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.
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.
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
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.
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.
2 comments:
Dear Mr REGMI Kapil Dev,
This is a urgent message from the Graduate School of The Hong Kong Institute of Education. We tried to contact with you via phone and email for many times; however, we couldn't get in touch with you. Please kindly reply us as soon as possible by email at rpg@ied.edu.hk or by phone at (852)2948 8939(Miss Lau). Thank you.
dear sir this is realy nice and beautiful place i like your side
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