Food · Ramagrama
A Tharu home lunch near Ramgram
Lunch with a Tharu family in a village near Ramagrama: rice, lentils, seasonal greens, fish or snail curry when available, and dhikri, with time to see the mud-walled house and its painted grain stores.
The Tharu are among the oldest peoples of the Terai, and Parasi district has many Tharu villages. Their traditional houses have thick mud walls, wide verandas and tall clay grain bins, often decorated with painted or raised patterns.
We arrange lunch with a family known to our guide. Depending on the season the meal may include rice, lentils, leafy greens from the yard, river fish or snail curry, and dhikri, the steamed rice-flour dough that is a Tharu speciality. You eat sitting on mats or at a low table.
There is time to talk, with your guide translating from Tharu or Nepali, about farming, festivals and how life has changed since the malaria-control years of the 1950s brought hill settlers to the plains.
Good for
Questions
Who are the Tharu people?
The Tharu are an Indigenous people of the Terai lowlands of Nepal and northern India, long resistant to the malaria that kept other groups away. They speak Tharu languages, farm rice and other crops, fish in rivers and ponds, and are known for their mud houses, stick dances and festivals such as Maghi in January.
Is the Tharu home lunch vegetarian-friendly?
Yes. Tell us in advance and the family will prepare a vegetarian meal of rice, lentils, vegetables, greens, pickles and dhikri. Fish, snail and meat dishes are common in Tharu cooking, so mention any other dietary needs or allergies when you book.
How is the family paid for the meal?
We agree a fair price with the host family beforehand and pay them directly on the day. You do not need to pay separately. If you would like to give something extra, a small gift for the household or children's school supplies is appreciated more than cash handed to children.
Also in Ramagrama
More ways to spend the day
SpiritualCircle the unopened relic stupa
A slow, guided circuit of the Ramagrama stupa: the story of the eight shares of the Buddha's ashes, the legend …
NatureMorning walk on the Jharahi river
An easy riverside walk beside Ramagrama on the Jharahi river, through village fields and along sandy banks, with egrets, kingfishers …
HeritageThe Koliya country: Ramagrama and Devdaha
A full day east of Lumbini through the land of the Koliyas, the Buddha's mother's clan: the relic stupa at …