Experience Nepal’s Mud Festival: Paddy Plantation Day is a rice/paddy planting festival in Nepal. It is a monsoon mud festival celebrated widely throughout the country in June/July. It falls in the middle of the monsoon on Asar 15 (around June 30) as per the lunar Nepal Sambat Calendar. It’s one of the busiest times of the year for farmers as they prepare their farms to plant rice. The majority of farmers complete planting rice in their fields on this day.
The festival is also known as National Paddy Day, Dhan Diwas, or Ropai Jatra. It marks the start of planting the seedlings of rice crops. This day is the “Dahi Chiura Khaney Din.”, the day to eat yogurt and bitten rice.
Farmers celebrate this holiday in the hopes of bringing in a bountiful crop. The festival is also a wonderful way to honor the land and the plants that provide us with nourishment. In addition, it is a festival that brings together people from various traditions, ethnicities, and faiths in one area.
To start the plantation, families and community members gathered in the fields. Simultaneously, men and women plow the land and sow the seedlings. Aside from working in the fields, people get together to sing and dance and fight in the mud. They sing Ashare Bhaaka, an ancient folk song, love songs, and sad songs, and splash each other with muddy water. Following the fun-filled mud fights, they consume a delectable Dahi Chiura, a yogurt, and bitten rice mixture. They enjoy a delicious traditional cuisine with rice beer and various fruits.
Both farmers and non-farmers celebrate this mud celebration. This festival has gradually grown in popularity over the years among both domestic and foreign travelers. It’s an excellent opportunity for visitors to interact with the local communities while sowing rice seeds in the fields.
Since agriculture is the main occupation of Nepal, this festival is most common from the remote to the rural parts of the country. Anyone willing to experience this joyful festival of mud and paddy farming can enjoy it in any part of the country. The event takes place practically anywhere outside of Kathmandu where rice is grown. If you are in Kathmandu, you can participate in this festival in Bungamati, Tokha, Khokana, Kirtipur, Chapa Gaun, Thimi, Bhaktapur, Lele Village, and Lalitpur.
The Ropai Festival is a seasonal celebration. The local farmers observe it typically on Asar 15 during the monsoon season. One should be on a specific date of the year to experience this festival. Other towns, meanwhile, are willing to welcome visitors who wish to take part in this cultural exchange.
We, Trekkers Paradise are trying to promote the Ropain Festival all over the world as an authentic Nepali experience of a lifetime. Through their joyous event, the Ropain/Mud Festival, we provide our visitors with a real and immersive experience of a rice plantation and a chance to learn about the Newari culture of the valley. To top it off, you can have dinner with their host family and spend the night at a nearby traditional Newari guesthouse.
Blog by: Lhakpa Gyalbu Sherpa (Hyolmo)
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