Banjhākri and Banjhākrini

Accounts vary: some traditions treat Banjhākri as an original or founding teacher of Nepali shamanism who dwells in the forest and instructs human aspirants; other versions allow for numerous ban-jhākri and ban-jhākrini. In many tellings Banjhākri locates children with shamanic potential, takes them back to his cave, and trains them; those who pass Banjhākrini's initiation return home empowered. A few accounts describe Banjhākri as a descendant of the Sun, but this lineage is reported only in some sources.

Banjhākri is described as short (about 1–1.5 metres / 3–5 feet), wild and simian in form: long matted hair covers his body except the face and palms, he has large ears and feet that point backward, and he plays a golden dhyāngro (frame drum). Banjhākrini is described as ursine-humanoid with long hair on her head, long pendulous breasts, backward-pointing feet, and is usually depicted carrying a symbolic golden sickle.

They act as forest shamanic beings who locate and train human children with shamanic potential. Banjhākri trains trainees in a cave; Banjhākrini functions as an initiatory danger who may attempt to consume those who fail. Trainees who survive and return are said to acquire powerful shamanic abilities and may be more effective than shamans trained by humans. They are visible in the ordinary world in some accounts, though sight is generally restricted to powerful shamans. Banjhākri is often characterized as a trickster, and some scholars have suggested therianthropic aspects in interpretation of his form.