Introducing Thecho
Location just about six kilometers south of Lagankhel, Thecho village Development committee is one of the forty village development committees of Lalitpur district. There is Sunakothi village development committee in the south from where we can find that Kathmandu valley's plain land ends in its southern parts. From Sunakothi upward the terraced land starts.

There are different versions which explain why this village is called ‘Thecho'. The initial name of this village is ‘Dharmasthalipur'. According to one version, an interesting incident led to the naming of this village. In the beginning the inhabitants of this village used to live at some lower part of the village named Dyecha. But later on great landslide occurred here and rendered the place quite uninhabitable. Then the inhabitants of this place migrated to the upper part, the present village and settled here. Then if someone asked the villagers where their house was , they replied ‘Chhen choy', ‘Chhen' meaning house and ‘Choy' meaning at the upper part. Later on the term ‘Chhen Choy' deviated and finally become Thecho. It is also said that in the beginning the population of this village was very thin, but later on people from different neighboring villages also migrated to this village as they found the place beautiful and the land quite fertile. Since a large area of Thecho is situated at a height and people migrated here from the places below it, they started calling it ‘Thaya-cho', ‘Thaya' meaning place and cho indicated some height. Later on the same ‘thaya cho' become Thecho.

Thecho V.D.C.
Thecho village development committee is situated only six kilometer south of the Lalitpur town. The village surrounded by its neighboring villages Sunakothi, DhapaKhel, Jharuwarashi, Chapagaun, Champi and Bungamati. The Karmanasa rivulet in the east separated this village from Jharuwarashi and the Nakhu river in the west separates it from Champi and Bungamati. But in the north and south there is a small causeway which separates it from other village development committees. The main part of this village is situated at a height. Nakhu River flows down south west of the village and some arable land stretches along this river. During the heavy monsoon the cultivable land is often washed away by the river. There is a small wood land in the southern part. This village is situated at the height of about 4500' (Four thousand Five hundred feet). It is situated at 27°3' north latitude and 85°19' east longitude.

Language
Only two languages Nepali and Newari (Nepal Bhasa) are spoken in this village development committee. Since Newars are in the majority, most of the people speak in their mother tongue Newari. The people of other casts inhabiting ward number eight and nine, due to their daily contact with Newars, can understand Newars and switch over to it while talking to Newars. Due to increasing number of child enrollment in schools, the speakers of Nepali language are on the rise.

Culture and religion
Like any other community, this village has also its own culture, tradition and social practices which have been preserved for generations. Culture of this village is more or less similar to that of this village also practice different social rituals from birth to death and even after death. When a new child is born, different rituals are performed. A ritual, purity ceremony is performed on the six day of the birth of a child. Then follows naming ceremony and 'Anna Prashanna', food giving ceremony. Small feast is also arranged during Anna Prashanna ceremony. If the newly born child is a boy then 'Bratabandha' or 'Kaitapuja' an initiation ceremony is performed by the holding a grand feast. But if the child is a girl the 'Ihi' or meaning Bell Bibah in Nepali is performed in which a girl is married to a ' Bell ' a kind of sacred fruit. Another typical ritual is performed when a girl reaches the age of twelve or thirteen; this is called 'Gufa' or 'Barah taygu'. According to this ritual, a girls put in a dark room for eleven nights and during this period she is strictly prohibited to see the sun and male. Then on the twelfth day a group of girls wearing red sari and blouse and red paste on their forehead are taken out in a procession. When a person reaches the age of Seventy-Seven years and seven months, he or she is honored by worshipping amidst a special ceremony called Bhimratharohan or Janku. Marriage is generally arranged by the elders. A bridegroom is searched by the male side and before fixing the date of marriage, the horoscopes of both are taken to ‘Jyotsi' to see whether their stars match or not. Elopement is also common. Untouchability still prevails in this village. The depressed casts are still looked down by some elders, but a fabric of society is not fragment on the basis of such social classes. When a person is on his or her death bed, telling ‘Gauri Puran', religious story is performed. It is believed that it would help the departed soul rest in peace. The decease person's kinsmen perform one year long mourning.

Religion
Nepal, the birthplace of Buddha, has never witnessed any undesirable incidents in the name of religion. Rather is has been the source of inspiration for a higher level of life in harmony and peace. Hinduism and Buddhism are two main religious in our country. That the people of this village have strong faith in religion becomes clear by the presence of different Hindu and Buddhist temples. There is always religious harmony and no people are staunch follower of any religious. This means Buddhist also visits the Hindu temples and Hindu also frequents the Buddhist temples. So religious fanaticism is not noticed in this village

Feast and festivals
The people of this village also celebrate feasts and festivals with much gusto and élan. They are the main source of entertainment for the villagers who otherwise remain busy all the time in their own professions. The festivals that the people enjoy here are generally similar to those of Kathmandu. The main festivals are Dashain, Tihar, Gai-Jatra, Dewali, Indra-Jatra, Baisakh Sankrati, Maghe Sankrati, Yomari Punhi etc. People enjoy different festivals in every month.

Mother's Day ‘Mata Aausi' and Lord Buddhist Jayanti fall in Baisakh.

Administrative division
Nepal is divided into fourteen zones and seventy five districts and with the aim of bringing about proportional development in all parts of the country; it is further divided into five development zones. As each village development committee is divided into wards for the convenience of administrative works and other development activities, Thecho village development committee is also divided into nine wards.

Since the majority of the people living in this village development committee are Newars, the placenames are also related to Newar ethnic group. The place names have also beginning or ending word ‘nani' meaning courtyard ground where different cultural and religious activities are performed and since there are many ponds in the village, The places are also named after ‘Pukhusi' meaning ‘ponds' in Nepali language. But the same is not with the names at ward number eight and nine were ethnic groups other than Newars are living.

The total area of this village development committee is 13598-14-3-1(Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety Eight ropani Fourteen ana Three paisa and One dam).