Brampton: The Canadian Newa Guthi recently organized their 3rd “Community Ihi Ceremony” at Pashupatinath Nepali Mandir, Brampton.
Welcoming the Ihi girls, parents and their relatives, Guthi’s General Secretary Bimal Shrestha elucidated the need of preserving Newah culture through conducting different rituals and ceremonies in diaspora.
At the program chief priest of the Ihi rittual Bhoopati Ananda Rajopadhyaya, who came to Canada from the United States for the occasion, was welcomed by Guthi’s President Prakash Pradhan.
Before starting the Ihi ceremony the participating Ihi girls were welcomed in a traditional manner. Thereafter the girls were seated along the sacred fireplace of the ceremony, which was followed by different stages of the ceremony. During the procedures of the ritual, the chief priest explained the meaning of each step – making the nuances of the ceremony more knowledgeable to everybody.
After the ‘Kanyadan’ procedure, another procedure namely ‘Baran Chhuyagu’ (providing gifts) to Ihi girls by their relatives was conducted followed by ‘Thaaybhu’ (feeding the Ihi girls a set of delicious and nutritious food on a platter) procedure. After the conclusion of the various procedures, chief priest Bhoopati Ananda Rajopadhyaya was honored with a recognition letter and certificates were given to the Ihi girls by President Prakash Pradhan.
Chief priest Rajopadhyaya highlighted the importance of Ihi ritual towards the need for culture preservation and thanked Guthi for providing the opportunity to lead the Ihi ceremony.
President of Nepalese Canadian Heritage Society Dr. Lila Bhandari appreciated Guthi for conducting the ceremony at the premise of Pashupatinath Nepali Mandir and appealed to all members of the community for continued support. Ihi girls Ms. Risika Nakarmi and Ms. Panita Shrestha expressed their happiness at being able to be a part of the ceremony.
Guthi’s Secretary thanked all the Ihi girls, parents, relatives and other for making the event a grand success. After the formal program, religious songs were rendered by Guthi’s Vice President Uttam Makaju and temple priest Badri Pangeni.
The ‘Ihi’ ritual, one of the obligatory and sacred rituals among Newar girls has been a practice since centuries, and aims to educate girls with lifeskills during pre-adolescence.