Thoten Festival - Gurung Cultural Festival in Nepal

Thoten (ट्होटें) festival is a very colorful, rythematic and cultural festival of indigenous Gurung Caste peoples. In the Gurung language, tho (ट्हो) means village, community or state and ten (टें) means enemy, so thoten (ट्होटें) means to expel the enemy from the state.

In the ancient times, the Gurung communities used to celebrate the festival with the aim of preventing any diseases and calamities in the community, the enmity of enemies, and during the time of animal husbandry and farming, would protect the farming from diseases, hail, monkeys and bears etc.

In the gurung communities after chanting mantras in burning incense in the incense burner from local lamas, the young people along with the respected parents go to every house playing drums (ढ्याङ्ग्रो), bells, Chheli and burning incense in the incense burner to pray that don't come and enter diseases, calamities, disasters and negative energies in their tho (ट्हो)(state) for the security of their Tho (ट्हो) or the state twice in a year, on the last three Tuesdays in the month of Shrawan and Chaitra of the Nepalese Calender. It is believed that the enemy is destroyed when incense ashes are poured into the दोबाटो (Main Juction of the two way).

According to Gurung culture, Thoten (ट्होटें) festival is celebrated on the last three Tuesday of Shrawan and Chaitra. The Gurung community has its original and cultural festival Thoten festival as Udhauli on the last Tuesday of Shrawan and Ubhouli on the last Tuesday of Chaitra. From ethnic original costumes of the Gurung community and various animals, ghosts, ghosts like Mukundo, Kalomoso, colorful tableaus wearing different colors, bazagaza, cultural performances Ghantu, Sorthi, Jhoda, chutka, Krishna character performances are celebrated with great enthusiasm. Thoten festival is celebrated by all the Gurung people scattered all over the country including Gandak region like Kaski, Parbat, Tanahun, Syangja etc.

In Thoten (ट्होटें), there is a tradition of dancing and dancing with special weapons such as bows, spears and other instruments such as droms (ढ्याङ्ग्रो) and chheli by sticking ash, black ash and tree branches on the body. It is believed that it is a traditional history that the people living in Gurung state on that day protect the state from diseases and disasters, negative forces, enemies or enemies by passing the borders of the state as a festival to terrorize the enemies and remove them from their settlement and make the settlement peaceful by driving away ghosts, Pichas.