The story
Deuda Festival in Far Western Nepal
Deuda is a Nepali folk dance and song tradition, also called Deuda Khel, performed in a circle with linked hands by groups of men and women across the Sudurpashchim and Karnali provinces of far-western Nepal. A dedicated Deuda Festival showcases this tradition through organized public performances and competitions.
Deuda, sometimes called Deuda Khel, is a Nepali dance and song genre said to have originated within the Khas community and to trace its roots to the historic Khasa Kingdom centered in the Sinja Valley of present-day Jumla district, from where it spread to neighboring areas of the Sudurpashchim and Karnali provinces.