Yomari Punhi, also known as Yamari Purnima, Yomari Purne, or Yamari Punhi, is a significant event celebrated by the Newar farming community. Yomari is also known as Yamari. This celebration is extremely important in the Newar Community (Newa: Community). Yomari is the most popular bread in Newa, and Punhi refers to the Full Moon. Yomari / Yamari is thus a Newa practice of creating a unique type of bread with the Flour (Dough) of new rice that has entered the house from the field following the harvest. As a result, a special form of bread is cooked to commemorate the arrival of the fresh harvest into the house, and it is consumed after being offered to the gods, ancestral gods, and ancestors.
Yamari: An Overview
This festival is also known and celebrated in the Newa society as “Thinla Punhi” according to the Nepal Sambat Calendar, “Thilla: – second month of Nepal Sambat (Paush / Magh of Bikram Sambat). Similarly, it is traditional to write Yamari as Ya:Mari or Yomari, but regardless of how it is spelled or referred to, the cuisine prepared for this major Newar community event is extremely sweet, and the practice of creating and eating Yomari by other communities is growing by the day. Taking these factors into account, Yomari‘s success has demonstrated that not only is Yamari popular in Newa Community, but that other communities outside of it are also interested in this delicacy.
Every Newar farmer family manufactured rice flour from the new paddy cultivated in their fields that year, and Yomri / Yamari was made from this rice flour. In this Newar (Newa:) community festival, a lump is formed by pouring hot water into the flour, a beak is formed on one side, and the dough is hollowed out with the fingers before being filled with molasses and sesame seeds. One component of the Yamari is given the shape of a fish tail or any other favorite shape when being closed. In Newa: Language, the process of creating this delicacy is known as Pochu (“पोचुं” ). Then Yamari is steam cooked; because it is steam cooked, it can be regarded a wholesome, tasty, and healthy cuisine that is suited for everyone.
Winter Season, according to the Newar community, begins now. For the same reason, experts claim that eating Yamari helps to prevent the impacts of the cold winter. However, it can now be noticed that Yamari is growing famous as a popular snack in several parts of the city market, as a hot Yamari meal cooked with Chaku (Molasses), Sesame Seeds and Khuwa (kind of a cheesy food made by milk). According to the whole Newa, eating Yamari, helps to keep the body warm during the winter.
Song
According to Newa tradition, it is now traditional for children, including elderly, to sing a particular song and ask for Yamari at adjacent residences. However, as time has passed, this pattern has dwindled to the point of extinction. ““त्य: छिंत्य:”:– Tya Chintya” is the name of the song, which is still occasionally heard, and the words are given below.
त्य:छिं त्य: वकछीं त्य: लातापाता कुलिचाँ जुस त्यः ।
य:मरी च्वामु उकिई दुने हामु, ब्युसा माकु मब्युसा फाकु ।।
ब्युम्ह ल्यासे मब्युम्ह बुरि कुति ।
अथवा
त्य:छिं त्य: वकछीं त्य: लातापाता कुलेचाँ जुछिंत्य: ।
योमरी च्वामु उकी दुने हाकु, ब्युसा माकु मब्युसा फाकु ।।
ब्युसाल्यासे मब्युस बुढी कुटी ।। ।
