Soulful Nepali Music in the Hills

Overview

This experience fosters dialogue between oral folk traditions and the institutional documentation of Eastern Himalayan music.

• Celebrate the indigenous cultures, music, and lives of villages in the Darjeeling Hills.
• Explore remote landscapes and rustic settings while immersing in local sounds.
• Hear tales of trade and travel interwoven with Nepali folk music.
• Meet folk artists from Kachankawal, Jhapa District of Nepal, who travels miles by cycling, walking, and public transport to reach Darjeeling.
• Enjoy live Nepali folk songs accompanied by the Sarangi, a jackfruit-wood instrument polished with pine resin, carrying centuries of tradition.
• Discover how these oral traditions survive beside modern Nepali music and why they matter today.
• Join conversations on instruments, stories of villages, and the cultural meaning behind each song.
• Engage with songs passed down through generations, taught by forefathers, carrying legacies of love, trade, and resilience.
• Understand how these farmer-musicians see music as worship, never weighed down by daily struggles.