While most devotees offer flowers, rice grains, money, and food at temples, in Gorkha, there’s a unique tradition at the Namrungdevi Temple in Paslang, Gorkha Municipality-5, where devotees offer a rope (damlo) used to tie cows and buffaloes.
This centuries-old custom still exists today. “When our cattle fall sick or have trouble giving birth, we make a vow to Namrungdevi,” says local priest Jun Bahadur Rana Magar. “Once the situation improves, we visit the temple and offer the rope. So far, the vows have been fulfilled.”
Devotees come from Gorkha and nearby districts like Tanahun, Lamjung, and Chitwan to worship and offer ropes, praying for healthy livestock, good crops, and abundant milk production. Another unique ritual at the temple involves burying local chicken eggs on Chandi Purnima to predict the weather and fortune for the year. If the eggs remain intact when dug up the following year, it is considered a sign of prosperity. If the eggs rot or break, it’s believed disasters like storms, hail, floods, or epidemics may strike.
The exact origin of the rope-offering custom is unclear, but historical records show it dates back to the times of King Mukundasen II in Tanahun and King Narbhupal Shah in Gorkha, according to historian Ganesh Prasad Bhattarai.
The temple holds special worship and a fair on Ashar Purnima each year. Daily rituals are conducted by priests from the Magar community, and animals like chickens, doves, goats, and sheep are offered as sacrifices. In the past, the government supported temple expenses, but this has been reduced in recent years.
