UNISON: Magar dancers during a performance in a Qatar-based event.  Photos by Usha Wagle Gautam

By Usha Wagle Gautam

Nestled between the mammoth-sized India and China, Nepal is home to more than 90 languages and ethnicities. Magars are the third-largest ethnic group in the country, after Khas Chettri and Khas Brahmin. The Magar homelands begin from the west and the south of Dhaulagiri section of the Himalayas and stretch to the Mahabharat range.

Qatar is home to about 20,000 Nepalis from the Magar community, 200 of which are female workers. Magars in Qatar work with different companies and organisations in skilled and semi-skilled lines of work. Members of the Magar community participate actively in cultural programmes such as music, dance and carnivals.

According to the national census of 2001, there are 1,622,649 Magars in Nepal, roughly 7% of the population. Nepal Magar Association, however, believes this number to be lower than it really is. Historically, the Nepalese Magars are divided into seven groups — Ale, Burathoki, Gharti, Pun, Rana, Roka and Thapa. Most Magars live in the western Mahabharat foothills of Nepal, in the districts of Palpa, Syanja, Tanahu, Gulmi, Pyuthan, Rolpa and Salyan among others. But massive migration in recent years has led to Magars spreading all over the country.

According to Magar Association President Saran Thapa Magar, there are 12 artists — singers and dancers — who regularly perform around Doha. Six of these are women. Nepalese Magars in Qatar have performed on a number of high-profile occasions such as the Nepali Food Festival organised by the Nepali embassy, the National Summer of Culture in City Center organised by the Qatar Government in 2008 and Al Khor Stadium.

Rina Thapa Magar, for instance, performed at a Nonresident Nepalese Association event in 2013, performing in front of thousands of audience members. She wore her ethnic dress and ornaments that she got from Nepal. Her love for dance brought her to Qatar and now she performs in various programmes organised in Qatar, mainly Doha, on weekends.    

Similarly, the 24-year-old Som Thapa Magar’s singing abilities have won him fans in the local Nepali community. His performances frequently feature encore requests, with everyone singing along with him. His performance last December was well-received even by non-Nepali expatriates.

Vupendra Rekha Magar, the dancing director at Non Resident Magar Association in Qatar, says every weekend, local dancers come to practice. This is why he continues to teach Magar cultural dances such as Hurra, Sallaju and Yanimaya.

D N Magar, a researcher who went to 35 village development committees to make a documentary on Hurra, has been living in Qatar since 2004. Describing a Magar cultural event, he said that many times during the year, boys and girls get together in the evening. The characteristic tune plays as the actors in the sort of a drama play out a question-answer session. The boys’ chosen song leader sings a question that all the boys then repeat three times. The subject matter seldom varies: all the questions and answers have to do with love, marriage, and a bantering sexual antagonism between boys and girls.

The Magar communities are famous for their folk tunes and the dance beats. During festivals and local carnivals, Magar men and women dance to the beats of Ghatu, Nachari, Sorathi, Rodi, Hurra, Salaiju and Yanimaya.

BELOW:

CULTURAL: Magar dancers during a performance of Hurra.