The Poor Man And God

There was once a poor dumb man in a village in Jumla. All he had in the world were two cows. He took the cows every day to graze up in the mountains, where a hermit lived all by himself. The hermit took a fancy to the cows and he looked after them as they grazed in the meadow by his dwelling.
In the course of a few years the poor man had many more cows. As he prospered his neighbours wondered how he had done so well and they became envious of him.
One day two of the neighbours followed the man as he slowly made his way with his cows up the mountain. When they came to the meadow the men saw the hermit who appeared to them to be none other than Lord Shiva himself.
The men went closer to look but the hermit moved away, climbing higher beyond their reach and they kept on following him all the day long.

By nightfall the hermit sat down upon a large rocks while the two men took the shelter between two rocks.

The next morning , the hermit was still sitting motionless. The men got up and began to climb. The hermit then made his way still higher in the mountain. The men were angry and they threw stones at the hermit but could neither hit him nor stop him from going still higher.

At last the hermit reached an inaccessible spot. He then stopped and said to the men down below. "I wished to stay close to the village but you wolud not let me do so. I had to come far away. The poor dumb man is a simple soul. He is very much devoted to me. You should not harm him.

"You may come up the mountain", he said further, "for this is where I am going to stay henceforth".

Having said this, the hermit disappeared, leaving the two men in awe and wonder.

From that time, a fair is held every year on the day of full moon of Shrawan(July - August) at the top of the mountain known as Thakurji-lekh when a large number of people make their obeisanse and offering to Lord Shiva.