The original religions or beliefs of Magar people are Shamanism and Tengriism and the northern Magar practice Tibetan Buddhism, in which their priest is known as bhusal.
The majority of Magars are Hindu, although Buddhism is common in the Magar area, though are less evident in Kham hinterlands, particularly in the ranges along the boundary between Rukum and Pyuthan-Rolpa districts. These hinterlands are geographically, and therefore culturally, isolated from the beaten tracks of transhimalayan trade routes and from rice-growing lowlands
Animists and shamanism form part of the local belief system; their dhami (the faithhealer or a kind of shaman) is called Dangar and their jhankri (another kind of faithhealer or shaman) is called Rama. Bhusal was the traditional spiritual and social leader of the Magars. Magars have an informal cultural institution, called Bheja, who performs religious activities, organizes social and agriculture-related festivities, brings about reforms in traditions and customs, strengthens social and production system, manages resources, settles cases and disputes and systematizes activities for recreation and social solidarity. Some educated and prosperous Magars are shifting closer to traditional Hinduism in recent years.
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