Culture
The year
One Limbu festival is well documented, one widely repeated festival is not Limbu at all, and four further names could not be verified in this pass.
Chasok Tangnam
Chasok Tangnam is the principal Limbu festival: the first-fruits offering, held on the full-moon day of Mangsir (November–December) and also called Senchengla, in which the first harvest is offered to Yuma Sammang. It is officiated by the Khadamang and accompanied by Ya:lang dancing and chyabrung drumming. Tribhuvan University e-library theses on Limbu ritual specialists and Limbu folklore Limbu, Ramesh Kumar 2011 Dahal, Rai, Ghimire and Acharya 2025 B
This is the one Limbu festival on which the ritual, the officiant, the deity and the season are all attested by more than one source, and it is where a clan calendar should begin.
Correction
Sakela is a Rai festival, not a Limbu one
Sakela (Sakewa) “is one of the main festivals of the Khambu (Rai people)”; among the Kirat peoples, “Sunuwar and Rai celebrate this festival,” while “the Yakkhas and the Limbus have their own Youchyang and Chasok Tangnam.” Ubhauli (Baisakh full moon, April–May) and Udhauli (Mangsir full moon, November–December) are likewise Rai and Sunuwar observances. Ninglekhu/ku heritage documentation project 2026 C
This matters more than it may appear. A great deal of online writing treats Sakela as pan-Kirat and therefore Limbu, and a Limbu clan site that repeats the conflation is quietly asserting that Limbu culture is a subset of Rai culture. Getting it right is both accurate and respectful of both peoples.
Negative finding
Four festival names could not be independently verified
Yakwa / Yokwa Tangnam, Kakphekwa Tangnam, Balihang Tongnam and Sisekpa Tangnam could not be independently verified in this pass. “Yakwa” was confirmed only as the Khadamang’s seed-sowing permission rite, not as a separately named festival. Ninglekhu/ku heritage documentation project 2026 E
Kirat Yakthung Chumlung UK’s own calendar names Sisekpa Tangnam (summer), Yakwa Tangnam (autumn) and Chasok Tangnam (harvest) as the festivals it observes — community attestation, but not obtained as a fetched quotation. Kirat Yakthung Chumlung (Nepal), and Kirat Yakthung Chumlung UK C
Note
Why this page publishes no dates yet
As of August 2026 this site publishes no festival dates beyond Chasok Tangnam’s Mangsir full moon. The four names above are to be confirmed with Kirat Yakthung Chumlung directly before any date is printed; publishing a calendar built on uncorroborated names would put the site’s own standard aside for the sake of looking complete. Ninglekhu/ku heritage documentation project 2026
| Claim | Grade | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chasok Tangnam is the first-fruits offering to Yuma Sammang, on the Mangsir full moon. | B | Tribhuvan University e-library theses on Limbu ritual specialists and Limbu folklore | |
| It is officiated by the Khadamang and accompanied by Ya:lang and chyabrung. | B | Limbu 2011 | |
| Sakela, Ubhauli and Udhauli are Rai and Sunuwar observances. | C | Ninglekhu/ku heritage documentation project 2026 | |
| Yakwa, Kakphekwa, Balihang and Sisekpa Tangnam as festival names. | E | Ninglekhu/ku heritage documentation project 2026 | Not independently verified; open question 20 in the research list. |
| KYC UK observes Sisekpa, Yakwa and Chasok Tangnam. | C | Kirat Yakthung Chumlung (Nepal), and Kirat Yakthung Chumlung UK |
Terms on this page
- Chasok Tangnamचासोक तङ्नामcāsok taṅnām
The first-fruits harvest festival, kept at the Mangsir full moon: the new grain is offered to Yuma Sammang before it is eaten Ninglekhu/ku heritage documentation project 2026 C.
- Khadamangखदामाङkhadāmāṅ
The senior priest in the Chhathar taxonomy of ritual specialists, who divines by examining the organs of sacrificed animals Tribhuvan University e-library theses on Limbu ritual specialists and Limbu folklore B.
- Yuma Sammangयुमा साम्माङyumā sāmmāṅ
The grandmother goddess, the central figure of Limbu household and communal worship Ninglekhu/ku heritage documentation project 2026 C.
- Ya:lang / Yalakmaया:लाङyā:lāṅ
The paddy dance (Dhan Nach): a linked line of dancers, and the setting in which palam is sung Limbu, Ramesh Kumar 2011 B.
- Chyabrung (ke)च्याब्रुङcyābruṅ
The two-headed Limbu drum, slung from the shoulder and struck on both faces — the instrument of the ke:lang Dahal, Rai, Ghimire and Acharya 2025 B.