text: Religiously, the majority of Newars can be classified as both Hindu and Buddhist. The major cults are Vajrayana Buddhism and Tantric Hinduism. The former is referred to as Buddhamarga, the latter as Sivamarga. Both creeds have been established since antiquity in the valley. Both Buddhamargi and Sivamargi Newars are Tantricists,  Within the Newar community, many different esoteric Tantric followers of Buddhist, Shaiva, and Vaishnava denominations are practiced.  In this regard, followers of the Mother Goddesses and their consorts, the Bhairavas, are particularly important.
  The most important shrines in the Valley are Swayambhu Maha Chaitya or Swayambhunath (Buddhist) and Pashupatinath (Hindu). Different castes worship different deities at different occasions, and more or less intensively. Only the higher echelons in the caste system claim to be exclusively Buddhist or Hindu. The Vajracharyas, Buddhist priests, will adamantly maintain that they are Buddhists, and so will the Bare (Shakya). Kathmandu Uray (Tuladhars, tc.) as well as the Sayamis (Manandhars) will also strongly maintain their Buddhist heritage. On the other hand, the Dyabhāju Brāhman, the Jha Brāhman, and the dominant Shresthas will maintain that they are Hindus. Further down in the caste hierarchy no distinction is made between Buddhists and Hindus, although preponderance towards Hinduism and worship of Hindu gods is much more prevalent among these castes. Hindu and Buddhist alike always worship Ganesh first in every ritual, and every locality has its local Ganesh shrine (Ganesh Than).
  Although Newar Buddhism (Vajrayana) had been traditionally practiced in the Kathmandu Valley, Theravada Buddhism made a comeback in Nepal in the 1920s and now is a common form of Buddhism among Buddhamargi Newars.