Chitoniya Tharu Analyzed Text
Jeetbahan: A Story Recited on the Day of Jitiya Pawani in Chitwan and Neighbouring Districts of Nepal
Krishna Prasad Paudyal
Tribhuvan University
Chitoniya Tharu is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by an indigenous group known as Tharu residing in the Chitwan and eastern part of Nawalparasi districts of Nepal. Jitiya Pawani is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in this community. It is celebrated for three days beginning on Ashwin Krishna Saptami, the seventh day of the crescent moon, and concluding on Aswin Krishna Nawami, the ninth day of the crescent moon that generally fall in the third week of September every year.
The text analyzed here is a mythological story that is recited during the Pooja practice in the evening of the Pawani proper when all the devotees listen to the story wishing their sons to be just like Jeetbahan, the protagonist of the story. Jeetbahan is an epic hero who wins every game when he is young and finds solutions to the problems of different people while he is in search of his God father. Having met his God father and solved the problems of concerned creatures, Jeetbahan, along with his two wives, returns home happy and prosperous. Ultimately, he conveys the God’s message to the community people that they all should celebrate a festival after Jeetbahan’s name so that they could be happy and prosperous like Jeetbahan himself. This text, thus, has great cultural importance, and as it contains different kinds of natural texts, it is even more significant from linguistic perspective.
ISBN 9783862888429. Languages of the World/Text Collections 42. 156pp. 2017.
