Draft:Gurahi (festival)

Gurahi also known as Gurhi, Guriya or Gudiya is a Tharu cultural festival celebrated in the western terai region of Nepal, on the day of Nag Panchami. It is celebrated in the districts of Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur. In this festival, young girls from village make dolls (गुडिया) from old clothes. Young boys and girls gather in the evening where girls throw the dolls on the ground and boys hit it with sticks and decorated whips after which the girls distribute channa (gram) to all the boys.

Etymology
In Gurhi festival dragonfly in the form of toy or doll is worshipped during this festival. In the Tharu language, the dragonfly is known as gurhi (an insect). The natural creature, the dragonfly does not exist on the occasion of the ritual performance but the dragonfly gets its shape as a toy that is made up of chirkut (a colorful piece of clothes).

Celebrations
On the occasion of Gurahi or Guriya parba Tharus prepare verities of fried gram and lentils. In the morning they worship all the home deities and special snake called ‘Lagu Bashu’ offering milk and feed the guest by offering fried lentils and alcohol. Girls use colorful clothes (chirkut) to make a mannequins of dragonflies out of it while boys make a kind of colorful stick. At the evening they go to their nearest bushes and throw that doll and ask to carry away all the sins. At that time males hit those bushes with their made sticks and eat grams and lentils brought by the females.They throw the remained lentils and gram mixing with grass on the roof the deities‟ home and on the roof of their own home.