Despite being one of western Nepal’s most living and widely practiced indigenous spiritual traditions, the Masta Devta tradition has never had a dedicated institutional home. Masta is a formless, ancestral protector spirit worshipped in sacred outdoor shrines called Than or Maandu with no temples, no idols, and no fixed religious infrastructure to anchor the tradition or welcome visitors. Dhamis conduct ceremonies in open fields, ancestral courtyards, or hilltop shrines exposed to weather and inaccessible to researchers or travelers without local guidance. The Masta Cultural Center in Jumla will change this creating the first permanent, purpose-built institution dedicated to this ancient tradition.

The proposed multi-story center will serve multiple functions under one roof. It will house the Foundation’s growing digital archive and physical document collection, a ceremonial hall designed to host Dhamelo rituals and major Puja gatherings, residential accommodation for pilgrims and visiting researchers, and training classrooms where Dhamis, scholars, and youth can meet to teach and learn. Visitors are increasingly fond of taking the Masta Circuit a pilgrimage route connecting the famous twelve Bhai Mustos located in Dolpa, Rukum West, Jajarkot, Surkhet, and Jumla which also promotes Jhankri dance and Masta Devta spiritual healing. The Cultural Center will serve as the natural gateway and headquarters for this emerging sacred circuit.

Construction is currently in the planning and fundraising phase, with community land secured and architectural designs underway. The Foundation is committed to building in a style that honors the vernacular architecture of the Karnali region using local materials, traditional proportions, and sacred spatial principles drawn from the design of historical Masta shrines. The center will not be a museum of a dead tradition but a living institution: a place of ceremony, scholarship, pilgrimage, and community, where the tradition continues to breathe and grow for generations to come.