A place to visit least once in a lifetime (Balthali village) - culture & lifestyle

Balthali is composed of two word Baleko thali. Decades ago, Bal Bahadur who was very strong came to stay in this place. So, it was named as Bale ko thali(strong), Due to modernization, it was renamed as Balthali.

Among the major trekking routes of Kathmandu valley, Balthali trek is one of them. Balthali village is situated at 1730m from the sea level, and 40 km away from Kathmandu at the junction of Roshi and Ladku Rivers. It’s area is surrounding by thickly forest, sal trees that cover the hill. It takes us past small farming villages where we get the opportunity to experience the lifestyle of local people, and through the beautiful scenery of lush green forests, ancient temples and rich terraced fields.

There are 9 wards in this community. Ward 1: Mixed people like Tamang, Magar, Newar, Upadhaya, Bahun, Dalit, Jaisibahun. Ward 2: Thapa, Magar, Chhetri (also known as thapa tole) Ward 3 to Ward 9: Tamang, Chhetri, Bahun, Thapa.
Religious Places

There are four temples in Balthali village named Kamladi, Setidevi and Mahadevsthan temple and ladkeshor mahadev temple. Many pilgrimages come to visit these temples during festivals.

Food habit
People in this place eat normal Daal, Vaat Tarkari. They eat according to the seasonal vegetable. Some people also eat Gundruk and Dhedo. Tamang people prepare ‘Baaf’ (alcohol) occasionally or in their festival.

Institution of Marriage
According to the villagers before they practiced Endogamy only but nowadays Exogamy also has came on practice. In Tamang family they also are allowed to marry their own bloodline (solta solti). As per the villagers the age at marriage for girls is 22-23 and for boys is 25-26. They do practice dowry system but it is not compulsory.

Life Cycle Rituals:

Birth Rituals: According to Brahmin Chettri babies were named after gods and goddess in the past but now people name their baby as their wish. Priest gives the name to baby which is kept secret. And the baby is called with the name given by their parents. According to Tamang, Babies are names after week days. Example: Dawa, Pemba, etc. Nwaran (naming ceremony) of baby girl is done within 3 days and baby boy is done within 5 days.

Adolescence rituals: According to Brahmins, Chettri, girls practice guniyo choli. This ritual is practiced when a girl has her 1st menstruation. And boys also practice bratamand.

Death Rituals: According to Hindu religion the body is burnt after the death. Tamang people also burn the body after death. But some people also burry the body. For example: Giri.

Economic activities

There are many economic resources such as forests, fertile land, rivers etc. Balthali is purely an agriculture village. Most of the people are involved in agriculture as economic activities. Some. People also practice barter system in this village with another village. Some youth are involved in teaching in their own village. Some even goes to Panauti or Khopasi for their official work. And some people also stay unemployed. Few villagers also go abroad for employment opportunity. Most of the people in this village are involved in agriculture. They grow potato, paddy, maize, orange, mustard, lapsi and other seasonal vegetables. This village has very fertile soil. So they can grow almost everything. Some people are involved in agriculture for earning and some people are involved in agriculture for their own use..

Facilities

There are 4 schools. 3 of them are government school with same name (ladkeswor), and one is boarding school most of the children goes to boarding school. Only few children go to governmental school. There is good facility of drinking water for 24/7. There is only one health post in the village. Electricity is also available. People can communicate as they have medias like telephone, mobiles, Tvs etc. Talking about transportation facilities, it is quite poor.

Problems

• Since they have only one health post, they have problem of proper heath service. If there is any major health problem then they have to go to Khopasi or Panauti for treatment.
• There is lack of transportation facilities. There are no proper and pitched roads. The bridges to cross rivers are also not in proper condition.
• Higher education is not available. So people have to go to cities for their higher education.
• There is lack of sanitation, Villagers don’t have their personal toilets in their home.
• Flood and landslides occur in monsoon season
• After earthquake, people had to face many problems because no help were provided for reconstruction.
• They don’t have police station in their village. So they have to solve small problems by themselves and if there is any major crime then they must go to Panauti or Khopasi or other place for reporting.

In conclusion, Balthali is a small beautiful village. People of different cast, religion, tradition, live together in this beautiful village. This village has many oppurtunities to become one of the famous tourism sector. Government should focus on developing road transport and education facilities in this area. This area can be a good field for anthropologists to study wide variety of cultures, castes and traditions. Though there are some resorts in this area but tourism can be developed more. People should also made effort to develop their locality. And this place has very good scope in tourism, so they should focus on this also. Only the problem was the infrastructure and development which government and the local people should focus on.
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