heritage

Salhesh mela and Jangali Badshah

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 by Mon

Mon

Dating back to the 7th/8th centuries, loknaach, folk dramas that bring forward the precious epics of the Madhes and Mithilanchal areas are now performed more rarely than in the past and only in village fairs. This art seems to be dying out and many folk artists have moved to other…

Vivah Panchami 2022

January 21, 2023January 21, 2023 by Mon

Mon

Vivah Panchami celebrates the marriage of Lord Ram with Goddess Sita, and the connection between Janakpudham and Ayodhya. The city is said to be decorated “as a bride” for the festival. The sacred geography of the city is renewed through religious rituals and public events performed in key locations, mostly…

The Kartik Naach / Katti Pyakhan

November 10, 2022February 21, 2023 by Mon

Mon

Just finished doing the back up of the recording of the ten days of the Kartik Naach. The Kartik Naach is a dance-drama performed in the month of Kartik (October-November) in Patan Durbar Square, started in 1641 by King Siddhi Narsingh Malla. The apex centres around Narsimha Avatar. And here’s…

Twelve year Swetkali dance of Nardevi

October 22, 2022November 12, 2022 by Mon

Mon

The Swetkali dance is one of the Astamatrika dances traditionally performed in the Kathmandu Valley for the protection of the state. This year it was performed for two nights in Taleju Bhavani (Hanuman Dhoka) and for one night a full day on the dabali in front of Kumari Ghar. The…

Spellbinding Jhijhiya dance

September 30, 2022October 30, 2022 by Mon

Mon

Jhijhiya is a folk dance performed by women and girls of the Maithil communities of India and Nepal. It is ritually performed before Dashain festival taking place during the month of Ashwin (September-October, depending on the lunar calendar). As a “folk dance”, it´s is performed at any time of the…

Karik Maharaj and folk theatre

April 16, 2022May 5, 2022 by Mon

Mon

After speaking with various people, I finally managed to travel to Kanakpatti, a village about twenty minutes by safari from Janakpur, to watch Karik Maharaj and speak briefly with the artists, get their contact details and arrange to return for more in autumn. They performed the epic of Karik Maharaj…

Of textiles and princess dresses

April 15, 2022April 27, 2022 by Mon

Mon

No matter how much we/I can challenge gender stereotypes in many ways in daily life, whenever I walk past shops selling princess dresses - and there are many here in Janakpurdham- I can’t help staring at the windows and if there was a place where I could wear one, I’d…

Swayambhu

March 28, 2022May 5, 2022 by Mon

Mon

Looking for chariya dance poses in buildings to understand the connection between dance and architecture. Swayambhu is an ancient Buddhist complex, in the north-west of Kathmandu, including 320 chaityas and 275 statues. It's one of the seven world heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley. The Mangal Bahudvara Chaitya, newly restored…

Roots

September 4, 2021May 19, 2022 by Mon

Mon

A faded photo on a tombstone in a cemetery in Wallonie. On the left, a plaque bearing a miner lamp. On the right, another plaque with a cross. I fill the missing parts in my uncle's photo through recollections of the same photo that my mum has kept on a…

Staycations

June 20, 2021May 19, 2022 by Mon

Mon

"Making the familiar strange", we say in anthropology - looking at known places as if they were new. Not easy, although the emptiness in this post lockdown Venice helps at the moment - at least by removing the masses of tourists from the sight. But another way of doing this…