TANAHUN, OCT 18 -

A group of local artistes in Tanahun district have managed to accumulate Rs 4,00,000 in their fund by playing ‘ Panche Baja ’, a traditional Nepali folk music played using five instruments—nahanahai, narsiingh, dholak, damaha and flute.

Dhan Bahadur Rana, chairperson of the Langhali Magar Society, a local organisation at Dulegaunda-2 involved in promoting traditional music, said they have been able to amass the amount by saving a fixed amount of Rs 2,500, separated from their earning of each performance, over a period of five years. Rana said that the band comprises nine members and that they charged Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per day. 

“There were a lot of people who mocked us for playing ‘ Panche Baja ’, which is typically played by the Damai community, but overcoming all odds we have approximately Rs 4,00,000 in our fund alone,” said Rana. ‘ Panche Baja ’ has created a firm base to take care of the need of their households, he said.

Reminiscing that ‘ Panche Baja ’ come by chance in their lives, Rana said that they had decided to practice and play on their own due to the unavailability of ‘ Panche Baja ’ players in the hour of need for the religious ceremonies at the local Kalika temple in the earlier days. He said that they had already provided approximately Rs 400,000 to their members at low interest rate. We had been thinking about doing social work using capital from the fund, which has been multiplying at the rate of Rs 1,50,000 every year, he said. 

Rana said that they had learnt the art from Lal Bahadur Ale, a local flute maestro. Presently, the group receives calls from Chitwan, Gorkha, Lamjung and Kaski to play at various functions like marriage and other religious events. 

Santosh Timilsina, 52, of Dulegaunda, who had hired them for the marriage ceremony of his son was all praises for the group. The members were not only talented but also much disciplined, which helped holding the ceremony in a disciplined manner, he said. 

According to the society, the group has Lal Bahadur Ale, 45 and Santa Bahadur Thapa, 55 on nahanahai; Buddhi Bahadur Rana, Man Bahadur Langheli and Dilip Rana on narsingh; Dhan Bahadur Rana, the chairperson of the society, on dholak; and Jaman Singh Rana, Minbahadur Thapa and Tanka Bahadur Saaru on damaha. 

Lal Bahadur Ale, a member and trainer of the group, said that at present they have 15 skilled players at their disposal. Ale said that their main focus remained on the discipline and the prestige of the Magar society while performing, which was the reason behind their success. Informing that their sons were also learning the art, he expressed his desire that his sons and grandsons take up the profession.

Posted on: 2013-10-18 08:32