Anish Thapa Magar crowned Liglige King for fourth time

KATHMANDU, Oct 3: Anish Thapa Magar of Parbat has been crowned Liglige King on Thursday.

Magar finished ahead of 65 runners to win the traditional Liglige marathon, an annual historic event of the Gorkha district. He completed the distance of 13.8 kilometers, started from Chepaghat to Liglig palace, in 57 minutes and 55 seconds.

It is the fourth time Magar has been crowned the Liglige king. He had won the marathon in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

National Assembly Member Surendra Raj Pandey conferred Magar with the Liglige crown and a cash prize of Rs 60,100 amid a function today.

Magar has also been declared the ambassador of the Palungtar Municipality.

Nepal Army Khagendra Bahadur Bhat finished second taking 1 hour 8 seconds while Army’s Ramji Basnet was third. He finished the distance in 1 hour 34 seconds.

Various other events including student’s race, Liglig only race and veteran aged over 40 were also held on the occasion.

The race was organized by the Palungtar municipality, Ligligkot Development Campaign and Nepal Army.

The Liglig race is the continuity of the early 17th-century tradition of the Liglig kingdom, where the winner of the race, which was held every year on Bijaya Dashami, used to be chosen the king for a year. Only the people from Ghale origin were allowed to participate in the race.