The Thakali (Nepali: थकाली pronounced [tʰʌkali]) are an ethnolinguistic Tibeto-Burman ethnic group of Nepal. The traditional area of the Thakali community is called Thak-sat-se or the Thak Khola region and lies in the Kali Gandaki River valley in the Mustang District, Gandaki Province in western Nepal.[1] According to the 2001 census, the Thakali population of around 12,973 constituted only 0.06% of Nepal's population. By the 2011 Nepal census, there were 13,215 Thakali people in Nepal.[2]
The Lhafewa (Barha Barse Kumbha Mela), Toranlha (ancestral worship) and Falo (Kumar Yatra) are the major festivals of Thakalis. Dhnom is the title of the Thakali priest who performs the work of the local shaman. The madal, khaprang and thamken are their main musical instruments.
There are four groups who consider themselves Thakali; all four castes are different according to the Census of Nepal. They are Teen Gauley (the Thakali from Thini, Syang and Chimang villages), Marphali (Thakali from Marpha village, further subclassified as Hirachan, Pannachan, Jwarchan, and Lalchan), Chaar Jaat or "four castes" (Sherchan, Tulachan, Bhattachan, Gauchan) and Thakali (those Thakali from Southern Mustang, Tukuche, and Jomsom). These groups consider themselves to be part of different castes but all still Thakali. The customs, culture, dress and festivals of each differ slightly.
