Language Documentation and Description

The Parched Grain Chant: Parallel verse and simultaneous action in Magar rituals

Language Documentation and Description August 19, 2026

This article deals with a particular ritual chant of the Northern Magar, who live in the foothills of the Dhaulagiri Massif in the north-western part of central Nepal. The song is called lawa kheti or Parched Grain Chant and constitutes one in a multitude of different oral texts, as sung by the local healers or shamans (ramma) in the course of their séances. All chants of the Magar shamans are...