Rudra Bahadur GC of Tinau Rural Municipality-2, Jyangla, brought new rice into his house in the last week of Asoj. But he used the rice only after offering it to the goddess in the first week of Mangsir. Since hybrid rice is grown, the rice ripens quickly. However, rice that ripens quickly is not even sold.

He said that no matter how quickly the rice ripens, it is customary to sell it only after offering it to the goddess in the first week of Mangsir and to use it for home consumption. ‘No matter how quickly the rice ripens, it is not used without offering it to the goddess in the first week of Mangsir,’ he said, ‘It is a tradition since the time of Jijubaje.’

Not only Jyangla in Dobhan, but also dozens of settlements in Tinau Rural Municipality, Rainadevi Chhahara, and Ribdikot Rural Municipality have a similar tradition. Sherjung Thapa of Jyangla in Dobhan said that all castes in this region are following this custom. According to him, the custom of eating only after offering it to the goddess has been in Jyangla for 132 years.

All the villagers gather at the Khanddevi Temple located in the upper part of the village. Thapa said that there is a tradition of everyone gathering new rice and offering it in a ritualistic manner at that place. ‘There was a Magar settlement here in the past,’ he said, ‘and since then, it is believed that people have been eating rice after offering it to the gods and goddesses.’ He said that since they started eating rice only after offering it to the gods and goddesses, there has been no evil in the village. 

This has been a tradition of celebrating the ‘Nwagi Festival’ culture for the last 12 years. In recent years, national and local artists have been enjoying it. Nwagi Festival has also been celebrated in villages including Kachal and Arkhudi in Tinau.

Not only in Tinau, Nwagi Festival is also being organized at Bhuwan Pokhari Rainadevi Temple in Rainadevi Chhahara. There is a tradition of worshipping Rainadevi in ​​a pit covered with firewood. Here too, the tradition of celebrating Nwagi Festival has been established. Residents of Palpa, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi worship her as Rainadevi. Here, besides Nwagi, worship is held on Dashain and Baisakh Purnima. Ward Chairman Pradeep Poudel said that there is a tradition of worshipping the goddess at other times as well. 

After offering the goddess, raw rice, curd, banana, silam, and fruits are mixed and eaten as prasad in every household. Everyone in the village gathers in the temple premises, after which there is a tradition of dancing and singing. There is a tradition of dancing and singing all night long. Their culture, art, and costumes are also displayed during the Nwagi festival. Rainadevi Chhahara Rural Municipality has also declared Mangsir 7 as a local holiday. For years, a grand fair has been held on the day of eating Nwagi and offering rice to Bhagwati.

Nwagi is considered the biggest festival after Dashain and Tihar. Ward Chairman Poudel said that on the occasion of Nwagi, it is customary to present the local original art and culture of various castes including the endangered Panchebaja, Sorathi (big dance), Malashri, Ratyauli, Jhamre, Chudka, Lakhe, Kauda and others in Bhuwan Pokhari.

According to the legend prevalent in Rainadevi, near Rainadevi Temple, Neupane Brahmin was a cowherd and Chhahari Magar was a shepherd. When the cow did not give milk, they were chasing it, and they saw a cow giving milk to a golden mole in the middle of the forest. Both of them went in search of the golden mole. The more they dug, the more it sank. Only a part of the mole was visible. When they tried to break the visible part and bring it, blood came out. There is a legend that the goddess Roikarai was born here. The dug pit is still worshipped in the same pit based on popular belief. The place where the goddess is worshipped is covered with wooden mounds. That is what has been given the form of a temple.