Lumbini Village Tour- A Tour of Live Making of Indigenous Handicraft

Cultural Village Tour

A walk through the village surrounding Lumbini, interaction with the warm and hospitable local people, buying their authentic handicraft products and observing their traditional rituals will bring one closer to understanding the diversity of Terai cultures in Nepal. Tour of villages also gives opportunity to observe Terai landscapes and vegetation found in the outskirts of the settlements. The people in these villages offer a peak at their agro-based rural lifestyles, colored costumes, festivals which they celebrate with much joy and enthusiasm, and gracious hospitality. They belong to different religions, caste and creed with agriculture as main occupation. The main festivals celebrated by the people are Nagpanchami, Holy, Dashain and Tihar. Tourists can visit the local temples and mosques or partake in the cultural ceremonies. The wetland areas, lakes and ponds in the villages also offer bird watching opportunities. Visitors have the option of choosing to walk through the villages, riding on a local rickshaw, bicycle or bullock- cart.

Ekala offers cultural sightseeing in the village and bird watching at Lake Karbolaha that has a crane sanctuary nearby. They live in traditionally stone or tent houses. The main ethnic groups found here are Yadav, Harijan, Chamar, Gupta and the Muslim. The languages spoken are Bhojpuri and Nepali. Different kinds of handicrafts are available as souvenir.

Khudabagar offers cultural sightseeing in the village and bird watching at Punnihawa Lake which is a wetland area. The main groups living here are Tharu, Yadav, Lodh, Harijan, Kurmi, Gupta and Muslims. Tourists can experience pure Tharu culture here and visit the recently set up Tharu museum. In the village is a huge tree that has been inhabited by monkey for hundreds of years. The indigenous crafts, baskets are the main specialty of the area.

Tenuhawa offers peek at the Muslim culture of Nepal. There is a mosque in the village. Tourists can also do some bird watching at the crane sanctuary near Karbolaha lake (located in Ekala VDC) toward the northwest of the village. During leisure hours in the afternoon, you can observe women working at indigenous crafts making colorful baskets, handicraft items that are also available on sale at different sales outlets.

Madhubani offers sightseeing of natural Terai life and bird watching at Hathihawa and Tharunia lakes. Dhaulagiri and Annapurna ranges in the north can also be seen during clear winter mornings. In addition, one can also visit temples of Durga, Shiva, Kalikasthan and Samaimaisthan, in the village. Tharu, Yadav, Harijan, Brahmin, Chhetri and Muslim are the main ethnic groups found here. Local handicrafts are available at sales center and hotels. Biraha culture is another main cultural attraction here.

Ama has archeological sites at Paisiya and Ama villages. The wetlands around this VDC are the prime habitat for the breeding of sarus crane. This tour depicts local Terai culture and beautiful vegetable production farm.

Bhagawanpur Village Tour leads to sculpture production center, where visitors can see live manufacturing process of Buddha sculpture. Taking the route of village, one can see beautiful wetland where crane and other bird species are found.

Lumbini Handicrafts (Hands of Lumbini)

The community members of Lumbini are also indigenous craftsmen. These natural fiber-based handicrafts are made by Terai women of Lumbini area namely Ama, Khudabagar, Lumbini Adarsha, Madhubani, Ekala and Tenuhawa. These women who are among the marginalized and disadvantaged group, are rich in their Terai culture and indigenous skills. Production of these handicrafts is part of their culture as they produce them to offer gifts to brides or for their new home.

The handicrafts, relatively less expensive despite the immense effort that goes into the making, are popular among tourists. The handicraft items are available at Handicraft Selling Outlet and Tourism Information Center of Sonabarsi (KhudabagarVDC), handicraft selling center at Mahilawar gaon (Madhubani VDC), sculpture production center at Bhagawanpur (Bhagawanpur VDC) gift and accessory shops of Lumbini Development Trust (LTD) and NTB information center at Belahiya (Indo Nepal boarder).