Maghi

Maghi is the most important festival of the Tharu people. It marks the turn of the sun northward and the start of a new year, and it is celebrated over several days with feasting, visits, songs and dances.

Traditions

Families bathe at dawn, elders give blessings, and married daughters return home. Pigs and fish are prepared, dhikri is steamed, and rice beer flows. In Dangaura Tharu villages, Maghi is also when the community gathers to choose its village headman (badghar or mahaton) and settle the year's work — a living form of local self-government.

Maghe Sankranti

For other communities the same day is Maghe Sankranti: people eat sesame sweets, ghee, sweet potatoes and yams, and pilgrims bathe at sacred confluences such as Devghat in Chitwan.

For visitors

Maghi is the best time to stay in a Tharu homestay in Dang, Bardiya or Kailali. Many towns hold public Maghi fairs with dance performances.