Folk band Nepathya’s rendition of Gaun Gaun Bata Utha, a song originally composed by Shyam Tamot, hit the airwaves earlier this week. A lyrical video accompanying the song has been released via Youtube; the video includes footages from the band’s concerts.

The song, which was first released during the Panchayat era, was banned from broadcast on Radio Nepal, but even then artists continued to perform and reproduce the song. The song was later used in the film Balidan, which told the stories of the dissidents of the Panchayat era.

Even though the song has been part of Nepathya’s concerts for many years, this is the first time that Nepathya has recorded the song. Nepathya’s frontman Amrit Gurung speaks about the genesis of their rendition of the song: “Ramesh dai and Manjul dai (two members of the legendary musical group Ralfa, whose version of the song is the most prominent) had seen us perform this song during our peace concert tour and had expressed words of encouragement. They appreciated our effort in taking the song to a younger audience, which motivated us to come up with our version of the song.”

Upon listening to the song, composer Tamot reflects, “I like the way Nepathya has embraced this song as their own and used it to campaign for peace and education. Their unique style of performing has helped this song and its message reach a wider audience.”

The song will be included in Nepathya’s tenth studio album.