The Nepalese community in Edmonton, Canada observed Gun Punhi and Yenya Punhi cultural festivals amidst a special cultural event virtually via Webex on Sunday September 27, 2020. The virtual cultural event was hosted by Newa Cultural Society of Alberta (NCSA), a local Nepalese-Canadian organization to practice, promote and preserve Newa culture and traditions in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Meanwhile, Gun Punhi is also known as Kwati Punhi as in this festival people drink Kwati, a special ethnic soup prepared from nine varieties of beans. Yenya Punhi is also known as Indra Jatra as this festival is mainly dedicated to Indra, the god of rain and the king of heaven.
The cultural event was inaugurated by Dr. Hemanta Joshi, President of NCSA. On his welcome speech, Dr. Joshi, welcomed all the participants/viewers including chief guest from Nepal – Mr. Naresh Tamrakar, President of Newa De Daboo, a national organization in Nepal. According to Dr. Joshi, NCSA has been organizing various projects and cultural activities in the community annually to practice, promote and preserve Newa language, culture and traditions since 2013. Despite COVID-19 pandemic, NCSA is active in hosting important cultural events like Gun Punhi and Yen Ya Punhi virtually to keep the culture alive in the community. This was the second virtual cultural event of NCSA after Buddha Jayanti cultural event in May 2020.
Mr. Naresh Tamrakar, chief guest from Nepal, praised the NCSA activities and accomplishments made by NCSA towards promoting and preserving Newa language, culture and traditions in Edmonton, Canada. According to Mr. Tamrakar, NCSA will be an exemplary model for Newa people in the world in preserving and promoting language, culture and traditions. In the future, he wish to establish cultural ties between Newa De Daboo and NCSA as well as other Newa organizations in the world and work jointly in promoting and preserving Newa language, culture and traditions. Mr. Tri Prasad Dhaubhadel, Vice President of NCSA, briefly spoke about Newa community in Edmonton and NCSA activities in promoting and preserving Newa language, culture and traditions. Mr. Dwarika Shrestha, senior member of the community, spoke about Indra Jatra festival and story behind the festival. Mr. Birendra Kayastha, Secretary of NCSA, thanked all in making the virtual cultural event enjoyable and successful.
In the cultural event, a video clip on Puja Ceremony of 2019 Gun Punhi and Yen Ya Punhi cultural event was shown to the participants/viewers, as it was not possible to organize one like that for this year due to COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, a video slides depicting highlights on past Gun Punhi and Yen Ya Punhi cultural events (2013-2019) of NCSA was presented to the participants/viewers. Participants/viewers were also entertained with video clips of Kumari Charya dance, Bhairab mask dance, and Lakhey mask dance performed by NCSA artists at Edmonton heritage festivals and NCSA cultural events. Participants/viewers were also entertained with a video clip on Pulukishi dance specially prepared for the current cultural event. Besides, participants/viewers were also entertained with two video songs (downloaded from YouTube) related to Yen Ya Punhi during the virtual cultural event. The virtual cultural event was conducted by Mr. Dhruba Shrestha, Executive Member of NCSA, and Mr. Mahesh Maharjan, member of NCSA.
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