Pasa Puchah Guthi UK (PPGUK) celebrated their annual Mha Puja and Nepalese New year Nepal Samvat 1135 at Greenford Town Hall on 26th October 2014. While the program commenced with PPGUK President Kapli Shrestha’s warm welcome to the audience, President of PPGUK Board of Trustees, Mahanta Bahadur Shrestha emphasized the need of preserving culture in the foreign land. He also talked about the importance of Newah Chhen (Newah House) in the UK.
Chief Guest of the event, Mr. Pabitra Bajracharya, General Secretary of Newah Nuga: expressed his delight to see a grand celebration of Mha Puja in the UK. He was also delighted to see Nepal Samvat being celebrated in the Nepalese Embassy in the UK. Mr. Babu Kaji Dangol, the representative from Embassy of Nepal, UK also thanked Pasa Puchah Guthi for consistently organising Mha Puja in the UK. The event was also attended by MP Virendra Sharma, who highlighted the importance of multi-culturalism and keeping the community vibe alive in the UK.
More than 350 guests attended the event in which they were offered sinha: (tika) and saga:n (traditional food offering). Mha Puja is a unique Newah tradition of worshipping one’s own body to purify one’s soul and to revive oneself for the New Year. This worship was celebrated by various cultural performances, and an official release of PPGUK’s annual magazine, ‘Guthi’, that commemorated numerous community activities organised by PPGUK in the past year.
Pulun Kisi (Man made elephant), Khyak and Lakhey were performed during the cultural show, which left the audience mesmerised. Deepak Thapa and Rajesh Manandhar, performed exceptional songs whilst Nikki Lama and Bhairab Naach Guthi, Sushil Prajapati, Ashok Awal and Sweta Tuladhar, performed several Newah and Nepalese dances. Binod Chipalu performed as a Lakhey. A young and upcoming violinist, Ojashwi Kayastha also performed an outstanding melody. For photos, please click here.
