Festival on Phewa lakeside to preserve original Deusi Bhailo as madal sales rise again

An original-style Deusi Bhailo festival is set to be held on the shores of Phewa Lake in Pokhara on Kartik 23.

The Pokhara Tourism Council, the tourism promotion branch of Pokhara Metropolitan City, and Public 4K Television are jointly organizing the festival at Gaurighat on the lakeside. The organizers shared the information at a press conference on Saturday.

The festival aims to preserve traditional Deusi Bhailo and promote cultural tourism in Pokhara. Council chairman Hari Bhujel said that since the influence of modernity has been changing the form of Deusi Bhailo, the old tunes and words need to be passed on to the new generation.

He said such programs help introduce foreign tourists visiting Pokhara directly to Tihar and Nepali culture.

Meanwhile, in Baglung bazaar, Deusi Bhailo began as early as Friday, even before Laxmi Puja. Elders and cultural practitioners there have expressed concern that the originality of Bhailo songs and dances is fading.

As Tihar approaches, madal sales have begun rising in eastern Nepal. According to Suman Chaudhary, a trader at Chhatachowk in Dharan-2, around 70 to 80 madals are sold daily during Tihar, compared to just five to 10 on normal days. He used to bring in madals from elsewhere to sell but now manufactures them at his own workshop, sending madals priced between roughly Rs 3,000 and Rs 8,000 to places including Bhojpur, Dhankuta and Udayapur. Traders say that even as digital sound systems become more common, Deusi Bhailo groups still prefer the madal.