Herders return home for festivals

By Raju Lamichhane

Rukum (East), Sept 26 :  The air is crisp, flowers are in full bloom and the villages' maize crops are ready for harvest. 

The autumn's tempting drift heralds the arrival of the festivals and invites people, otherwise busy in their work, to take a break and be with family and friends, an invitation that the herders of Rukum (East) have answered. They have returned with their cattle from the high-altitude pastures to their sheds at lower elevations.

The herders have returned home from the pastures at Ramli Lek, Rikadhuri, Saune Bhadaure Kharka and Bukipatan in Rukum (East) and Pathihalna Lek on the border of Rolpa and Baglung.

It is a tradition in the district for cattle herders to spend around four months in the pastures and descend to lower elevations on the fifth day of the Nepali month of Asoj. 

Sampati Magar of Bhume Rural Municipality–3 explained that this was a rule fixed by elders long ago. "We take our cattle to the highlands in Jestha and bring them back in Asoj before it gets too cold," he said, adding, "This is an annual migration we must undertake to keep our animals healthy and our occupation alive."

Locals plant maize before leaving and return to harvest them for the festivals of Dashain and Tihar. 

"This helps us avoid the monsoon and the diseases it brings as well as get fresh nutritious grass for our cows and buffaloes," Layansari Budha of Bhume told The Rising Nepal. 

She informed that she, as well as most other herders, would now reap the maize and plant wheat.

Former Chairman of Bhume Rural Municipality Ramsur Budha said that the return of the herders brought life back to the district's villages. 

He also shared that the herders used their free time in the pastures to weave baskets and blankets which they used themselves or sold to others.