Traditional wooden crafts: Gulmi's wooden swings endure, Bhojpur's wooden containers fade

As the use of modern materials spreads, traditional wooden items from village life are disappearing, though the custom of wooden swings still survives in parts of western Gulmi.

In Gulmi's Malika, Isma, Madane and Dhurkot rural municipalities, wooden swings remain a major attraction at Dashain fairs and the Saray dance. Saray dances are held at various locations in Gulmi after Dashain's Tika, drawing good crowds of locals.

However, as larger modern swings and other forms of entertainment reach the villages, the practice of building locally made wooden swings, known as kathepping and lingepping, has declined.

In Bhojpur, meanwhile, the use of wooden containers for storing milk, curd and ghee -- known as theki, harpe and dudera -- is also thinning out. Earlier, such items were almost essential for livestock-rearing households and were made locally in the villages. Ram Bahadur Bista of Temkemaiyung Rural Municipality-5 said the practice of making wooden containers has declined since plastic and metal utensils became easily available in the market. Both the making and use of such wooden items are now fading.