Tihar festival held at Dipatola

HT Correspondent
BISWANATH CHARIALI, Nov 20: A Tihar Bidai festival was convened by Dipatola Gorkha Samaj, in collaboration with Dipatola Chapter of Nepali Sanskriti Suraksha Parishad. The festival was held at Satgaon Playground, Dipatola with a day-long programme on Sunday.
The programme began with the hoisting of the flag by Mohan Pradhan, president of the reception committee. Homnath Chetry lit up earthen lamps in front of the portrait of Mahakabi Lakshmi Prasad Devkota, while Jogendra Upadhyaya offered floral tributes. Retired teacher Mukunda Upadhyaya paid shradhanjali.
The open session for Deusi, Bhaile and Sangini competition was inaugurated by Ganesh Karki, a retired teacher followed by a welcome address offered by Indra Kanta Kariki, working president of the reception committee. The open session was addressed by Anjan Baskota, recipient of Sahitya Akademi’s Yuva Puraskar, Dambarudhar Nath, president of Satgaon Village Development Committee and Narad Upadhyaya, executive member of Assam Nepali Sahitya Sabha as invited guests.
Eminent dramatist Purna Kumar Sarma, Dr Tilak Sarma and Sabita Darjee graced the occasion as judges. The open session chaired by Ganga Upadhyaya was compered by Ganesh Bahadur Thapa, Dambaru Chetry.
A total of 9 Deusi teams, 14 Bhaile and 4 Sangini teams from far and wide participated in the competition. Rohit Khanal offered the vote of thanks at the end of the programme.