Budhathum

Where is Budhathum?
Somewhere among 170 billion galaxies … somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy … somewhere in the Solar System … somewhere in the Earth … somewhere in Asia continent …somewhere in South Asia … somewhere in Nepal… somewhere in Dhading district there is a small village … people call it Budhathum. 

I don’t know where was Budhathum when the Big Bang occurred about 13.7 billion years ago … I don’t where was it when Pangaea separated into continents about 250 million years ago … I don’t know where was it when a big asteroid struck the earth about 65 million years ago killing dinosaurs and 70% of earthlings …I don’t know where was it when human beings separated from primate chimpanzees about 4.1 million years ago … I don’t know where was it at the time of Manu and Adam …and I don’t know who was the first person that first walked on the land of Budhathum and when he/she settled … as every small place in this vast and complex universe Budhathum has a long history shrouded in the mysteries – unraveling of which will be interesting but is impossible due to the limit of human mind… … … . I have tried to describe the present day Budhathum i.e. the Budhathum of my time with some of the empirical evidences so far available.
 

There are 75 districts in Nepal. Among them Dhading is a hilly district that lies in the Central Development Region of Nepal. Budhathum is one of the 50 Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Dhading. It is about 15 miles far from its headquarters Dhading Besi and about 39 miles from Capital City Kathmandu.
Budhathum borders with Mulpani to the East, Phulkharka to the North, and Baseri to the South. To the Western edge of it Budhi Gandaki River flows, which is the boarder river that separates not only Gorkha and Dhading Districts, Bagmati and Gandaki Zones but also Central and Western Development Regions of Nepal. Budhathum is one of the extreme parts of Central Development Region.
 

Geography
    Budhathum is a slope land surrounded by hills and hillocks. The hills of Murchok, Mulpani, Thumi, Khatri Swanra (of Gorkha district) surround it and it seems that it has been hidden inside the hills. There are many places in Budhathum each having unique settlements in terms of culture, language, tradition and festivals. Some of the important settlements are Jagarboat (my exact birthplace), Pithe, Galane, Budhathum Besi, Ambate, Banskharka, Bhorle, Dadagaun, Dandaghar, Kalimati, etc. Budhathum is divided in 9 administrative divisions known as Wards. Each ward is separated by small streams and rivulets. There are some important streams such as Manpang Khola, Khahare Khola, Narkate Khola, Budhi Khola, Andheri Khola, etc. 

Transportation
Though Dhading seems to be at the center of Nepal, the village Budhathum is far from the imagination of ordinary people who have not gone there. Though the distance is not so long, because of uneven land topography the trek to Budhathum becomes really exhaustive. Few years back people could hardly reach to this place from Dhading Besi. But now, a graveled serpentine road links it with the district headquarters and it has become easier for everyone to reach there within a single day. Every day 1-2 buses reach Budhathum these days. However, as the road becomes muddy and the streams do not allow vehicles to move during rainy months, you have to walk on foot from Dhading Besi that takes 7 to 9 hours.
During non-rainy seasons (November to May) commodities are carried by trucks which are owned by local villagers of Budhathum these days.  But when the stocks run out and the legacy of traditional vehicles mules and even porters are responsible of carrying goods. There is no ambulance facility yet. Cycles, motor cycles and cars are rare sightings.
 
Demography
According to the official website of District Development Committee, Dhading (http://www.ddcdhading.gov.np/) the total population of Budhathum is 10, 390 with 5119 females and 5271 males. The number of household is 1747. It seems that there is a high birth rate when we compare the data with the data of Census 2001.

According to Census Report 2001 total population of Budhathum was 4575. There were Chhetri (1446), Gurung (1101), Newar (662), Brahmin-Hill (488), Sarki (315), Magar (255), Kami (166), Damai (117), Thakuri (17), and others (8). Majority of the people speak Nepali (4182) as their mother tongue including Sarkis. Some of the other languages include Ghale (156), Newar (129), Magar (72), and Tamang (20). The number of people following Hindu religion is 3841 which is followed by Boudha (722) and Islam (4). Sarkis claim that they follow Hindu religion but the rituals they perform are different from Brahmins and Chhetries.
 
Language and culture 

Almost all of the people of Budhathum speak Nepali as mother tongue. There are a large number of people of Gurung and Newar culture, but their languages have almost disappeared for the young generation. It is a sad story as the diversity in culture and other symbolisms are reflected through diversity in language.
The Nepali language spoken in Budhathum is almost similar to the standard variety of Nepali language except some local terminologies. People great with “Namaste” and ask “how are you” in local tone to greet anyone in the village. There is less caste discrimination and the gap between rich and poor is also reduced to a heavy extent in recent days. 

Dashain, Tihar, Maghe Sankranti, etc. are important festivals. There are important places such as Kot (the temple of goddess Kali), Budhathum Kulain (the major god of Adhikari clan of Budhathum), Besare Devi (the goddess) etc. are the places in which local festivals are celebrated which are known as jatra in local jargon. 
People were simple dress. Among adults daura and suruwal are still popular where as youths and children prefer fashionable cloths but they are not completely westernized as every traditional eye can observe it. 

Socioeconomic status
Most of the people of Budhathum are farmers. There are irrigable fields in every part of the village where farmers are found working for planting seasonal crops. During the time of planting and harvesting crops the farmlands look really beautiful.
The people in the village used to be very poor, even unable to feed their children, but these days there is no such condition. The remittances from foreign countries have helped them to ameliorate their economic condition very much. There is no official data; however it can be guessed that the next occupation after agriculture is the job in Nepal Army and Nepal Police followed by teaching and foreign employment. 

In the past the economy of Budhathum was held by few Chhetries and Brahmins, but now dalits have become equally prosperous with their involvement in different jobs and purchase of land for agriculture. There is no caste, religious and even notable political conflicts in the village.   
 
Education 
In comparison to other VDCs of Nepal Budhathum has a good educational status. Almost 95% of the children attend school and there are more than hundred graduates in the village pursuing different jobs in and out of the country. There are schools in each Ward and all these schools are led by Shree Badri Vishal Higher Secondary School that was established in 2029 BS. It provides Higher Secondary (+2) courses in Education and Commerce streams besides regular classes from Grade One to Ten.
 

Lakuwa: My Birthplace
In the middle of Budhathum there is a small beautiful village called Lakuwa. The word 'Lakuwa' comes from Nepali word 'Lukuwa' that means 'hidden itself'. Lakuwa is hidden inside beautiful green hills. To the western part of Lakuwa you can see a hill of Gorkha District. It is covered by snow during winter. It is called the hill of Thumi. To the eastern part of Lakuwa there are small hills of Mulpani and Ganga Jamuna. To the northern part there lies Danda Gaun of Baseri VDC. 

Nearby my village there is a forest. Few years ago it was going to be barren but now we can see Sal trees growing faster to cover the whole forest area. It is protected by the community of Budhathum. To the west part of my village there is green pastureland. Almost all people have small piece of farmland where they grow rice, maize, mustard, wheat etc. 

In the middle of Budhathum VDC there is a Secondary School. The name of this school is Shree Badri Vishal Secondary School. The teachers are friendly and co-operative. The school runs class 11 and 12 with the initiative of local people these days. 

A health center is set up to the western part of the village. In the middle of thin community forest the white buildings of the health center attracts everybody's attention. People get health facilities from this health center.
To the northern part of Lakuwa village there is temple of goddess Kali. Which people called Kot. People worship Kali during Dashain. People in my village are theist. They believe that goddess Kali has a great faith on them.

People have generated hydro-electricity from the water of Manapang Stream. Besides this people of my village involve in various developmental activities such as irrigation, clean drinking water, etc. I feel proud of my village.

Tihar in Nepal

Remembering Tihar from foreign land...
Tihar is one of the two great festivals in Nepal. Though Dashain is taken as the greatest one, Tihar brings a lot of happiness and solidarity among brothers and sisters. Another reason, perhaps the most effective one these days, that helps Tihar to outsmart Dashain is that it is the festival of only vegetarian items. A typical Nepali family does not make any animal slaughter like in Dashain. The special food item typical to Tihar is a type of circular bread knows as cell roti.
Instead of killing animal, during Tihar many animals are worshiped. Actually this is the festival of animals too. There are five days known as yam panchak (which I will discuss later) five different animals including brothers are worshiped. That is why this festival is getting more and more popularity among the increasing number of populace who are opting vegetarian diet leaving their habit of eating meat. Above all Tihar has the following features worth mentioning here.

1. Tihar is also known as Laxmi Pooja. Laxmi symbolizes for money or the economy. Economy is the first factor that determines many factors related to socioeconomic and other related aspects of a family. There is no doubt that ancient Harappa civilization and subsequent Hindu philosophy was aware of this fact. In every civilization of the world every aspect of social life relates with a deity and economy is the no exception. Tihar is the festival of goddess Laxmi who provides wealth to her devotees. People worship her and ask for prosperity of their family on the third day of Tihar.
2. Tihar is the festival of brothers and sisters. It keeps an endless bond between the two siblings sharing same blood. Sisters, normally, depart from their beloved brothers when they are married as they belong to the family of their laws after that. Tihar brings these sisters in a warmly kinship with their brothers. On the fifth day of Tihar, brothers receive garland, tika and gifts from sisters. The garland is the symbol of bonds that their parents had arranged then giving births one after another.
3. Tihar is the festival of singing and dancing. Two typical songs with their unique melody, unique lyric, and unique tune are sung among Nepalese youths during Tihar. They are known as bhailo and deusi in Nepal. Bhailo is especially of girls and deusi is of their boy counterparts. Bhailo song is sung before the fifth day i.e. bhai tika by girls. They visit every household, especially, during the night and sing the song if praise and give lots of blessings and receive some bread, money and fruits from the house owners. On the other hand, the boys of the village gather, make a team and start playing deusi. They also sing songs but a repeated phrase ‘deusi re’ is drilled after every clause of blessing uttered by the leader of the team. The celebration of deusi lasts for more than a week visiting every nearby village. These days, the occasion is utilized for collecting money for a social and communal development such as setting up a school or hospital.
4. Tihar is also the festival of lights. There is a special evening on the day of Laxmi Pooja. The cleaned and decorated house illuminates with hundreds of lights. The lights are holy and calm. A kind of small pot known as pyala (oil lamp) which is made up of china clay is used to illume the house. Some amount of mustard oil is poured into the pyala and it is ignited with the help of a small piece of holy thread. People, normally, do not sleep, neither do they close doors and windows throughout the night because Laxmi needs these opening to get inside. The whole village seems like a sky full of twinkling starts.
5. Tihar is also the festival of games. Even some of the illegal games such as cards and gambling are made free during Tihar. In a typical Nepali house it is simply a family game that involves pleasures and enjoyment. Money counts nothing – it is just for fun. Brothers including father, uncle even grandfather sit in together and play cards – the items of games that make fun such as dahar mara.

The five days of Tihar are special for five animals including brothers:

1. Kag Tihar (the Tihar of crows): It is the first day of Tihar when crow the messenger Yam god – the god of death – is worshiped. Food, roti, flower etc. are given to the crow before eating them by the family members themselves. It seems that the crows come hovering over the house and take the food on top of nearby tree and eat happily.
2. Kukur Tihar (the Tihar of dogs): This is the second day of yam panchak when dogs – the security of every household is worshiped with a garland on their neck, tika on their forehead and sweet foods on their tongue. They seem to be so happy. It feels early in the morning, because of their activities of roaming around, as if they know this day.
3. Gai Tihar (the Tihar of cows): Cows are worshipped as the symbol of goddess Laxmi herself. With ablution of whole body the senior family members worship cows followed by all junior members. They are given special granulated grain food called dau. They look so happy and beautiful with garland, tika and decorated stamp on their back.
4. Goru Tihar (the Tihar of oxen): On the fourth day of Tihar the most contributive animal of human civilization, the genesis of agricultural invention is worshiped with full respect. Actually the oxen are the animals that are used for cultivating lands that yields subsistence to almost 80 percent of Nepali people.
5. Bhai tika (the Tihar of brothers): This day needs not much description here. Sisters put tika and garland and give delicious food items to their beloved brothers. This is the most important and the last day of Tihar.