The Sakela Festival is the most important cultural and religious celebration of the Kirat Rai people, observed twice annually — Sakela Ubhauli (spring, around Baisakh Purnima in April/May) and Sakela Udhauli (autumn, around Mangsir Purnima in November). The festivals mark the agricultural cycles of planting and harvest.
The centrepiece of Sakela is the Sili dance — a traditional circle dance performed around the sacred Sakela Than (stone altar) by community members in traditional Kirat Rai attire. The Sili movements are believed to be divinely revealed and represent the movements of birds, animals, and natural phenomena observed in the Kirat ancestral homeland.
At the Chula House in Sha Tin, KRAHK organises both Sakela festivals each year, with Mundhum recitations by the Kubimi, traditional music, Sili dance performances, and communal offerings. The festivals attract members of the Kirat Rai diaspora from across Hong Kong and
Sakela Ubhauli
April / May (Baisakh Purnima)
Sakela Udhauli
November (Mangsir Purnima)
