Lawangi Puja to be celebrated with grandeur at Ghodaghodi temple

Kailali: The traditional Lawangi Puja of the Tharu community, held annually on the occasion of Sita Bivah Panchami, will be celebrated this Mangsir with great pomp at the Ghodaghodi Temple.

A three-day Tharu cultural festival will accompany the puja at Ghorighora Temple, the largest temple of the Tharu community in the Western Terai. The worship and festival will be jointly organized by the Ghorighora Nagar Bhalmansa Working Committee, Sant Samagam Samaj, and the Ghodaghodi and Culture Conservation Society.

Committee coordinator and Nagar Bhalmansa Working Committee Chairman Budhram Chaudhary said preparations are underway for managing the event, as the entire Tharu community traditionally participates in Lawangi Puja. He stated that since the puja is deeply connected to the traditional and original culture of the Tharu community, the cultural festival aims to preserve and promote it. People from Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, and Dang districts also take part in the celebrations.

The festival will feature a range of Tharu cultural performances, including Jhaaki, Barka Nach, Sakhiya Nach, Mugrahuwa Nach, and Kathghori Nach, along with special presentations by Tharu artists. Traditional Tharu food will also be promoted and marketed during the event. Captain Chaudhary, president of the Sant Samagam Society, said that Bhalmanasa, Guruwa, and Chiraki from 173 villages of Kailali will participate in the puja.

The Tharu community traditionally offers new crops to the gods upon bringing them into the home. As Lawangi means “new” and new crops are offered only to the deities, Lawangi Puja is performed accordingly, explained Captain Chaudhary, who is also a member of the organizing committee. The puja, held both individually and collectively in homes and rural areas, has been celebrated as a grand festival at the Ghodaghodi Temple for the past two decades. Both the Tharu and hill communities participate in the Lawangi Puja at the temple in Kailali.

Ghodaghodi Temple is regarded as the largest temple of the Tharu community in western Nepal. Tharu and hill communities join the celebrations at the temple, which lies beside Ghodaghodi Lake—a designated World Ramsar Site—located in Ghodaghodi Municipality, Kailali. Local resident Yamlal Sapkota said that those who have taken vows also traditionally offer sacrifices of pigs, chickens, goats, and ducks at the temple on the day of Lawangi Puja.