”The current generation has started to forget that our Magar culture is like this,” said Anu Rana Magar, treasurer of the Nepal Magar Association. ”I feel like this festival has also been successful in introducing Magar dishes during the tourist year.”
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Ramesh Gupta, who came to Tansen from Bhairahawa in Rupandehi, ate wild yam. He said that he was tempted by the taste of wild yam, or Namya, boiled at the Magari Food Festival held here. He bought more and kept it in a plastic bag. Wild yams that grow around the house are available everywhere in Bhairahawa. However, he said that this was the first time he had eaten wild yam.
Ram Bahadur Aslami Magar from Rupandehi expressed satisfaction at being able to eat wild yam along with dhungsut. ‘Some may have seen it for the first time,’ he said, ‘its taste is tempting.’
Participants in the Maghi Magar Food Festival organized by the Magar Women’s Association in Tundikhel, Tansen, on Sunday enjoyed the taste of wild yam, bara i.e. batuk, sela, kodo ko sela, yam, and sakharkhand. In addition to eating this, many also took it home, said the association’s president Radha Thapa Magar. ‘Many ate the food cooked here,’ she said, ‘Some even bought it raw and took it home.’ 
There was a crowd to taste batuk i.e. bara. ‘Batuk has attracted many people,’ said Magar Sangh District President Sher Bahadur Somai Magar, ‘The sweet taste makes people forget the cold.’
According to the 2078 BS census data, the total population of the district is 242,423. Of which, the Magar community has 127,450. Domestic, foreign and local tourists have tasted the food at the festival organized on the occasion of Maghi, which is known as the main festival of the Magar community.
Magar dishes such as meat, Siltung’s batuk, choche (boar) meat, ghar and forest yam have become the main attractions, said Magar youth Milan Gharti Magar. ‘The current generation has started to forget that our Magar culture is like this,’ said Anu Rana Magar, treasurer of the Nepal Magar Association. ‘It seems that this festival has also been successful in introducing Magar dishes during the tourist year.’ Since it is a Magar food festival, Magar dishes were placed at all the stalls. She said that many dishes including Bangur mam, choyala, meat, sekuwa, barbecue were placed. ‘The taste of Bangur was very delicious,’ said Tejan Thapa Magar, a participant in the festival. ‘We like it very much, so we got the opportunity to taste many dishes.’ 
More than a dozen dishes were prepared at the festival. Similarly, various types of batuk also became an attraction of the festival. ‘Batuk is a dish that is liked by all castes,’ said Kevin Zhendi Magar, a Magar youth.
