Lha Phewa in Thakali means "appearance/coming of gods". La Phewa is thus a celebration of Thakali clan deities. It takes place every 12 years usually in the month of January in Thak Khola and goes on for about two weeks. The last one took place in January 2005.
Each Thakali clan (Bhattachan, Gauchan, Sherchan and Tulachan) has its own deity and its own rhab, a religious text written in Tibetan script that describes the journey of its ancestor. Each clan also has its own hereditary priest (pare) that belong to a certain sub-clan (phobe/gyu) who are the guardian of the respective group’s rhab. The pares' recite their clans' rhabs during this festival. This is a way to pass down Thakali mythologies from generation to generation. During La Phewa, the clan deities are also taken out of their respectives temples scattered in different parts of Thak Khola and worshipped.
