Lākhe

Sources describe Lākhe as spirits or demons who traditionally lived in forests and later became incorporated into town life as protectors of townspeople. The best-attested example of such incorporation is Majipa Lakhey of Kathmandu, who is worshipped as a deity and called the Peaceful Bhairava in local ritual contexts; he appears in the Yenya (Indra Jatra) festival and receives offerings from city dwellers during his procession.

Lākhe are depicted with a ferocious face, protruding fangs, and a mane of red, white, or black hair. In festival performance they are embodied by masked dancers wearing papier-mâché masks with yak-tail hair attached; the overall costume emphasizes a wild, fearsome visage.

In traditional belief Lākhe occupy an ambivalent role: forest-dwelling, potentially dangerous spirits who have been ritually domesticated and in at least one case (Majipa Lakhey) come to be propitiated as a protector-deity. In performance Lākhe dance wildly through streets, stopping at major crossroads and market squares to give dances accompanied by music. Certain named types (Michyāh Lākhe and Minpu Lākhe) are believed to cause fires by spontaneous combustion where they reside, and people possessed by Michyāh Lākhe are held to be capable of causing fires.