New Chepang museum opened

CHITWAN, March 28: A museum displaying the cultural artifacts and lifestyles of the minority ethnic Chepang community has opened at Jayamangal of Ratnanagar in Chitwan district.



Chief District Officer Him Nath Dawadi inaugurated the museum established by the Gambesi Chepang Conservation Center, on Thursday. [break]



The Center, at which 26 Chepang children from remote villages including Korak, Kaule and Siddi are being accomodated for studies, has witnessed an increase in visitors aspiring to learn about the Chepang community.



According to KP Kiran Sharma, chairman of the center, the museum was set up to provide prompt information about Chepangs to visitors to the center. The Chepangs, a semi-nomadic tribe that is gradually adopting a settled way of life, have very little arable land for cultivation and live on wild fruits like yam and air potato or wild greens such as nettles.



All the culture and lifestyle related items--from general food items of the community to hunting implements such as nets for trapping bats -- are on display at the newly opened museum.



The butternut tree, which is of great cultural importance for the community, fishing tools, bee hives and cultivation tools used by the community are also housed in the museum.



“The museum also has 62 various tools and products of the wild used by the community,” informed Sharma, adding that other goods and artifacts would be added in the coming days.



“Chepangs are really rich in their culture,”said CDO Dawadi while inaugurating the museum. He also spoke of the services provided by the government for the conservation of the community.



Noted folk singer Milan Lama, who was present at the inaugural ceremony, underscored the need of road links to the areas where the Chepang community is based.



“Roads are the basis for development. The streets in Kathmandu and Narayanghat have been widened but the Chepang settlements lack even small pathways,” Lama stated, adding that he was ready to collect the funds through his singing.



Former chief of Birendra Multiple Campus, LB Chhetri, emphasized that the government should pay greater heed to the infrastructure needs of the backward Chepang Community. “If the government assures them of educational opportunities and develops their infrastructure, most of the stuff kept in this museum would not be seen in use as the community would acquire relevant skills through development,” Chhetri added.

Related story

Photo exhibition “Historical Views: The Collection of Patan Mus...