Kavre, May 24 — In a rare fusion of literature and wilderness, a remarkable poetry festival unfolded atop the scenic hills of Nala in Kavrepalanchok, where poets recited verses under open skies, shifting sunlight and sudden rain showers.
Organized by the literary collective Kavya-Company, the event brought together nationally recognized and local poets at the breathtaking natural site of Pirke Dhunga, transforming the rugged hilltop into an open-air stage for contemporary Nepali poetry.
Far from the confines of auditoriums and city halls, the gathering celebrated poetry in the lap of nature. Participants undertook nearly an hour-long uphill trek from Shera to reach the venue, where giant rocks, misty hills and changing weather created a dramatic backdrop for the literary celebration.
Eighteen poets presented poems, ghazals and muktaks during the festival. Poet Harihar Timilsina recited “Ghar Farkne Bato”, while Shriram Dahal presented “Bairagya.” Navaraj Utsahi shared selected ghazal couplets, and Ramsundar Deuja read “Khoyako Philingo.” Keshab Gyawali ‘Aagat’ recited “Samatulya,” while Navaraj Rayamajhi presented “Transit.”
Similarly, Shakuntala Joshi presented “Varko Bot,” Upendra Dahal recited “Anubhuti ra Dhartimata,” and Deyashratna Shakya shared “Nalanda.” Hariprasad Chaulagain’s “Jun Udaye” and Ranju Dahal’s emotionally charged “Aama Mareko Din” drew notable attention from attendees.
The festival also featured performances by Shiva Arya, Juman Kiran, Prakash Dahal, Dinesh Kharel, Bishwo Sigdel and Prollas Sindhuliy, whose poems added emotional depth and artistic diversity to the event. Prakash Dahal particularly captivated audiences through a theatrical style of poetic performance.
According to writer and poet Prollas Sindhuliy, one of the founding visionaries of Kavya-Company, the event marked the organization’s first formal public program. He said the initiative aims to revitalize Nepali poetry through fresh literary perspectives while discovering and promoting talented yet overlooked poets from across the country.
The organization is led by a group of contemporary literary figures, including travel writer and metrical poet Ranju Dahal and lyricist-poet Bishwo Sigdel. Speaking at the event, Dahal said the campaign would gradually expand nationwide as a long-term literary movement.
As poets recited from atop the massive stone cliffs of Pirke Dhunga, the weather shifted constantly — blazing sunshine one moment, pouring rain the next — creating what many participants described as an unforgettable poetic experience shaped equally by words and nature.
Following the program, participants were hosted for refreshments at a nearby spiritual retreat by the under-construction Swayambhu Vedanta Vidyapith, being developed under the leadership of Shriram Dahal.
The literary journey had begun a day earlier, when members of the Kavya-Company team arrived in Nala and organized an evening poetry gathering followed by a midnight “night-walk” to Brahma Park — a symbolic prelude to the mountain poetry festival that followed the next morning.