Dom community busy making bamboo baskets for Chhath festival

The people from Dom community are busy making bamboo baskets for the approaching Chhath festival in the district.

The community is swamped with the activities to produce varieties of bamboo baskets such as doko, dalo and nanglo which are consumed much during the Chhath, celebrated in Tarai with much fanfare and devotion, immediately after the Tihar.

Making bamboo items is an inherited skill and knowledge of our community, said Bhogindra Dom from Jaleshwor municipality-2. "We manage our food, shelter and clothes by selling wicker baskets of various kinds," he added.

The traditional homemade items are in high demand during the festival. The earning also helps the Dalit community celebrate festivals in a relative comfort.

Jaleshwor, Matihani, Pipara, Aurahi, Gaushala, Sonama, Ram Gopalpur, Yekdara, Manral of the district have Dom settlements.

A 70-year-old Bechani Dom from Manrasiswa Municipality-1, said, "We are swamped with the activities to weave cleft slices of bamboo for dalo, nanglo, talu and tapari when the month Kattik begins. From early morning to late evening, we're immersed."

She further said it was a good opportunity for them to make money. The wicker baskets are used to carry fruits to offer to the Sun God during the Chhath festival in Tarai.

Every house buys at least five such wicker baskets for the festival purpose.

Bikau Dom from Pipara-1 informed that even the Dom people believe that the Sun God and Chhathi Mata arrive at their doorsteps with the onset of the festival. The traditional bamboo items are prepared for devotees.

Bijay Dom from Sonam Rural Municipality-3 shared that a Dom household earns as high as Rs 100 thousand by selling the bamboo trays and baskets in a month.

As the number of people celebrating the Chhath festival has increased in Tarai/Madhes in recent years, demand for such goods also peaked.