Panighatta, a Nepali play is gaining wide acclaim in Calcutta, particularly among its Nepali speaking residents. Panighatta was part of a number of plays staged at the three-day International Theatre Festival held in the city from February 23. According to organiser Sunny Singh, the event had hosted eleven plays in three languages, namely, Nepali, Bengali, and Hindi.

Panighatta is set in the Nepali village of the same name and is performed in the ‘thado bhaka’ dialect. Its story concerns the cotemporary realities of rural Nepal, both light hearted at times and at times grim. The plot focuses on the exodus of village youth seeking employment in Nepal and abroad, how their

flight has left farms and villages desolate, and how in their absence women and even children have had to become pall-bearers for funerals—a task customarily only done by adult men. The Play posits that an economy based on ‘remittance earnings’ has led to the end of traditional observances and general dissolution of mores and customs.

“The play had begun so lightheartedly that I did not expect for it to make me cry at the end,” said audience member and singer Sujata Verma. Also in attendance was Eknarayan Aryal, the Consul General for Calcutta, who praised the play for its “realistic portrayal of the present plights besetting rural Nepal.” “[Panighatta] pushes for its viewers to try to preserve and perpetuate their culture which would otherwise disappear,” he added.

Written and directed by Puru Lamsal and performed by actors from Lamjung’s Manjuri Theatre Group, Panighatta’s entry into the Calcutta festival was coordinated by Ashok Thapa, Professor at Tribhuvan University. 

According to writer Lamsal, the play relays how present hardships are molded by iniquitous social and political conditions of the past and therefore the play performs an instructive function.