Birth Rituals and Modernity among the Dangaura Tharu of Nepal

Abstract

This study investigates how the nature of Dangaura Tharu birth rituals, including Saunri (isolation room), Sudhini(healer), Thasaura, and Chhathi (the sixth-day ceremony), continues to influence the spiritual, gender, and community life of Tharu people. They have functions that ensure the safety and health of the mother during delivery and the newborn, secure spiritual and social purity, and unite the newborn within their family. Historical birth attendants (Sudhini), 30 and a traditional healer (Guruwa) play a central role in the cultural setting and practising for coexistence and alive. Present suggestions, including education, migration, and use of the hospital practice, have changed this type of traditional system, providing rise to an assimilated birthing culture where historical healing and recent medicine work side by side, sharing the same hospital practice. This study took place in the western Kailali and Bardiya districts of Nepal. The study applies ethnographic fieldwork, such as interviews and long-term observation from the field. The findings show that Dangaura Tharu birth rituals or cultural practices united together the structure with patriarchy, tradition with modernisation, and the sacred system of ritual with the prescription of medicine. Understanding these cultural practices, like shared birth ritual, is needed for making delivery maternal health delivery program.