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In the first week of August, the rains started in the morning in the Kathmandu Valley and continued unabated. We three brothers (Rajendra Manandhar, Bhojraj Neupane and I) made “Badri’s Sweet Shop” a destination in Lalitpur Jawalakhel, using the coincidence of our encounter as a weapon.
A picture of an umbrella was clicked with a hint of halwa-swari. In the evening, Bhojraj, after posting the same picture on social media, wrote, “Friends are like sugarcane! No matter how broken it is, it is soft. We are such friends!”
The depth of the title cannot be measured with the water on your fingertips. Our relationship was very strained. Even when Charikot, the headquarters of Dolakha, ventured into journalism and plunged into the depths of literature, his relationship with Lakhed Lake was not severed. Therefore, Bhojraj must have listened to the words of senior artist Harivansh Acharya and put pressure on us.
It was very difficult to reach “Badri’s Halwa Shop” in Jawalakhel. Funny, Bhojraj had a hard time protecting his leather shoes, fearing that Rajendra’s scene in slippers with a coat and trousers would be caught on camera, I was confused about where I would fall under an umbrella held by two friends.
Upon entering “Badri’s halwa shop”, all discomforts vanish in the taste of halwa-swari. No worries about shoes, no worries about creases in sandals, no worries about confusion of umbrellas. Just the sweetness of halwa-swari. In that sweetness, there is a memory that is painful. The founder of Charikot Pashupati Mithai Bhandar. Mama Lekman. It was his habit of making delicious halwa-swari with his own hands that brought us to “Badri’s halwa shop”. I have also written about Paila because his skill cannot be transferred and that pain of unsatisfied taste will always be there.
It is interesting to discuss the relationship between memory and forgetfulness, thousands of rituals and news in ‘Badri’s Halwa Shop’. The melodious music of jhyamta and dholak coming from the ancient bazaar in the hot rain used to make our childhood happy along with the mukhundo of mattresses and apples of Banmara.
This is a memory from 40-45 years ago. Our age increased from 10 to 11 years. After the Ghanta Karna (Gathamugachahre) festival, Lakhenach was held every day in the old market of Charikot till Shri Krishna Janmashtami. Some of us boys used to gather around the courtyard and road of our house, put on the mattress cover and start dancing to the beat of Bhaja, waving banmala apples.
I remember a little bit, I used to love to dance Lake, Rajendra used to be Jhumre and Bhojraj was good at jhamta. Later, Rajendra and Bhojraj became just spectators of Lakhe culture, but I continued to join hands with this culture and became a pioneer of Lakhe dance.
The news of dancing all day and preparing to dance at night was published in the newspapers. Journalism was so exciting at that time. Now I only write about Lakhe Naach. It is almost seven years since Lakhe stopped dancing.
Bhojraj remembered that when he was talking at the ‘Badri Sweet Shop’, when he was helping Rachnach by setting up a tent in the old market, the Newpani brothers of Ramkot scolded him for being the son of a Brahmin and moving around to set up a tent.
As kids, we used to run around with our mouths full and ring the bells when we were attracted by the falcons of Lahd. At this time our goal is to promote tourism in Charikot by spreading the culture. That is why we used to write news by participating in the Lahd culture.
Lakhenach is considered as one of the interesting and attractive dances associated with Newari civilization and culture. So from Old Chowk to Satdobato Chowk after 10:00 am, the number of people is uncountable. People from all over the district flock to Lakhenacha in Dolakha. In Charikot, only one type of Lakhenach is performed, while in Dolakha, multiple types of Lakhenach are performed.
Though there is no factual basis as to when and where Lakhenach began, some say that when Harihar Singh Dev brought Taleju Bhawani from Simraungadh to the valley, he also brought Lakhe and the Goddess along with him.
One can also read the legend that Thakuri Raja from Nuwakot brought Lakhe to the valley. According to the Nepali genealogy, the practice of Lakhe dance was started by King Gunakamdev. But there is a legend that the custom of wearing a crown and dancing with lakhs of people started in the time of King Pratap Malla.
According to another legend, Rach fell in love with the daughter of a Newar farmer. When the neighbor told the farmer about this, the farmer complained to the king. The king understood Rach’s love and allowed him to live with the farmer’s daughter. With the king’s permission, the happy millions began to dance.
The Lakhe Naach dance is performed by the Newar community at various places in the valley during the Gulla Festival and in Kathmandu during Indra Jatra.
The legend of Lakhenach is also associated with the story of Kansali killing Krishna with his sister Putana. It is said that there is a tradition in the Newar community to not drink Lakhenach and dress up as demons to wish for the death of Putana. There is also a tradition of killing a hundred thousand people as putana by the hands of Krishna the day after Krishna’s Janmashtami. There is also a tradition of praying for the death of Putana, which is started on Naga Panchami by lighting a gun while remembering the death of Rishi Panchami.
How much truth there is in this legend is worth studying. But our similar cultures make us rich in the world. That is why Rajendra, Bhojraj, I and others active in Dolakha journalism (including Mr. Devdas Shrestha) focus our writings on Lakhenach every year.
We have been associated with Lakhe only since 2038-040. Lakhenach started in 2016 in the old market of Charikot, where the Newar community lived nearly 150 years ago.
One day, amid the excitement of Lakhenach, I was talking about Lakhenach with Ramdas Mama, a senior member of Charikot Old Market (Ramdas Shrestha, Chairman of Charikot Guthi). He said, “The Newar children of Old Market, including him, used to go to Dolakha Market to see Lakhenach. Later, considering it too far to reach Dolakha, Lakhenach was started in Charikot. The first time I came to Charikot. Ramdas Mama told me that Hiral Shrestha danced a hundred thousand times.
When we used to hold Mukhundo and Jhyamta in our arms and play in Lakenach. Hiralal Shrestha sir Dev Shrestha, Balkrishna Shrestha, Ramdas Shrestha, Ramkrishna Shrestha etc were considered excellent in Lakhenach. Arjun Bahadur Shrestha’s Jhumrenach and Narayanalal Shrestha’s Krishnanach were also popular. The duo of Lake, Sanahi’s Padma Bahadur Kusule and Dholak’s Chini Bahadur Kusule were very powerful.
Around 2034-035, Dan Bahadur Shrestha also brought the instrument of Dolakha and performed Lakhenach in Charikot.
Sitting in the ‘halwa shop of Badri’, Bhojraj savoured the taste of halwa-swari, tears of excitement streamed down his arms as he remembered the days when he used to run around in the sahappa to get Padma Bahadur Kusul and Chini Bahadur Kusul for Lakhenach. Now, with the death of Padam Bahadur, the tradition of playing sanahi in Lakhenach has died and shifted to bansuri. Even Chini Bahadur cannot play the drum now.
During the following Lakhenach, the youths of the bazaar play flutes, dholak and jhyamta. Jairam, Rajesh, Bimal, Praveen, Vipin, Govind, Prakash, Datiram, Shriram and other youths are continuing this tradition.
Rajendra, Bhojraj and I finished the first plate of halwa-swari. But our reminiscence of the past was not over yet. Rajendra suggested taking the second plate. Bhojraj and I agreed to Rajendra’s suggestion to cancel the reminiscence.
In addition to the continued performance of Lakhenach by Charikot youth, cultural exchanges were also held this year with Lakhenach from four other districts. Bojiraj concluded that this was a positive effort in tourism promotion and cultural exchange. But we discussed how much importance Dolakha’s journalism places on Lakhenach culture.
Compared to the past, has the news in Dolakha become less “problematic”? All three of us became suspicious. I opened my mouth – what should I do? Some of the journalists who write well turn to politics, some turn to business, and some turn to projects.
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