horse mare Balchaur is about six kilometers west of the Chisapani Bridge in Kailali, the gateway to the far west. In Lamkichuha municipality-3 Balchaur, there is a pilgrimage shop that has been operating for a long time. Madal, Tabla, Damu, Dholki are made here. Lately, Tirtha Badi is sad after making different types of instruments but they are not being sold.
Madal, which used to be the most sold among the tools, has now stopped being sold. Thirtha Badi says that the business is in crisis. “Earlier, it was not possible to sell Madal during festivals, now there is no sale at all. Most of the locals of Magar village, Tharu community used to buy madal, now they don’t come to the shop, even if they go to the village to buy it, they have to go elsewhere, they don’t even find people who ask”, he said.
Tirtha complains that in the past, he has been doing education and upbringing of his children through this profession, but now he is also struggling to make ends meet through business. “This time too, I made 25 medals. They thought that they would be sold after Teej, but Teej is over, not a single medal has been sold”, he said.
Another businessman Krishna Badi says that with the development of technology, old businesses are disappearing. “It is a skill learned from my father, he has been continuing it, but now he has to stop. During the season, we used to sell up to 50-60 Madals, but now it is difficult to sell 4-5 Madal”, he further said, “Earlier, we could pay for the house and educate our children through this business, but now we are forced to go to India during the winter and make instruments during the season to preserve the skills of our ancestors. That doesn’t sell either.”
Businessman Ravilal Badi said that there is a crisis in the madal business due to modern instruments including DJs. “Earlier, Madal was used in cultural events such as Ratayuli, Teej, Deusinbhailo, school-level events, but lately DJs are used instead of Madal. That’s why our profession is in crisis”, he says.
The vice-chancellor of Sudurpaschim Pragya Pratishthan and cultural expert TN Joshi is of the opinion that originality is being lost in traditional culture with the decline of madal use. “A few decades ago, there were many people playing Madal in the village, but in the current generation, people who know how to play Madal are hardly found”, he says, “Now, to preserve the originality, there is a need to emphasize the use and learning of the original instrument from the school level.”
Businessmen say that the government has the responsibility to protect the madal, which is the national treasure of Nepal, as it has reached the point of extinction. Businessman Tirtha Badi says, “Now the coming generations should be told about its importance. This is also the responsibility of the government. Since we are a generation-old profession, we are continuing to protect it with love.”
All Madal businessmen are demanding that the local, state and federal government should bring some programs to protect and promote the original bazaar to save the business that is in crisis. Indrakumari KC/RSS
