk of developing severe disease and death.

Common symptoms include:

fever
tiredness
dry cough.

Other symptoms include:

shortness of breath
aches and pains
sore throat
and very few people will report diarrhoea, nausea or a runny nose.

People with mild symptoms who are otherwise healthy should self-isolate and contact their medical provider or a COVID-19 information line for advice on testing and referral.

People with fever, cough or difficulty breathing should call their doctor and seek medical attention.
For More Details https://www.who.int/