Precious Drops from Nepal's Fountain of Folk Music
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Music Museum of Nepal (MMN) is a non-governmental organization, founded in 1995 with the purpose of collecting, preserving and glorifying Nepali folk music and its related cultural heritage. There are more than 100 ethnic groups in Nepal, and each group has their own culture and traditions of marking every occasion and rite of passage from birth to death with music. MMN has recorded, documented and archived these ICH-related material since many years ago. In 2016, ICHCAP supported the MMN in digitizing around five hundred hours of analogue recordings through the Digitization Project of ICH-related Analogue Audiovisual Materials. Some of materials representative of Nepali traditions were chosen and reproduced as [Precious Drops from Nepal's Fountain of Folk Music], so they can be enjoyed by more people. The Nepali collection consists of eight CDs and two DVDs. The CDs have forty-six tracks of folk music played in religious events and festivals, and the DVDs feature ten videos on folk dances and musical performances of occupational caste musicians. Each CD contains photos and descriptions about folk instruments to provide a better understanding. This project is particularly important as it resulted in restoring analogue recordings at risk of permanent damage and digitizing them to enhance their academic value and public visibility. ICHCAP hopes that this collection will enable not just researchers in the relevant fields but also the general public to learn more about and become familiar with Nepali ICH.
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A jaatraa is usually an annual festival associated with a particular god or goddess. A ritual is performed in a temple dedicated to the deity. People of all ages, ethnicities, and religions come together to celebrate a local jaatraa. It is believed that a god may join in the festival by possessing one of the participants. The possessed person is usually taller than others and often wears a turban. Other participants may also entera trance state, and they are also believed to be possessed by a god. This is considered a sign that the god is happy with the jaatraa. A jaatraa typically includes a procession in which the image of the god or goddess is mounted on a chariot accompanied by musicians and other worshippers.