Khusiram Pakhrin Collection

These photos were provided by Khusiram Pakhrin and illustrate a life spent performing progressive songs. 

Highlights include family photos from the 1960s and 1970s, performances with the Akhil Nepal Bharat Ekata Samaj in various Indian cities, performances in Chitwan, performance tours throughout western and central Nepal, life in the forest and Maoist base areas during the People’s War, Samana Cultural Family during and after the People’s War, and Khusiram Pakhrin’s travels in Europe after becoming a member of the Constituent Assembly in 2008. Performers who feature in many of the photos include Sharada Shrestha and Chunu Gurung, both of whom were killed in the People’s War; Anjana Gurung; Usha Lama; Hemu Thapa, Barsha Gajmer, Maya Gajmer, Suman Gajmer, and others.

The photos below are a sample of his collection, which will soon be hosted at Nepal Picture Library.

  • Samana crossing the Karnali river in a canoe, sometime between 1996 and 2006.
  • Ichchhuk Cultural Family, Pyuthan, 2003. Khusiram Pakhrin singing, Bidrohi on harmonium, Sita Acharya seated in back.
  • Khusiram Pakhrin and Sukumaya Pakhrin in Rukum, Syargo Daha, sometime well into the war in the 2000s (before 2006).
  • Khusiram Pakhrin hiding from the Royal Nepal Army in a rhododendron forest while returning from the Beni front.
  • Sukumaya Pakhrin (back, far right) and Western Samana artists, between 2004 and 2006. Dipa Roka, center of first row.
  • Khusiram Pakhrin, early 1980s.
  • Chitwan Cultural Family in Gorakhpur, c. 1984. Gita Pakhrin, center, age 7.
  • Pakhrin siblings. Women left to right: Parvati, Aitimaya, Dewanti. Men left to right: Ranabhir, Khusiram, Balbir, Jangabir. Early 1990s.
  • Members of Samana and Pratirodh in Rolpa Kholagau, getting ready to perform the opera Returning from the Battlefield in 2005. Artists including Kopila, Elina, Bhim, Bandana.
  • Chitwan, 1990, directly after the first People’s Movement successfully brought democracy to Nepal.
  • Women weaving in Humla, 1992.
  • Khusiram Pakhrin with other MP’s, 2008.