Jalpadevi

In the village of Nuwakot in Bajhang there was a cruel custom that every year, on the night of Mahaastami, the human sacrifice of one innocent child had to be offered at the temple of Jalpadevi.

One day, when the Siddha yogi Ishwarnath reached there, he saw a mother beating her breast and weeping because it was her son's turn. Ishwarnath consoled that mother and agreed to be sacrificed in place of the child.

At midnight, when the sword was about to cut off the Siddha's neck, Ishwarnath suddenly vanished by the power of his yoga. Understanding that the goddess had rejected human sacrifice, the people stopped human sacrifice forever.

Later, when Sumeru Bisht shot his slingshot at a sparrow sitting on the pinnacle of the magnificent temple sixty-five hands tall, the temple came crashing down. Afterwards Bisht begged forgiveness and vowed to offer a buffalo sacrifice. Even today, at the temple of Jalpadevi, a lingo sixty-five hands tall is raised and a fair is held.