Nepal Celebrates Paddy Day with Mud, Music, and Tradition

Jun 30, 2025

Lalitpur (Nepal), June 30 (ANI): Soaking in mud and water, farmers continuously worked on the field, levelling the mud to ensure an even level and continuous flow of water, creating a favourable typography for the paddy saplings to grow. The farmers of Nepal, along with their farming activities on Sunday, also marked "Paddy Day" while celebrating rice and its associated rituals. Plantation of paddy saplings in the field known as "Ropain" brings high significance for farmers in Nepal, which is primarily dominant during the monsoon season, which starts from June and lasts for four months. While planting the saplings, farmers run behind each other, smearing mud on their faces, splashing muddy water as a means of fun. These sorts of activities are seen at high altitudes in the Himalayan Nation on 15 of Ashar, which is marked as National Paddy Day since 2005. This day was previously observed as the start of the cultivation season with the onset of the monsoon. As farmers gather, a feast is thrown, which includes beaten rice, curd, pickle, and homemade brew. Because of this long-run tradition of having victuals, the Ashar-15 is also known as "Dahi (Curd)- Chiura (Beaten-rice)" eating day. Nepal annually produces about 5.5 million metric tons of paddy while the consumption stands at 7 million metric tons. Last year Nepal produced a total of 5.55 million metric tons from 1.45 million hectares of land.