ABSTRACT
When I first came to Janakpur in 1988, the signboard posted by the Nagar Palika (town hall) on public ground near the police offices and the government rest house was brightly painted. It showed the national bird, the national flower, national dress, and so on. As we passed the symbols one day in a rickshaw, a Janakpur friend commented that he’d never seen the national bird or the national flower, and the national dress was too hot for him. The sign is so faded now that one hardly can decipher its meaning, and after a few more monsoons it will merely be a board with nothing on it, unless there is a change in local priorities and someone is found who can repaint the bird, the flower, and the national dress of Nepal. The local advocates for Maithil culture, though divided on certain issues, are united in their belief that it is not the time for them to restore signboards with the national symbols of Nepal, but rather that all people in Nepal should know what beautiful Gold Mohar trees bloom in Janakpur, and what the religious monuments of the city are, and how sweet is the sound of the Maithili language.
