Sakewa

The defining festival of the Kirat Khambu Rai, one of Sikkim's major communities, and one of the state's recognised festivals.

It is homage to Mother Earth at the opening of the farming year — a prayer for rain, good weather, a good crop and protection from harm.

The festival opens on a large open ground or hilltop, where a mangpa or mangma — priest or priestess — performs the Bhumi Puja on the soil, followed by offerings and a community feast. The sili dances follow.

Bhumi Puja performed on the ground itself by a mangpa or mangma, followed by the sili dance cycle.

The earth is addressed directly as mother at the moment the year's cultivation begins.

A Kirat agricultural rite marking the start of the farming year, kept by the Rai community in Sikkim and across the eastern Himalaya.