Late September and October is the festive season all across India and Nepal. There are many religious festivals during this time including Desai and Diwali. The Desai festival is a very important holiday for the Gorkha people of India. The monsoon has finished, and families get together to celebrate with feasting and giving gifts. Everyone gets new clothes and furniture.
Last year, during October, the leader of the popular political party in Darjeeling announced a one month cultural celebration where different communities in Darjeeling could publicly showcase their cultural heritage for tourists. Each night there was dancing and singing, and people came out wearing their traditional Nepali dress.
This year, the people of Darjeeling will again celebrate and display their cultural heritage for one full month. On Friday, September 25, there was a huge procession in Darjeeling where thousands came out dressed in traditional Gorkha clothing to kick-off the month of cultural celebration. This year, we were invited to join in with the community in the cultural procession.
Each neighborhood in Darjeeling carries a large banner with
the name of their village proudly displayed. The name of the village
in the picture above is "Muldara". Our Bible worker and friend Pranai
is from the village of Muldara. He invited us to march in the cultural
procession as members of his village. The people from Muldara told us
that they were very pleased to have us join with them in their cultural
celebration. The procession was also televised on the local Darjeeling
cable channel, and many of our neighbors said that they were very
happy to see us on TV joining in the cultural celebration.
Our Bible worker and friend Pranai holding a small girl from his
village who is dressed in traditional Nepali clothing.
Tonya is walking arm-in-arm with our friend Rena. All the women
are wearing dhaka-print sarees. Dhaka-print is a multi-color print
with many small geometric shapes that is sometimes to make certain
Nepali clothing. The women are all wearing this dress to show their
solidarity as Gorkha women.
Jared is wearing the "darwa sural", which is the traditional Nepali
shirt and pant combination. He is also wearing a "topi", which is the
traditional Nepali hat. Like all the other men in the procession, Jared
has a pin in his hat in the shape of a "khukuri". The "khukuri" is the
traditional Nepali multi-purpose knife (see picture below). The men
are all wearing pins in the shape of a "khukuri" as a show of
Gorkha solidarity.
A "khukuri"; the traditional Gorkha knife
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