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Field observations document the sacred dance-drama ritual, celebrating traditions and worship in a Gurung village.
The residents of Nalma, a Gurung village in Nepal’s hills, held the final festival of their sacred dance-drama ritual, the sati ghatu , in May 2022. Practiced for unknown centuries, in a language no one speaks, this five-day performance celebrates a tragic royal love story while memorializing village traditions and worshipping local mountain gods; in doing so, the villagers protect their home from disasters and ensure a good harvest. Throughout the five days, prepubescent girl dancers move in and out of mysterious trances via the singers’ haunting melody and thrumming madal drumbeat. They are possessed by different gods and enact a symbolic sati ritual before completing the dance-drama. This report details the author’s field observations from Nalma’s last sati ghatu .
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Rose Schwietz Malla (2026) studied this question.
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