The Tharus of Chitwan

The mission of SAATH is to foster the socio-economic transformation of marginalized women and girls through entrepreneurial and community-driven skills development.

In partnership with Danfe Works Enterprises Nepal, our sustainability collaborator, we aim to offer employment opportunities to our past project participants and engage with communities rich in Indigenous knowledge and skills. Our partnership  can be summarized in two objectives:

• To preserve the art and culture that is slowly fading away, and
• To develop products based on indigenous knowledge and create a marketplace for them.

The Chitwan Tharus are mostly dependent on the natural resources from the forest. The products they make are mostly made of elephant grass in addition to other available materials. Products for the showcase include Dhakiya, Machiya, their Jewellery, Dari and so forth. Tharu community, is mostly dependent on the resources available in the National Park.

The traditional tattoo, which they call Tika is made by people travelling from India to the region and it is not their traditional practice. We got it made when we were about to get married so that our in-laws would eat the food cooked by us, mentioned one of the women from the group we met at Simara, Madi. They use it as jewellery and decoration so that they can take it with them even after death.  
Silver jewellery today has been replaced by Aluminium with very less women possessing the pieces that were traditionally made. 

We had a meeting with the Mayor of Madi Municipality, Ms. Tara Kumari Kaji Mahato. She was interested and very open about collaborating with us in the future. She mentioned the Women’s group and shared contact of the Tharu Welfare Society’s president (Sukhra Miya Chaudhary) who looks after the preservation of Tharu culture in Madi. A total of 163 households of Inaarbaruwa village in Madi are members of the group. Ms. Indra Devi Mahato displayed a range of products made by the community. She assembled a group of women with whom we explored the opportunities and their interests.

Another fruitful meeting was with the President of Tharu Welfare Society. Ms Sukhra Miya displayed products made by the Tharu community and their usage in the modern day. We also talked about how the culture is losing its charm due to consumer behavior in the current market and how it is not being transferred to the newer generations. We learnt that there are 22 Tharu Villages across 5 Wards of Madi Municipality and all have a similar culture of making skill based products. 

We also met with the former Mayor of Madi Municipality and shared about our work. He highlighted the concept of developing a model “Tharu Village” that the municipality was focusing on to preserve their culture and art.