Text & photos: Thomas Mattey

While walking through the hustling streets of Thamel, it is easy to get caught up in the commercial tourism that shopping has become there. The numerous lanes with endless shops selling khukuris, singing bowls, prayer flags and Nepali topis often leaves visitors poring over every other shop, trying to find a piece that best represents Nepal that they can take back home; a token to remember us by.   

Among such many things is the dhaka, a traditional hand-woven fabric that is often referred to as a piece of staple Nepali clothing. Inspired by a friend who came to Nepal from England to learn about dhaka, I set out on an exciting trip out of Kathmandu to the east of the country, to the dhaka weavers of Terhathum, to understand more about the beautiful cloth.

Along with a Nepali friend, who helps in making transactions between rural makers with the urban demand in the Capital, I took the night bus through burning forests and fast night traffic to Dharan. From there we took a bus to Dhankuta after which we then travelled up to Hile. We stayed the night there and tried some Tongba for the first time. It easily became my new favourite drink.

The following morning, 2073 BS began. We took our final part of the trip to Terhathum, a Limbu community and a hub for dhaka weaving, where we celebrated New Year’s Day with endless tongbas and laughter.

As we travelled through the town over the next days, we met some of the women who have taken to preserving this unique and skilled method of intricate pattern making. 

Though there has been a decline in the production of dhaka in the country over the years due to the popularity of lower quality machine-made cloth and an increase in the import of cotton from India, the weavers of Terhathum continue to persevere and preserve this craft passed down through the ages. These  are the stills from their intricate lives.