Saun: Where culture meets colour

Kathmandu, July 28: The beginning of Saun month has brought a spatter of green and artistic henna designs to the shine of hands of girls and women with green and yellow bangles.  

Women and girls celebrate the sacred month through traditions that beautifully blend spirituality, culture and colour. 

The markets are filled with attractive green and yellow dresses, bangles, and beaded necklaces (pote) as the sacred month of Saun begins, prompting Hindu devotees to observe religious and cultural traditions dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Sajid Uddin, a pote trader at Indrachowk in Kathmandu, said the number of customers looking for green and yellow pote this year is almost the same as last year.

"Every year, there is good business in green and yellow bangles and pote during Saun, while red bangles sell well during the wedding season, along with other designer bangles," Sajid said.

"At other times of the year, business is slow. I used to look forward to the festive season to recover my investment and earn some savings. This year, however, I have been sitting idle in my shop even during the peak business season," he added.

Sanukanchi Gurung, a resident of Samakhusi, who visited a pote shop in Indrachowk to buy pote, said that women of the younger generation no longer wear pote regularly. She believes the business has declined because many women stop wearing pote when they attend college or go to work.

"We have been wearing pote ever since we got married," said Gurung. "I do not feel comfortable wearing expensive gold jewellery like Tilhari and Naugedi every day, so I came looking for simple bunches of pote."

Sabir Ahmed, a resident of Otu, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-22, belongs to the sixth generation of a family engaged in the traditional pote trade at Indrachowk.

He said business has almost come to a standstill, forcing many traders to rely on loans to support their families.

"If this is the condition of the historic pote market of Indrachowk, which dates back to the Malla era, even during the festive season, you can imagine how difficult business is during the rest of the year," he said.

As people's fashion preferences and lifestyles continue to change, the traditional pote market in Indrachowk has been weakening, said bangle trader Shaili Shakya. However, she noted that the demand for green and yellow bangles remains strong during Saun.

"Not everyone wears pote nowadays. Many women working in offices prefer western or formal attire, and pote does not always match their dress. Bangles, however, can be worn by anyone, so their popularity has not declined," she said.

According to traders, most pote sold in Nepal are imported from India, while decorative beads and accessories are also imported from Europe, China, and Japan.

Saun, the fourth month of the Hindu lunar calendar, is regarded as one of the holiest periods in Hinduism. Mondays during the month, known as Saun Sombar, are dedicated to Lord Shiva. Devotees observe fasts and offer water, milk, honey, and bel leaves at Shiva temples, including Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Doleshwor Mahadev Temple in Bhaktapur, Gokarneshwar Mahadev Temple in Gokarna, Santaneshwar Mahadev Temple and Kumbeshwar Mahadev Temple in Lalitpur, and the Mahadev Temple at Hanumandhoka, among other shrines across the Kathmandu Valley.