HARI DEVI KOIRALA: The legend lives on

THE QUEEN OF TEEJ SONGS
HARI DEVI KOIRALA: The legend lives on
By LB Thapa

Pokhara has always been renowned for being a center of innovation and dissemination due to its rich heritage of art, culture, and literature, which has been patronized by its kings throughout history. A very popular old Nepalese saying is "Go to Gorkha if justice is denied; go to Kaski to pursue education." As far as women are concerned, very few ever made a noticeable impact on the development of Pokhareli literature. One who did is Hari Devi Koirala.

Photo: provided by Haridevi Koirala

Hari Devi Koirala is a woman of few words, unassuming, and yet a genius with many talents. She has been doing her utmost to promote the folk-songs belonging to different tribes. Apart from collecting folk-songs she has a keen interst in poetry. Today she has succeeded in attaining a highly respected place in the field of Nepalese folk-songs.

She was born in Baidam, Pokhara, in 1959 and from a very early age (not yet a teenager) she fell in love with folk-singing and poetry. The beauty of her surroundings in Pokhara inspired her to sing songs about loveliness and, as she grew older, her interest became more intense and turned into a devotion to folk-singing.

Literary creation by Haridevi Koirala

Books by Haridevi Koirala

In the beginning her journey along the path of folk-singing was far from easy. Hari Devi had been born into a strict orthodox Chhetri family (upper-caste Hindus) so she was not allowed to sing the songs that other girls of her age were singing. But despite not being allowed to sing, she managed to somehow evade this issue and attended folk-singing concerts. Ignoring the possible repercussions from her family, she would sing with her friends and the audiences were enraptured by her melodious voice and her unusual talent for folk-singing. Her friends and others who could see the potential in Hari Devi to become a famous artist encouraged her to take steps towards becoming a professional folk-singer. This was not as simple as she thought, as she faced enormous criticism from her Chhetri family and other relatives, as singing was considered a far from respectable profession for upper class Hindus at that time.

Photo: provided by Haridevi Koirala

Hari Devi became a rebel as she could see no other way of achieving her goal in life and began taking part in local concerts, much to the shock and embarrassment of her parents and relatives. Outraged and disappointed, her parents continually expressed their objections, but she would not change her mind; she refused to abandon her dream for anyone or at any price.

Her life took a dramatic turn after her marriage, as her husband, a government employee, was a connoisseur of art and literature and proved to be the ideal husband as he encouraged his wife in her every endeavour. When he was on duty in Lamjung he collected many folk-songs from remote villages, and when Hari Devi stayed in Lamjung she also kept herself busy collecting unusual folk-songs with their original tunes.

She was very inspired by the legendary Nepalese folk-singer Tara Devi and loved her more modern songs which were very popular across the whole of Nepal. One of Tara Devi's songs "Phoolko Thunga" (a bunch of flowers), was a great hit at that time and touched Hari Devi very deeply. Hari Devi worked hard and managed to produce her first album, "Paina Khabara" in 1992; it was an overwhelming success and encouraged her to produce several albums in a row. Very unfortunately, due to the weak copyright act in Nepal, pirated cassettes were made, and she suffered a loss in sales instead of making a profit.

Photo: provided by Haridevi Koirala

Always in her life, literature and music went side by side, and up until now, she has over 45 folk-song duet cassettes to her credit, she has also had more than 150 songs played on the radio. She has taken an equal interest in writing, and in 1988 her first anthology of poems, "Mero Desko Chhatibitra Dukhe Jasto Lagchh" (the heart of my country gets hurt) brought her into the limelight, and she became part of the literary galaxy. Her first book was a great success, and she then published two more books of poetry, "Tarang" in 1997 and "Na Gham Jhareo, Na Joon Jhareo" (neither son fell nor moon fell) in 2002. These are regarded as her masterpieces. Two books of her folk-song collections are to be published soon.

Without a doubt, Hari Devi has realised the promise of her youth and can go even further and set more milestones in the fields of Nepalese folk-singing and Nepalese poetry and continue to inspire people. She has made a very important contribution to Nepalese folk-music and its style and saved it and brought it back to life at a time when the Western influence had almost superseded the rich folk culture of Nepal.

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All rights reserved. All the articles and photos published in this blog are the copyright property of this blog. I allow articles and photos to be reproduced only for information and educational purposes. For that, you must mention the author and the blog's name. Blog: thpnepal.blogspot.com I would appreciate it if you inform me by sending an email to writerlbthapa@gmail.com. www.amazon.com/-/e/B00ISV3PFA

Location: Pokhara, Nepal

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 26, 2025 at 9:24 PM

    Respect chh Didi. Ma Sumitra Bhattarai California, US bata. Hajurko barema padhna pauda khusi lagyo. Congratulation.
    Sumitra Bhattarai, USA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hari devi koiralaMay 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM

      Thank you for your kind words,thank you for going through the article.thank you very much.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousApril 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM

    Nepali literature is rich and vibrant. The lady is no doubt a pioneer in her field.
    Professor Kamalnath Ojha
    Oregon, USA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hari devi koiralaMay 24, 2025 at 9:48 PM

      Thank you very much for recognizing my work.i am greatful.

      Delete
  3. Pawan kumarMay 23, 2025 at 2:26 AM

    Truly outstanding article.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pawan kumarMay 23, 2025 at 2:27 AM

    Outstanding article

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 23, 2025 at 2:28 AM

    Loved the article.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 23, 2025 at 2:29 AM

    Truly inspired,gem of nepal

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mahesh SinghJune 3, 2025 at 1:12 AM

    Massive congratulations Hajur. You are such an inspiration to all 🙏

    ReplyDelete

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