The people of thaksatsae (the seven villages of the thakali) celebrated the 12 yearly festival of Lha Phewa in January this year.

They remembered the coming of their ancestors to the area, and the deities of the four clans – Battachan, Sherchan, Tulachan and Gauchan.

The masks of the deities are removed from their mandirs on the ridges above Larjung and taken to a cave whilst the pandits of the four families conduct prayers.

The heads are affixed to bodies and carried aloft around the fields of Larjung.