Preparations for Dashain are expanding across Nepal as festive goods and livestock make their way to major urban centers. In western Nepal, livestock traders have started moving more than 1,000 mountain goats from the pastures of Upper Dolpa across Himalayan passes into Mustang, with the goal of supplying markets in Kathmandu and Pokhara, according to Onlinekhabar.
At the same time, festive commerce has emerged in markets across the Kathmandu Valley, where traditional stalls in areas such as Asan are reporting steady customer interest in kites and spools, Gorkhapatra reported. Current retail prices for kites range from Rs 5 to Rs 100, while related thread and reels are selling between Rs 100 and Rs 3,000.
Despite the seasonal uptick, long-time merchants in Lalitpur’s Mangalbazar told Ratopati that cultural and commercial aspects of kite-flying are shifting. Local production has largely yielded to imports from India and China, while vendors observed that younger demographics increasingly turn toward digital devices and drones rather than traditional kites during the holiday period.
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Highland livestock traders are herding over 1,000 chyangra from Upper Dolpa toward urban centres as kite merchants across the Kathmandu Valley stock up for Dashain.
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