Fuzzscape Bhojpur
On March 2018, the Fuzzscape team travelled to the eastern district of Bhojpur, first to Jarayotar and then to Bhojpur Bajaar. The group tagged along with singer/sarangi player Barta Gandarbha and first traveled to her hometown of Mangding, Palpale, where she started her career as a travelling musician. Gandharbha is the first woman sarangi player of Nepal, a profession, traditionally, only taken up by men of the Gandarbha community. After few days of interaction with the Gandarbha community of Mangding, the team then travelled to Bhojpur Bajaar, an ancient town primarily inhabited by the Rai Kirants and the Newars. During the visit, the team got the opportunity to interact with a number of people, namely Mr Shyam Tamot, a songwriter, poet and a revolutionary and Dr Kamal Jung Rai, a professor and a Kirant Mundhum expert. The team also traveled to Taksar where bronze currency was produced during the time of Shah King-Tribhuvan. In Taksar, the team was invited to experience a dapha bhajan performance still practiced by the Newar settlers there.
Fuzzscape team worked with Bhojpur Multiple Campus to give a workshop on intangible heritage and documentation to the bachelor level students of the college. The participants indulged in a number of activities and discussions on the importance of intangible heritage and why one must try to document it.
Barta Gandarbha and the Fuzzscape team during the 10 days collaborated to compose a song titled “Bhojpur Bajaar”, which is inspired from their trip to the district and is based on a melody of an eastern Nepali folk song titled “Simal Barule”. The song was performed on the last day of the team’s visit, in Palpale, to the local audience. Gandarbha said after the performance: “I performed on doorsteps here many times when I was traveling as a busking musician. It was a new experience to be able to organize and perform in a concert for the same folks.”
The documentary Fuzzscape Bhojpur is in the link below.
