Tharu Culture in Chitwan: Villages, Dance and Food

Who the Tharu are

The Tharu are an indigenous people spread along the Terai from the far west of Nepal to the east, and across the border into India. They are one of Nepal's largest ethnic groups, with several distinct communities, dialects and customs; the Tharu of Chitwan differ from the Rana and Dangaura Tharu of the far west in language, dress and dance. For centuries they farmed clearings in the malaria-ridden forests, and they had a reputation for resistance to the disease that kept most hill people away.

That changed in the 1950s and 1960s, when malaria eradication opened Chitwan to settlers from the hills and land was cleared for farming. The creation of the national park in 1973 removed further land and forest rights. Many Tharu families lost land in these decades, and in the far west, the kamaiya bonded-labour system that tied many Tharu families to landlords was only abolished in 2000. Today Tharu communities are active in community forestry, buffer-zone management and tourism around the park.

Village life and houses

A traditional Chitwan Tharu house is low and long, with walls of woven reed or wood plastered with mud and cow dung, and a roof of thatch or tiles. Inside, rooms are divided by large clay grain containers, sometimes taller than a person, called dehari, that store rice for the year. Walls and doorways are often decorated with clay reliefs and paintings of birds, elephants, deer and plants, renewed at festivals.

Life follows the farming calendar. Rice is planted with the monsoon in June and July and harvested in October and November; mustard and wheat follow in winter, and fields turn yellow in January. Fishing in rivers and ponds with handmade bamboo traps and nets is an important part of daily life, particularly for women. Many families also keep buffalo, goats and pigs, and villages have shared shrines to local deities at the edge of the settlement.

Where to experience Tharu culture

Around Chitwan there are several ways to meet Tharu culture, from a one-hour show to a two-night homestay. The table compares the options we use.

A half-day village visit, step by step

The most popular way to see Tharu village life from Sauraha is a guided bicycle ride or walk of 2.5–3 hours, costing about NPR 1,500 per person with guide and bike. Routes run west and north of Sauraha through Bachhauli and neighbouring hamlets, on flat dirt lanes between rice and mustard fields, with a total distance of 8–12 km by bike.

A good guide stops at a working household to show the grain stores and clay reliefs, explains how the bamboo fish traps and nets are made and used, and introduces you to the family rather than walking you through like a tourist sight. Many rides also pass a community forest office, a school and a village shrine, and end at the Tharu Cultural Museum or a riverside tea stall. Go at 7–8 am or after 3 pm from March onwards to avoid the heat, and in December and January wait until the fog lifts, usually by 10 am.

• Wear closed shoes and carry water; lanes can be dusty or muddy
• Ask your guide to arrange a cup of tea in a home, and pay the family directly
• Allow extra time in January for Maghi visits, when families welcome guests with food

Dance and music

The best-known Tharu dance is the lathi naach or stick dance, performed by lines of men, sometimes with women, who strike bamboo sticks against their partners' in an increasingly fast rhythm to the madal drum and song. Explanations of its origin vary; a common one is that villagers used sticks to drive away wild animals and evil spirits from fields and homes. Other dances include the peacock dance, with a costumed dancer imitating the bird, and harvest dances performed by women in white with red borders.

In Sauraha, the Tharu Culture House and several hotels stage these dances most evenings, usually around 7 pm, with tickets of a few hundred rupees. They are staged for visitors, but performers are local young people who also dance at village festivals. For a less formal setting, the courtyard dances at the Barauli homestay or a visit during Maghi show the dances as part of community life.

Tharu food to try

Tharu cooking is simple, seasonal and built on rice, fish and fresh greens, with mustard oil, garlic, turmeric and chilli. Some dishes appear on restaurant menus in Sauraha; others you will only taste in a home or homestay.

• Dhikri: steamed rice-flour dough shaped into rolls or figures, eaten with chutney or curry, especially at festivals
• Ghonghi: freshwater snails cooked in a spicy, herby sauce, sucked from the shell
• Fish curry or fried fish from rivers and ponds, often caught in bamboo traps
• Bagiya: a dumpling similar to dhikri, often filled, made in some Tharu communities
• Seasonal greens and pickles, and in some homes, homemade rice beer at festivals

Crafts, dress and what to buy

Tharu households make much of what they use. Women weave colourful baskets, lidded boxes and fans from grass and reeds, often dyed in bright pinks, greens and yellows, and men make bamboo fish traps, sieves and stools. Older women in some villages still have tattoos on their arms and legs, applied when they were young as a mark of identity and beauty, a practice now rare among younger generations.

Festival dress for women typically pairs a wrap skirt or lehenga with a short blouse, heavy silver necklaces, anklets and bangles, while men wear a dhoti and vest for dances. In Sauraha and Barauli you can buy baskets, small reed boxes, woven bags and clay figures from community shops and the women's groups that run the homestay. Prices are low, typically a few hundred to a couple of thousand rupees, so bargaining hard is out of place.

Festivals in the Tharu year

The most important Tharu festival is Maghi, celebrated on the first day of the Nepali month of Magh, usually 14 or 15 January, at the same time as Makar Sankranti. It marks the Tharu new year: families bathe early, prepare feasts with dhikri, fish and meat, visit elders for blessings and dance through the night. In the past, Maghi was also when work contracts and village responsibilities were renewed.

Other festivals include Fagu, the Tharu version of Holi in spring, and Diwali in autumn, plus Hindu festivals such as Dashain and Tihar that are widely celebrated. Visiting Chitwan around Maghi, combined with Makar Sankranti at Devghat, gives a rich picture of the region's festival life.

Visiting respectfully

Tharu villages are homes, not museums. A local guide, ideally from the community, makes visits more welcome and more meaningful, and makes sure the benefit stays local.

• Ask before photographing people, entering courtyards or looking inside houses
• Dress modestly in villages; cover shoulders and knees
• Do not give money or sweets to children; support schools or community funds instead
• Buy crafts and food directly from villagers or community projects
• Choose homestays run by the community, such as Barauli, rather than staged villages

Places in this guide

• Sauraha
• Barauli
• Meghauli
• Chitwan National Park