In the early 20th century, the Limbu ascetic Phalgunanda Lingden (1885-1949), who was born in Ilam District and mainly active Panchthar District in East Nepal, became the founder of a new religion, the Satyahaṅgmā Panth, as it came to be known. This reformed religion is the result of Phalgunanda’s attempt to modernise Limbu cultural practices and “purify” the traditional religion, especially by banning the consumption of alcohol and meat, i.e., animal sacrifice.
Though the major presence of Satyahaṅgmā followers is in East Nepal, there is also at least one temple, known as Manghim (‘god house’), in the Kathmandu Valley. This place of worship is located near Lubhu, in Lalitpur Municipality, close to the hamlet of Sankhadevi. The temple complex has been established by followers of Atmananda Lingden, the successor of Phalgunanda who is based in Larumba, Ilam District.
(Gaenszle 2018)
The data presented here were collected by Martin Gaenszle in 2018 as part of the “Trans-Border Religion – Re-composing Limbu Rituals in the Nepal-Sikkim Borderlands” (P 29805, 11/2016–10/2020).