A religious fair has commenced at Maibeni, near the confluence of the Mai and Jogmai rivers on the occasion of the Maghe Sankranti festival. Maibeni lies between Namsaling and Godak of Ilam district.
People have thronged Maibeni to take holy dips at the confluence and fill the fair. Hundreds of people from the neighboring districts Paanchthar and Taplejung, as well as the bordering Darjeeling, Sikkim and Mirik areas in India, have come to Maibeni for the fair. Some of them even arrived here a week before the start of the fair.
It is the religious custom of the Hindus to take holy dips in rivers, ponds and confluences of rivers on the day of the Makar Sankranti festival. The Makar Sankranti fair at Maibeni is said to be started by one Gajaraj Singh Thapa, the district governor, during the time of the Rana rule.
The people who come to fill the Maibeni fair also pay homage to the Mai goddess and Lord Shiva on the occasion after having a holy bath.
A trade fair also takes place side by side the religious fair at Maibeni in which woolen hand-woven rugs, carpets and blankets, clothes, utensils and household wares, cosmetics items, sugarcane, oranges, and yams, among other goods, are traded.
The District Police Office has mobilized police personnel at the site of the fair for security.
