The date for this paper was gathered from several Jirel Phombos. For comparative purposes, the authors also interviewed and videotaped the performances of two Sherpa Jhankris and one Tamang Jhankri living in the Jiri Valley. The principal informant was Jirel Nir Bahadur, a Phombo trained by Pusing Lama, a notable magico-religious practitioner and Lama who died in 1996. In addition to spending long hours conducting interviews and photographing his ritual paraphernalia, the authors also visited Nir Bahadur's house in Kalang Village (Ward No 1) on several occasions to see him conduct curing rituals and videotape his performances. These visits often took place late at night, because that is when healing rituals are conducted, and involved travelling some 11 km on foot along treacherous slippery leech infested paths.
