In 1972, during a folk dance competition held in Kathmandu, a team of Surkhet-based artists, led by Tek Raj Bharati, bagged the first prize, performing to the jhyaure song Yani Mayalai. The song, at the time, quickly became a runaway hit; and for many, the word jhyaure continues to remind them of the western district of Surkhet.

But today, the dance form is barely being performed, even in the land where it originated; the younger generations scarcely even know what jhyaure dances are. But not Chandra Singh Rana. Rana, who is 29, is working towards establishing a club that will promote local folk dances and music. In the buildup to the launch of the club, a team led by Rana recently performed the Mayur dance—an offshoot of the legendary jhyaure dance—in the district headquarter, Birendranagar.

The dancers participating in a Mayur dance, true to the name, wear traditional outfits made up of peacock feathers, and try to emulate the peacock itself. The dance, however, is now only performed during certain jatras, that too by older dancers who grew up with the tradition. Last week, Rana’s youthful team, performed the dance around the city, in a bid to preserve the art form and to collect funds for the new club.

“Folk dance and tradition that was once so venerated in the district is now almost non-existent. But no one seems to be taking any initative to ensure that these traditions remain relevant,” said Rana, talking about his initiative.

Gyan Bahadur Nepali, an instrumentalist who was once affiliated to the now-defunct Bagina Samuha, echoed Rana’s sentiments. “Today’s kids don’t know what a Ratyauli dance is. Our celebrated tradition of folk dance and music is on the verge of dying out. The blame is partly on ourselves and partly on the state as well, which doesn’t have any roadmap for the preservation of age-old traditions.”

However, the gradual loss of folk tradition is not only Surkhet’s problem. Folk tradition expert and artist Prem Dev Giri summed things up by saying: “While we hear a lot of talk about preserving identity by forming identity-based states on a daily basis, we are forgetting our own folk traditions. We need to once again get our youth participating in these traditions. The loss of our culture heritage, which plays a fundamental role in our identities, is a subject of worry, even if it is rarely talked about.”