Nepali New Year Celebrations in Kalimpong
The Nepali New Year was celebrated with vibrant rallies and a historic performance of 1,008 madals in Kalimpong, showcasing Gorkha culture, music, and tradition. Darjeeling joined in with a grand shobha yatra and cultural programme at Chowrasta.
If you happened to be in Kalimpong this past Monday and thought the hills had come alive with the sound of music, you weren’t hallucinating — it was just the Nepali New Year being celebrated in the most marvellously loud and cheerful fashion imaginable. And when we say loud, we mean 1,008 madals (traditional hand drums) being thumped in unison, creating a rhythm strong enough to wake the ancestors and possibly unsettle a few mountain goats.
Now, the idea of coordinating over a thousand drummers may sound like trying to herd cats during a thunderstorm, but leave it to the Gorkha Gaurav Sansthan (GGS) to pull it off with aplomb. The event, held in Kalimpong’s Mela Ground, was the pièce de résistance of the day’s festivities — a sonic spectacle meant not only to ring in the new year but also to pay homage to the late Padma Shri Kazi Singh, a doyen of madal music in the Hills.
“It’s not just about the noise — although there was plenty of that — it’s about heritage,” said Sudhir Ghaley, a member of GGS, adjusting his traditional topi with the air of a man who’s just witnessed history. “We wanted to honour Kazi Singh’s contribution and show that the madal isn’t just a drum — it’s the heartbeat of our culture.”
Well, heartbeat or hullabaloo, the folks of Kalimpong certainly outdid themselves. According to Narendra Tamang, a founding member of GGS and clearly a man not afraid of setting ambitious targets, “There was a previous record of 555 madals being played. We thought, why not double it and then some?” A classic case of go big or go home — and nobody went home disappointed.
The day kicked off with a cultural rally featuring a colourful parade of people in traditional attire, strutting their stuff through the streets to the sound of Naumati instruments played primarily by female musicians. Quite the spectacle, it was, like a musical fashion show with a side of ancestral pride.
The grand madal performance was conducted by the Madal Sangrakshan Samity, who, judging by the name alone, take their drumming very seriously indeed. Participants came from all walks of life — local musicians, cultural enthusiasts, political bigwigs, and presumably, a few confused tourists wondering whether they’d stumbled into a very elaborate percussion workshop.
“The point,” Tamang added, “is to keep the youth tethered to their roots. There’s plenty of time for smartphones and social media later. Today, we drum.”
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, Darjeeling had its own bash in the form of a shobha yatra — which, for the uninitiated, is rather like a parade but with more panache. Organised by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration’s Information and Cultural Department (try saying that after a cup of chhang), the event was a veritable carousel of culture, complete with traditional dress, musical instruments, and enough dance moves to make Strictly Come Dancing look like a warm-up act.
The rally meandered through the heart of town, culminating in a cultural programme at Chowrasta — a sort of grand finale to the day’s festivities. It was there, amidst laughter, music, and perhaps a touch of wistful nostalgia, that the community came together in joyous celebration of their identity.
So, as the sun set over the hills and the echo of 1,008 madals slowly faded into the evening breeze, one thing was abundantly clear: the Gorkha spirit isn’t just alive and well — it’s positively drumming with pride.
Now, if only someone could count all those madals again. Just to be sure, you know.
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