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The Inimitable Khambu “Flower” Shaman

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Khambu Culture. No Comments on The Inimitable Khambu “Flower” Shaman

Khambu shamanic tradition states that a Shaman (Mangpa/Nakchhong) is chosen by the spirits and that this selection happens when one is born with awakened consciousness or energy. This consciousness, known as “Chhi” or “Chha” is supposedly capable of accessing vibrations that are subjectively defined as a psycho-spiritual effect, experienced as an intense stirring within and through oneself. The Khambus explain this as the receiving of an external spirit into the body, however briefly. These embodied agencies or spirits are independent entities who either incarnate to fulfill their agendas or can be summoned at the will of the Shaman. Such contact with spirits always occurs in altered states of consciousness. 

There are several types of Khambu Shamans or Mangpas. There are Nakchhongs who can only perform household lineage rituals or the ones who can conduct Lam Pakma, the rites of passage and seance. Some have the capability of performing Sakela rituals, while others can perform exorcism involving external entities, unrelated to the clan. The ‘flower’ Shaman, Bungpenmi/Bungmangpa, however, is the most inimitable one. He is unique, for he views life essence as flowers and heals the ailing, using it. Bungpenmis are very rare among a host of different types of Shamans in the Kirat Khambu Rai tribe. Bungpenmis revere Budahang- a divine ancestral spirit. 

For the Bungpenmi, the human body is embellished with imperceptible, rare flowers found in the mountains, hills, and plains. An impure body could cause these flowers to move from their usual position, or wither away, thereby creating health problems. For mental composure and good health, these body flowers need to be in their correct spots. The Khambu concept of life essence or life breath is centered around different levels of souls, all equally important for physical and spiritual well-being. Various levels of conscious and subconscious spiritual essence such as Lawa, Saya, Nungwa, Sakma, Sakon, and the physical body, function as one unit to give life and health to an individual. This unit must remain intact and whole for spiritual, mental, and physical health.

The shamanic concept of illness is usually about the loss of vital essence (saato haraunu) or some individual dishonor (seer dhalnu), which can occur for various reasons, including fright, a transgression, or a play of negative energies. Other illness reasons could include the consequences of external intrusion in the body. When a person is afflicted with such, the invisible flowers on the body are displaced, and the Bungpenmi must make appropriate adjustments. This healing ritual is called Bungwa Bakma.

Bungwa Bakma is performed right after Sakela Dongdawa (Descending Period/Udhauli). The Bungpenmi has an apprentice called Chuptungmi, who also has an assistant called Dengsungmi. They help the Bungpenmi collect rare Himalayan flowers required for this ritual. These flowers, essential to the rite, usually grow on the most remote terrains of the Himalayan foothills. Bungpenmis have a list of 362 flowers that only they can identify with precision. Since these flowers will be used in the ritual to honor Budahang, the Bungpenmi must sing the Mundhum (ritual language) to explain and justify the picking of these flowers to the divine spirit. Thus, while collecting them, the Bungpenmi is in a constant Shamanic trance as he repeatedly keeps chanting the Mundhum. An error could be fatal to the physical well-being of the Bungpenmi and his assistants. This marks the beginning of the Shaman’s spiritual journey and the success of the ritual, therefore, falls not only on the Shaman’s ritual chanting but also on his ability to pick the right flowers. Finding specific flowers is imperative to the success of the ritual’s outcome. Special care is demanded to avoid ‘impurities’. A flower, once plucked, must be covered with its own leaves, before being collected in a bag. 

Before the ritual, everyone gathers at the house of the clan elder to finalize the appropriate date for the ritual. Usually, the village elder’s house will be chosen as the venue for Bungwa Bakma. The entire village participates in the welcoming, hosting, and managing of the ritual. Select members of the house that hosts the ritual, must take alcohol-filled dried gourd (Wabuk/Chindo) to the Bungpenmi to summon him. The Bungpenmi agrees to the date and the venue and gives his word to be there for the ritual. Extended family members are invited on the suggestion of the Bungpenmi The invited members will bring alcohol, ginger, and rice grains as offerings. These offerings come from female members and are called Chhetkusaya.

The occasion possesses a certain solemnity. A feast is prepared, the house and the hearth are cleaned and purified, and the participants wait for the Shaman. The Bungpenmi arrives carrying the flower basket (Bungwa Paanti), and the assistant holds the bag filled with flowers. They are greeted with a gourd full of alcohol each. Traditional Khambu white turban, Sayabung, is placed over their heads to honor them. The assistant will then distribute the alcohol among them all for a drink. After a drink, the Bungpenmi asks for formal permission from the family to begin the ritual. This ritual, which lasts a day, shows that ancestral spiritual energy is the ultimate source of authority as the rules of the ritual demand absolute precision. For a moment, the Shaman exists only as a human representative of a tradition that relies, above all, on the transcendent source of ancestral spiritual energy.  

Before the ritual begins, a bed of banana leaves is laid out before the Hearthstones (Suptulung)- the sanctum sanctorum of the Kirati Khambus. Rice grains, ginger, and a gourd full of alcohol are placed nearby. Another banana leaf is placed atop to cover them. Upon that leaf, more rice grains, ginger, and required flowers are spread out. To the left side of these two leveled offerings, there is a grail of water. Green sprigs of the Castanopsis plant (Chille Kattus) soak in this water. The ritual also requires millet beer (Charima Wasim) in a cup and in a traditional wooden grail called Kathuwa. The Bungpenmi, who now begins his role as the officiant, is seated before the altar and begins the rite. Chanting the Mundhum ritual speech, he verifies the presence of the tutelary spirit and begins the divinatory phase of the ritual. The ritual flowers are employed to look into the past, present, and future. 

The Bungpenmi organizes the flowers upon the Banana leaf sequentially, concerning its usefulness and symbolism. He then holds the flower container while chanting the Mundhum ritual speech relentlessly. At each instance that a Bungpenmi mentions a flower, the assistant picks up that particular flower and gives it to him. At different periods, the rite allows for a brief break (Tumdhama). Some alcohol is imbibed as an offering. At this moment, the flower container is placed underneath the ritual altar. These are small relational nodes of connection between souls and the flowers where the Bungpenmi collectively converses with the divine spirit in an autonomous yet coordinated way.

Beginning with the father, the Bungpenmi, following exact hierarchical order, asks for the clan, lineage, and origins (Pacha, Samet, Sohon) of everyone present. The daughters and other young participants place rice grains and money as offerings to be utilized along with the flowers for divination. By slicing the Ginger Rhizome (Kachur), the Shaman attempts to obtain precise information about the nature and seriousness of any problem that could have come upon the family members. Owing to this information, the Shaman uses the physical, tangible flowers to see and transform the center of gravitation for all realities and reposition and align all imperceptible flowers, thereby healing all ailments. 

Outside the house, a rooster has to be sacrificed. Its blood cannot touch any of Budahang’s flowers. In evoking the connection between the transcendent forces and the ritual, the motif of the Rooster offering also leads us to consider another basic theme, characteristic of Bungwa Bakma. While the flowers are for the declared purpose of calling the attention of the Budahang spirit, the aim of the Rooster offering, at this phase, is to appease the presence of other divine entities that have somehow permeated into the ritual space. The myth says:

Waarihang and Kumdapuhang are the other names of Budahang. Badetkumma and Saisakumma are his two wives. These two wives did not get along with each other. The Mundhum says that the other name of Badetkumma is Dolokumma. There was once a fight between Badetkumma (Dolokumma) and Saisakumma where they used magical powers against each other. In the duel, Dolokumma attacked Saisakumma’s vision and blinded her. From that day onwards, Saisakumma’s suffering became eternal. She also crawls because she cannot walk.

While worshipping Budahang, the flowers that represent him are positioned near the Hearthstones. Similarly, Dolokumma is also worshipped inside the house. Only the Rooster sacrificial rite is performed outside to appease Saisakumma. While worshipping Saisakumma, the Bungpenmi, to emulate the suffering of the divine female spirit, crawls up to the threshold for the sacrificial rite. The tradition of rooster sacrifice, in honor of Saisakumma, besides conceptually catering to the idea of revering the ancestor spirit, can also be inferred as a ritual connected with the space in which the healing takes place. The surrounding becomes a manifestation of human empathy, the realm within which Khambu rites find a form of human expression. This rite is to relieve the suffering of Saisakumma, which will, in return, ultimately help heal the suffering of the living. 

While crawling outside, the Bungpenmi carries a flower container, a gourd or grail of water, and chants the Mundhum continuously. This part of the ritual is also known as Saisla. Now alcohol and water are offered and Kachur is carried out. The ritual has animated the surrounding space to allow for healing. The conceptual opposition between well-being and suffering has been ratified by ritual. Now, the Bungpenmi has to aid the return of the invoked ancestral spirits. At the end of the session, all the items employed during the ritual are gathered and taken towards the north, and duly honoured with libations of beer. The participants all drink a little alcohol and eat the Rooster meat as offerings.  

The ritual, that sees an ailment as an unstable apparatus detrimental to humans, thus transforms, as a self-correcting attribute of nature, into a potent process at human disposal to urge the ancestor spirits to exchange for their offerings, the gift of well-being. Bungwa Bakma demonstrates that it is through the will of the Bungpenmi that men can utilize to their exclusive advantage, the obligations stemming from this correlation of ritual exchange. 

Khambu Rai: Narratives and Perspectives

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in History. No Comments on Khambu Rai: Narratives and Perspectives

Writing history from a Khambu perspective requires reconsideration of the consensual popular narrative. Khambus have always attached cultural and economic practices to the land in and around Kalimpong and Darjeeling. Yet in the popular narrative, the one indoctrinated by the colonists, we’ve been taught to embrace the tea-garden immigrant view.  This narrative persists, not for a scarcity of information but rather for an absence of motivation to study and ask questions.

In the winter of 1871-72 CE, a regular census was taken in the district of Darjeeling. Although the deputy commissioner regretted incorrect reports in and around the Damsang Tract (Kalimpong), the census was considered to be fairly accurate. The number of Kiratis including Dewan, Khambu, and Limbu was 13,692 which constituted about 42 percent of the total Nepali population in the district. The Kiratis formed the largest group of the Nepali population followed by Tamang (6570) and Mangars (3011). By statistics alone, it can be said that by the middle of the 19th century, before the tea industry started, Kirati Khambus already seemed to have settled in Darjeeling.

Before 1774 CE, before the eastern conquest of the Gorkha King Prithivi Narayan Shah, Kiratis had divided the land east of the Kathmandu valley into Wallo (Near) Kirat, Majh (Middle), and Pallo ( Far) Kirat. Pallo Kirat extended from the Arun river in the west to the Singalila range up to the regions along the Sikkim border. This region was later consolidated by the Gorkha soldiers under Prithivi Narayan Shah who stretched his border up to the Tista river.

 After the Anglo- Nepal war, Nepal signed the treaty of Sugauli on the 4th of March, 1816. Nepal ceded most of the lands it possessed to the British East India Company. The territory lying between the Mechi and Tista rivers (which currently forms Darjeeling, Kurseong, and Siliguri subdivisions ) were given to Sikkim after the treaty of Titaliya between the East India Company and Sikkim on February 10th, 1817 because Darjeeling was always a disputed land between the Kiratas, Gorkhas, Sikkim and the British, the indigenous population included the hill tribes of the Lepchas, Limbus and the Khambus along with a fair amount of Murmis, now Tamangs. This is evidenced by the fact that in a chronicle of Sikkim rulers in the Limbu language, Fung rai is mentioned as the Hang (King) of Panchthar from which a little further up is the Choyabanjyang pass joining around the Darjeeling hills where no resistance was offered to the Gorkhali commander Abhimansingth Basnet when the Kirat country fell in 1774 CE, thereby suggesting that Isilimba and Choyabanjyang always belonged to the kingdom of Fung Rai.

F.B. Hamilton observes that the Gorkhali Commander Genti Khatree (Jayanti Khatri) had penetrated up to Chongtong (Chungtung) and the Gorkhalis were also stationed at Nagri and Sittong. The Gorkhalis received no resistance in these parts as Far Kirat had already defeated. By 1794 CE, the Gorkha forces had begun the policy of appeasement. Many of the Khambus had emigrated beyond the Tista River into Sikkim. A royal order was issued to Sambahang Nambang Rai and one Nabha Rai about pardoning them and asking them to return to confirm the ownership of their ancestral lands.

 In the mid-sixteenth century, Vijayanaryan, a Hindu Koch king was in power in Vijaypur (now, Dharan, Nepal). Vijaynarayan entered into a truce with the Kiratis living in the hills north of Morang and took into service, Singha or Simha Rai as Chautariya or Prime Minister. He later had Simha Rai executed because he “being an impure beef-eating monster defiled a Hindu Woman”. The son of Simha Rai, Baju Rai (Bajihang, I.S Chemong) went to Lohang Sena, the King of Makwanpur for help. Lohang took the help of the Kirati Khambu army and crossed the Adhwara River and occupied Vijaypur. Hamilton accounts that Bajihang was killed by a Lepcha Chief in 1618 CE. Lohang is said to have avenged the death of Bajihang and later spread his empire up to Lohagarh which presently falls in the foothills of Kurseong. That Lohang’s conquest from the Adhiyariver to the Mahanada in the east with the help of the Khambu army suggests that the Kirati Khambu were around the Kurseong region as early as 1618 CE.

Up until 1878 CE, much of the vacant lands in the Mirik region had no tea plantations. Dr. Campbell had to face a labor scarcity problem. He requested a local Khambu Nobleman Shri Dakman Rai to assist him in bring immigrant workers from Nepal to work at the tea plantations. Dakman Rai helped set up tea plantations at Soureni in 1878, at Phuguri in 1880, and Sampripani in 1883 CE. Mr. Dakman Rai’s name is always mentioned whenever the history of tea in Darjeeling is mentioned. Much of the lands in Darjeeling already had Kirati Khambu people even before tea was planted by the British. The Kirati Khambu Rai people have been a part of Darjeeling’s geography and history-shaping it for more than 3 centuries. The East India Company had given three Grants from 1840-1870 a)The Rungpo Grant to Bahadur Rai b) the Mirik Grant to D. Lloyd and c) The Phuguri Grant to Dakman Rai.

Another instance can be seen in the year 1828 CE when the East India Company sent G.W Lloyd and G.W Grant to Darjeeling which was an old Gorkha station. It is said that G.W Lloyd spent almost a week in February 1829CE in Darjeeling. They deemed Darjeeling perfect to be turned into a health resort for European soldiers. The Englishmen decided to visit Sikkim in 1831 CE because if the company possessed Darjeeling, it would confer ‘considerable political benefits as well as make an ideal health resort. The King of Sikkim agreed in giving Darjeeling to the company because we wanted the restoration of the original boundary of his kingdom claiming that the Yakha and the Khambu tribes were under him. It is interesting to note that Sikkim had never made any attacks against the Gorkhas and their kingdom. Sikkim also never claimed parts of Ilam to be part of their Kingdom. But Sikkim had always vehemently laid claim to Darjeeling and tried to protect it at all times. From these incidences, one can draw an inference that Darjeeling always had a significant amount of Yakha and Khambu tribes. 

Tamba: Oral Traditions of the Tamang People

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Tamang Culture. 1 Comment on Tamba: Oral Traditions of the Tamang People

In a Tamang society , a Tamba is a traditional historian, oral narrator, genealogist, minstrel, singer, storyteller, and expert in rituals. Tambas are the living memory of their community and repositories of rich oral traditions who can act as windows into the cultural worldview of the Tamang people. The knowledge of Tambas itself is organized, stored, and communicated in narrative-based prose-poem songs known as Hwai. These traditional narrative songs are sung during various life-cycle rituals. Knowledge, traditions, ritual practices, and collective communal memory are embedded within these narrative songs and stories which are shared and communicated through their re-telling. 

“A Tamba seems to be above all an advisor and commentator on rituals.” – W. Alexander

In a group of seven elders within a Tamang tribe, Tambas always hold a prominent place. These elders who make important decisions within the tribe are:

1. Choho – The Headman  
 2. Mulumi – The Leader of the Village
 3. Tamba – Ritual Expert and Historian
 4. Dopta – The Wise
 5. Ngapta – The Resourceful
 6. Ganba – Village Elder
 7. Mulumi Gaurai – The Headman’s apprentice

These elders mediate differences between individuals within the community and use their experience and knowledge of traditional customs. Tambas, with their vast knowledge of culture, traditions, and rituals, provide a sociocultural and historical account of the community and become the voice of traditions within the tribe. Tamba oral tradition is a unique aspect of Tamang culture and has managed to preserve Tamang rituals, history, mythology, music, language, and identity in the purest form. Tamang Tambas are orators, minstrels, storytellers, and their narrative is always sung or spoken in the Tamang language. Tam means speech and, Ba is a person or upholder.  

Within the social fabric of the Tamang community, a Tamba is also a village or social elder or a leader and holds prominence due to his knowledge of culture and traditions. During marriage rituals, because of his knowledge of genealogies, a Tamba takes center stage. During marriage ceremonies, he puts across riddles to other Tambas and answers those put across to him. The wedding Hwai which constitutes 76 lines talks about Tamang history, traditions, and genealogies. 

Traditional discourse is very much a part of Tamang ritual practices. This regularly leads the Tambas to interact with each other through songs. ‘The groom’s side opens the proceedings by demanding, ‘You must tell us how the name of Tamang came about and how our ancestors brought us from Tibet.’ The Tamba goes on to recount the journey from Tibet via Jharlang and Setang (Timure) under the leadership of Lhake Dorje and how he gave the names to the 18 clans and said which could intermarry.’ – Andrew Rotley Hall, (Religion in Tamang Society) 

Oral traditions, as the transmission of cultural items from one generation to the next, are heard, collected in memory, and recalled at the moment of customary rites. The Himalayan tribes have used the form of legends, myths, poems, stories, and folklores to preserve their ideas, values, and philosophy. Thus, a Tamba imparts a community’s values through his songs. He sings before the bride and the groom and tells them about the responsibilities and duties within a marital relationship. As a master of ceremonies, his presence is required during various rituals such as a “Pasni” or “Chhewar.” But apart from these roles and functions that a Tamba enacts and embodies, he is also a bard or a minstrel who has carried on the oral tradition of the Tamang people throughout the centuries. 

In Tamang traditions, there are three types of officiants. There is a Lama who is a Buddhist monk, a Bonbo who is a Tamang Shaman and the third is a Tamba. The Tamba always acknowledges the presence of the Elders, the Monk, and the Shaman before he begins his historical narrative. 

Tamba narrative begins with: 
 “Here, as a witness, stand knowledgeable and the wise. Radiant like the moon and the sun, they are all gathered here. Blessed by Lord Dewa Sangey, Maawang Sangey, Dawa Sangey, and all the gods in the high heavens, the Lama, who knows the wisdom of the three worlds, also sits upon his Thi (throne) among us. To the Shaman who knows the magic of the plains and the hills, the mountains and all the elders present here, I offer my respects.” –Santbir Lama (Tamba Kaiten Whai Rimathim)

Tambas sing the Tamba La Hwai, which are Tamang songs that talk about Tamang myths, traditions, beliefs, philosophy, and rituals. Traditionally Hwai were ritualistic songs and held tremendous importance in Tamang rituals. Tambas who know their Hwai are requested by the respective family to oversee the rituals. They are to be requested in a small ceremony where offerings are placed and sacred juniper is kindled to initiate Hwai singing. Today, Tambas are viewed as a reclamation of culture, an honoring of their ancestors, and symbols of a rich Tamang cultural heritage. It is this same Tamba la Hwai melody that became so popular that it permeated into mainstream Nepali culture and went on the become the Tamang Selo. 

A Tamba usually has an apprentice to whom all knowledge will be passed on. It is practical performance and rigorous practice that gives the apprentice the status of a Tamba. Due to the oral nature of the knowledge system, the apprentice of a Tamba learns his craft by following the way of his master. He learns by listening and observing, and practicing. The student Tambas will someday represent the inherent social, traditional, and symbolic structure of the tribe. 

It is through the telling of stories and legends that Tambas preserve what is most important to a community—language, traditions, and identity. Tamba oral tradition reinforces ritualistic imperatives and maps identity and social associations. They create a response to social needs and give members of a group a sense of belonging to a community by conveying shared values. For centuries, the Tamang people have retained oral tradition that is distinct from the literacy consciousness of their mainstream Himalayan neighbors because this unwritten manuscript belongs to all, and the Tamba must hold on to it for a while and pass it on. The oral narratives of the Tamba, its essence, much like an individual, can have abstruse contrasts and lengthy timelines but all fuse together to form a beautiful image of a Tamang worldview that ardently corresponds to their social and cultural values.

Sakela Festival

Kirat Khambu Rai Sakela/Sakewa

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Khambu Culture. 1 Comment on Kirat Khambu Rai Sakela/Sakewa

Sakela is the formless, genderless divine nature spirit revered by the Khambu Rai people. As the most potent and prominent divine source since ancient times, for many Khambu Rai sub-tribes, Sakela represents a powerful spirit and a guardian of their sacred places. Sakela festival is celebrated to honor this divine spirit and a host of other guardian nature spirits. In the Khambu Rai belief system, it is hard to distinguish definitively between a ‘spirit’ and the more intangible ‘life force’ that helps animate that spirit. But in their polytheistic spirit pantheon, Sakela is the only divine entity who is distinguishably viewed as both – a guardian spirit and also a unifying life force inherent in all aspects of nature. 

For the Khambu Rai people, there is no separation between religion and traditions. Their entire spiritual system is encircled and guided by an interchangeable sense of both. The worship rituals of Sakela come from Khambu traditions and Kirat religion for both are not mutually exclusive. The Khambu Rai physical world, right from the hearth to the fields and forests, is steered by the presence of nature spirits and ancestral souls, hidden and yet omnipresent. The bi-annual worship of Sakela lends expression to this nature venerating belief. Sakela rituals are not only directed at the present but also towards the future, as determinants of the growth of all sentient beings nurtured by nature. Nature worship is an integral part of religion and traditions in Kirat Rai culture.

Sakela is the name of the divine spirit and also the name of the festival where that divine spirit is worshipped. There are different nomenclatures of Sakela in different Khambu languages. The Chamling sub-tribe calls it Sakela. Bantawas call it Sakewa or Sakenwa while the Thulungs call it Toshi. Regardless of these differences in terminology, all Khambus worship Sakela twice a year.

First, during Dongwanga (Ubhauli/Ascending period) and then Dongdawa (Udhauli/Descending period). Dongwanga is observed during the rising period in spring and Dongdawa during the falling period before the coming of winter, after harvest. Sakela Dongwanga is worshipped and celebrated before the cultivation of the fields begins. Khambus pray to the divine spirit for the protection of the crops and an abundant harvest. They also ask for the protection of Hangchapok (Mankind) along with all sentient beings. 

Sakela Dongdawa is observed after the harvest when crops have been reaped and stored in granaries. It is observed and celebrated to offer gratitude to the divine spirit for protecting the crops and the village. From the worship ritual to the performing of the Sili (ritualistic traditional dance), Khambus consider this a grand event of great significance. Sakela has been an integral part of Khambu Rai life and culture throughout the centuries.

Khambu Rai myth, on many occasions, describes the genesis of Sakela. Various sub-tribes transmit different stories though all share the same idea and reason behind the celebration and worship of Sakela. The elders who communicate these stories express the narrative of drawing on nature’s powers and forces to promote welfare and prosperity. While these stories invariably hint at the beginning of the agriculture age in Khambu consciousness, they also introduce ancestral forces that help maintain harmony between people and the natural environment.

For the Khambu Rai people, Sakela motivates a value system that guides conservation and also encourages connection to surroundings, and fosters socio-economic activities. It is the living memory of a people, nurtured by ancestral energies, traditions, and the pursuit of physical and spiritual well-being. 

Many believe that Sakmawa was the original name for Sakewa or Sakela. Sakma means “life” and Wa means “water”. Sakmawa is water that nourishes life. Prior to the actual Sakela worship rituals, all water sources are cleaned and purified by the Sakela Shaman (Nakchhong). In the Sakela worship system, only the Shamans who have received divine guidance through dreams (Sechisenmi), whether he is the main officiant or an apprentice trainee shaman, can see the actual location of the Sakela idol. The Shaman will be able to identify the exact location through his dreams. This stone representation of the Sakela divine spirit forms the main idol in the shrine.

Over various generations, such stone idols are always unearthed at locations remote and far from human settlements. Khambu Rai people believe, therefore, that Sakela worship is willed by nature spirits and not by human desire. Known locally by many names such as Sisamlung, Longmalung, or Thungmalung, Khambus believe that this idol stone ultimately connects with the vibrational energy of the Shaman, thereby leading to Shamanic tremble and trance during the worship ritual itself. The idol is to be venerated as a manifestation of the Sakela spirit and its energy. 

The Shaman who has received the divine dream leads his followers up to the location of the idol stone. Sometimes the designated stone idol is beneath the ground and has to be dug up. It is up to the people to decide the venue for Sakela celebrations. Kirat Rai culture and traditions make participation almost mandatory in a Sakela festival. Some volunteer to carry the sacred Sakela idol and some will carry the drums and cymbals. There will be people who will arrange for the necessary items required for worship rituals. This is the time for the gathering of family, friends, and neighbors (Rumipani Khimpeninampeni/Isthamitra.N).

The Shaman uses his power devices such as Solonwa (Bottle Gourd), Acheta (Rice Grains), Bechuk/Subi (Ginger) as he breaks into a Mundhumi trance as the Sakela idol is positioned upon a pre-decided conducive location. The entire procession is led by the Shaman in a grand ceremony. The procession is symbolic of a united affiliation and participation within a clan or lineage. It epitomizes collective reverence for the divine spirit and provides communal entertainment through songs, dancing, and drumming.

Sakela counters the notion of human superiority. It recognizes the equality of all beings, plants, animals, water and stones, and the spirits of the mountains and the rivers. The festival of Sakela and its collective participation reinforce human kinship with the natural world and propagate the idea that all beings are alike, often bound by the same powers, potentials, limitations, and outcomes.

Gubhaju and the Magician

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Folk Tales. No Comments on Gubhaju and the Magician

In the old days, there lived Jamun Gubhaji, a spiritual master, in the city of Patan. Patan was rife with merchants, consumers, artisans, and entertainers from the plains to the mountains. One day a magician from the grasslands arrived in Patan. This self-proclaimed magician bragged about his grand magic and claimed that none could stand before his miraculous powers. He stood at the center of the city gathering a large crowd of onlookers as he cut open the belly of his assistant and took out his heart and liver, and placed it upon a banana leaf on the ground. The crowd gasped in amazement. 

Jamun Gubhaju, being a great magician himself, stood among the crowd and understood the magician’s illusions. To teach this conceited magician a lesson, Gubhaju transformed himself into an eagle. Then, he pounced upon the heart and the liver that lay upon the banana leaf and flew high up in the air. 

The helpless magician looked on as the eagle soared above the clouds, clearly out of everyone’s reach. He knew that his assistant would soon die without the heart and liver. The people of Patan knew about Gubhaju’s powers and told the magician to seek him and ask for forgiveness. For a long time, the magician kept on searching for Gubhaju’s house in the labyrinthine alleyways of Patan. When he finally found the Gubhaju’s residence, he frantically knocked on the door. 

As soon as he knocked on the door, a Myna bird announced, “The swindler has arrived.” The magician, completely startled, reached inside but could not believe his eyes when he saw that Gubhaju’s wife was firing up the oven to brew alcohol, using both her feet as firewood. The awestruck magician expressed his distress to Gubhaju’s wife who then directed him to her husband could be. 

 “Go deep into the forest, and upon a grassland, you will find him grazing the goats,” she said.   

The magician went to the forest and spotted Gubhaju. From a distance, the magician saw that Gubhaju had placed his left foot upon the trunk of the tree, and with his power, the tree had bent, and the goats were happily eating the leaves. The magician approached Gubhaju and begged for forgiveness. He promised to never boast of his magic again.  Gubhaju then handed the heart and the liver over to him. The assistant was brought back to life. With his pride now reduced, the magician soon returned to his land.

Pengdorji’s Damphu

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Long years ago, when humans were still hunting and foraging for food, there lived a man named Pengdorje. He would go into the forest looking for animals to hunt. He would find a game that the bounty of nature abundantly provided in the forest. On some occasions, he would return empty-handed. He met a woman, and they fell in love.

One day as he was walking in the forest to hunt, he saw a Danphe bird (Monal Pheasant) dancing around to entertain its mate. He kept watching the beautiful dance of the bird with rapt attention. Suddenly, a wild goat appeared near Pengdorje. He immediately shot the goat with his arrow and killed it.

It had been days since Pengdorje had eaten a proper meal. He immediately lit up a fire and roasted the goat meat above it. He stayed alone deep in the forest, hunting, and feasting. Over time, the goatskin had dried up in the sun. As he picked up the goatskin, he realized that it could make a sound when slapped. He chopped off a Bahunia tree and built a rounded frame. He placed the goat leather over it and strapped it with thirty-two bamboo spikes. As he banged on the instrument he created, it sounded beautiful, and he started to sing and dance to its beat.

Meanwhile, Pengdorje’s lover had begun to worry. It had been a long time since she hadn’t seen him. She ventured into the forest to look for him. As she was walking in the deep woods, he could hear the drum beats. She started to follow the sounds. From far she could see Pengdorji beating on his drum, dancing and singing in the forest. Her worries were over, and she went up to Pengdorje, and both of them started to dance together.

The Tamang people believe that this is how the Damphu (traditional Tamang drum) was first conceived.   

The Living and the Dead

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Once upon a time, there were cordial and close relations between the Hangmangs and Sitmangs. Hangmangs are living beings, and Sitmangs are the dead human spirits. The relationship between these two entities was cordial, and they could see and feel each other. They lived together and also had marital relations with each other. There was no fear or animosity between these two entities. The only difference between these two entities was that any object that was large in the eyes of Sitmang (the dead) would look small in the eyes of Hangmang (the living) and vice versa.

In a village, there was a married couple. The husband was a Hangmang, and the wife was a Sitmang. They lived a quiet and happy life. One day Hangmang decided to visit his inlaws who lived in the next village. When he reached their house, his wife’s relatives were getting ready for a hunt in the forest. Seeing that their son-in-law had arrived, they rejoiced and immediately invited him to accompany them on their hunting expedition. When they reached the entrance to the forest, the relatives left the Hangmang son-in-law there and went deep into the woods in search of game. As the Hangmang son-in-law waited alone at the entrance, a tiny Bagchala (Grey Wagtail Bird) flew past him and entered a bush. 

 A few moments later, the hunters returned. 

They asked him, ‘Have you seen any Yangbak (Wild Boar) come this way?’ 

For the Hangmang, it looked like a small bird, and so he said, 

‘No, but I saw a small Bagchala bird enter that bush.’

‘Oh, that’s what we were searching for. Where did it go?’ asked the hunters.

‘I think I saw it enter this bush,’ said Hangmang, and he beat the bush with a stick. The stick accidentally hit the bird, and it came out of the bush and dropped dead at his feet. 

‘Oh, this is it,’ cried the happy hunters. For them, it was a large bird, and with great difficulty, they picked it up and went back to the village. 

Back home, they cut up the bird into large pieces. Then they packed a big chunk of the bird’s legs and gave it to Hangmang as a gift for their daughter. He took it back to his wife and opened the packed meat, and roasted it on the fire. As he was giving the bird meat to his wife, it slipped out of his hand and landed upon his wife’s legs. But for the Sitmang wife, it was much larger, and its weight crushed her legs. Soon the news of this incident spread across the village, and it reached the Sitmang wife’s relatives. 

Both the Sitmangs and the Hangmangs decided that they could not live together as it would cause practical problems in their world. The Hangmangs declared, “Our rituals, traditions are different which have caused problems between our societies. We must have a pact that we shall never cross each other’s paths and live in our respective worlds. Let Hangmangs stay with their kind and let Sitmangs stay with theirs. We will not talk to each other, nor shall we meet. Let our worlds become demarcated by the Bahibak (Castanopsis). Let the boundaries created by the Bahibak be always respected.”

Everyone agreed. So the realms of the Hangmangs and the Sitmangs were divided. Bahibak became a symbol of this boundary between the two worlds. Since the Kirati Khambu people are nature worshippers, they worship seasonal flora and fauna, hills and valleys in the form of divine spirits and their ancestors. For most rituals from birth till death, they make use of Bahibak (Castanopsis).

Yeledong & Maghe Sankranti

Yele Dong and Maghe Sankranti

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Articles & Opinions. 3 Comments on Yele Dong and Maghe Sankranti

Every great civilization has experienced an intrinsic need to own a calendar. Sometimes this necessity isn’t just to document solar or lunar cycles, seasonal changes, and find appropriate dates. It is also because a calendar’s presence helps define the glorious history of a people and exhibit that history to the world. For the Kiratis, who had ruled the Nepal valley (Kathmandu) for 1903 years (Gopalavamshali) and have found mention in countless manuscripts and chronicles across the world, a calendar commemorating their reign and history had become an important, albeit an exaggerated need. Hence, Yele Samvat (Yele Neri) was introduced a decade ago.

Yele Samvat is the name of the Kirati calendar and Yele Dong, the New Year, means the year of Yalambar. It is named after the first Kirati King Yalam, who initiated the Kirati dynasty that lasted for almost two millennia. About a decade ago, Kirati Khambu Rai organizations from Nepal, Darjeeling, and Sikkim came together to invent a Calendar that would be called Yele Neri or Yele Samvat. The calendar’s first date was chosen on the presumed day that Yalambar had marched into the Nepal valley, defeated the Mahisapala King Nimisa, and established the Kirati dynasty.

Of course, the date and year are highly debatable as history during that period wasn’t documented all too well. Much of Kirati history in the Himalayas rely upon a single manuscript named Gopalavamshali which mentions that the year Yalambar ascended the throne wasn’t some 5000 years ago but falls close to around 1750 BCE. However, in 2021, the Yeledong year is 5081 and how the organizations came up with the specific date and year of Yalambar’s consolidation of the Kirat Empire is a mystery. There is also no evidence that Yalambar conquered the Nepal valley on the first day of the month of Magh.  

While innocent Khambus have accepted this calendar without questioning its reliability or need, most remain confused regarding the Yele Dong New Year date. The first day of the year was chosen to coincide with the Hindu festival of Maghe Sankranti but that has created a massive misunderstanding among gullible Khambus. Maghe Sankranti is the Nepali equivalent to the Hindu Makar Sankranti, a solar-related event. In contrast, all Khambu events, festivals, and rituals are observed according to the lunar cycles. Perhaps there were logical reasons behind the choice of this particular date but for the common Khambus this has become a confusing event and a large number of them have come to believe that Maghe Sankranti is a Kirati festival.

Yele Samvat, which was initiated by modern human intervention has a limited social context among Kirati Khambus. We do not see any major social celebration or events of significance linked to this calendar. Most Khambus don’t even know at any given day in a year as to what date of Yele Dong it is. This is perhaps the reason why Khambus have started to believe that the Hindu Maghe Sankranti is their festival instead of simply celebrating it as the New Year.

For the Hindus, Makar Sankranti, also called Uttarayan, marks the end of winter.  It is the period in which the sun enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn (Makar) which marks the end of winter months and the beginning of longer days. Such a festival or occasion doesn’t find mention in any Kirati tradition or the Mundhum (Kirati oral narrative). Khambus have tried to link this occasion to the “Gali Sarap Bagaune” ritual but this ritual can happen on any given date and isn’t a unique Khambu tradition either. Gathering by the river to celebrate it creates further confusion because it’s prevalent among the Hindus to observe the ritualistic Makar immersion/dip during Maghe Sankranti.

There is no doubt that in many South Asian countries, especially where Hinduism had at some point in history been dominant, the first day of Magh is considered auspicious. To the Kiratis, who had always looked at seasonal changes in nature and lunar cycles to create a timekeeping system, a solar event wasn’t particularly significant. If the first day of the Yele Samvat calendar has been fixed and changing it would become more confusing, it is up to the Khambus to understand and inform that the celebration of Yeledong has got nothing to do with Maghe Sankranti.  

Today, the Yele Samvat calendar doesn’t hold any social relevance among the Khambus. Sakela, which is the biggest festival of the Kirati Khambus, follows the Bikram Samvat calendar. Rawa and Nuagi too, do not correspond to Yele Samavat.  So if the Khambu Rai community collectively, does not demonstrate any traditional, emotional or intellectual response to this new calendar, its relevance perhaps only attempts to answer to a persistent identity crisis. Granted, it is important but a successful propagation of a cultural event must also be viewed through the prism of distinctiveness and authenticity. However, this calendar has failed to exude that.

Among innumerable Khambus, who have spent their lives predisposed to Hindu ideology, creating cultural awareness demands caution and responsibility. Yeledong is supposed to respond to the impact of organized religions upon Khambu tribal culture in a way that reflects and asserts identity and relevance through Kirati history and its glory. It should have played a role in providing an exalted narrative and facilitating a sense of agency, which could have allowed the tribe to form a coherent sense of self. But it’s the year 5081 and many Khambus are more confused than ever!

Ancient Kirata Cities

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As Yalambar conquered Nepal valley (Kathmandu) beginning from Sangha (East Kathmandu) to Gokarna (north Kathmandu), he consolidated his empire completely by taking over Jolpringram (modern-day Thankot) in around 1700 B.C (Date Source: calculated according to Gopala Vamshali). Thankot was named “Jolpringram” by the Kiratas. The word “gram” used as a suffix in the name “Jolpringram” suggests that it was an important town during the Kirata era.

The Kiratas also used the term “Pringa” to denote any settlement or village on a “hill”. The name “Jol-prin-gram” uses both the suffixes respectively, “Pringa” and “gram”. Needless to say, anyone who has ever been to Kathmandu knows that Thankot is located on a hill. When the Lichhavis took over the Nepal valley, they also took over already existing Kirata towns and made it their own. The Lichhavis changed the name “Jolpringram” to “Jayapalikagram” and made it their trade hub. Thus, most towns of the Kirata era are today important centers of modern Kathmandu.

There isn’t many historical data from which we can derive what the Nepal valley Kiratas were like in ancient times. There are a few documents and Lichhavi inscriptions from which we can decipher their social and religious understanding. It is certain that the Kiratas spoke a very distinctive language that didn’t have any relation with the Sanskrit language of the Lichhavi people. The word “gram” in Lichhavi inscriptions is of Sanskrit origin but the word “Pringa” isn’t. So we can fairly ascertain that the word gram was a suffix added by the Lichhavis. The word Pringa, is believed to have changed into “Pang” today, which is a popular word among the modern Kiratis, which means village.

We can safely assume that the words for the three prominent cities during the time must have been Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur. Lichhavi inscriptions mention that there was a city named Yala (which must have been Patan) and Khopringga, which was Bhaktapur. Even today, Newars call these cities Ya, Yala, and Khope.

The Kiratas lived mostly in Gokarna (Ahidumgram), building a palace and in their spare time killing jackals around it. But a number of places in the Kathmandu valley had become important to the Kiratas. Even before the Kiratas moved to Gorkarna and their fortified palace there, Yalambar is believed to have built his capital at the confluence of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers. Once he built his palace there, he named it Huwang. Today, the locals know the place as Vadha. While the confluence of these rivers may have shifted to today’s “Teku” (since the rivers significantly dried up), in the ancient days, it was situated around the “Kuleswor/Balkhu” area.

Later on, Patan is where Patuka Hang built his palace, thereby naming the place “Yala” (after Yalambar). Patan itself is a name that comes from Patuka. However up around the Lele region in Lalitpur, there seems to have been a Kirati palace which was destroyed by the Lichhavis to again reconstruct it as their own.

As I mentioned before, Jolpringgram (Thankot) is still of exclusive importance to analyze if we are to know more about the history of the Kiratas. It is important to note that the Lichhavi King Basantadeva left an inscription here which talks about the 18 skills of the Kiratas, also known as the “Astadasa Prakritin”. The 18 skills are as follows:

1. Wood work 2. Mud Brick work 3. Stone Work 4. Pottery  5. Textile 6. Fishing 7. Wool Production 8. Armory & Weaponry 9. Hunting 10. Farming 11. Business 12. Brewing 13. Metal Work 14. Architecture 15. Road/Bridge Building 16. Music 17. Medicine 18. Religious work

Could it be that these 18 skills or Division of Labor was what led the Hindus to develop their own 18 sets of skills or divisions? The Kirata “Astadasa Prakritin” was so influential to the social setup that various dynasties that came after them could not disapprove of it even when the Kiratas had completely left the Kathmandu valley. In fact, they based their social setup on this, and also with the other 18 skills they later developed, the social structure was divided into 36 gilded skills, hence leading to the infamous “Char Jaat, Chattis Varna” in Nepal.

The Burning of Evil – Ghanta Karna Festival

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Festivals in the Himalayas have always been a medium through which tribal communities expressed their understanding of the world. It allows them to assert their actions and reactions to social, natural, and environmental circumstances. The idea here is to claim indigenousness and celebrate festivals that have been informed by local sensibilities, practices, and perceptions.  For the Newars, this idea is articulated in a way that seems indigenous instantly but where the influence of Hinduism is also largely dominant. Or at least their interpretations are!

Over the many centuries of its journey, Newari traditions have meandered along with a series of religious practices. While these practices are exclusive only to the Himalayas they still have absorbed influences along the way. Perfect examples are set around the Kathmandu region, like the “Ghanta Karna” festival.

Ghanta Karna, often known as Gathemuga or Gathemangal was a ruthless monster who mercilessly killed his victims and was particularly notorious for picking up children and killing them. Ghanta Karna means “Bell Ears”. On each ear, he wears a bell that jingles as he walks. He does that so he can avoid the chants made in the names of the Gods. His depraved sexual orgies and appalling overindulgences with his innumerable wives horrified the pious people of the Kathmandu valley. This festival is about burning the effigy of the monster Ghanta Karna, a manifestation of evil energies, and burning him cleanses the land and helps rejuvenate the spirit of the living.

In Newari belief systems, men and women being haunted by evil spirits, demons, and witches aren’t unfathomable. These spirits, good or bad, roam the lands and even visit homes. In Newari society, the existence of the evil eye, the practitioners of black magic and spells are not considered irrelevant or sources of mere superstition. The festival of Gathemangal, therefore, is still significant to the Newars. The festival falls on the fourteenth day of the dark lunar fortnight in July or early August, which is traditionally the last day of rice transplanting. This is the Night of the Devil when Nepalese celebrate their victory over the most dreaded of all monsters who terrorized the countryside in ancient times.

It is said that the tormented people held a great meeting and together prayed to the old Gods for help. One God complied, appearing amongst them in the guise of a common frog.  The frog approached Ghanta Karna and started to imitate and mimic every move of the monster. Enraged at the creature’s insolence, Ghanta Karna leaped towards it, but the frog jumped beyond his reach and jumped into a well, and the monster, thinking victory was his, plunged in after and met his death. Then in a festive procession, the people dragged the gigantic, corpse of the monster to the river for cremation, throwing his ashes into the water, and there was peace in the land again.

Gathemangal festival is in honor of the frog but also about the defeat of the Ghanta Karna. On the day of this festival, in the morning, little children collect money from different homes and erect simple arches and cross made up of tree twigs at the street intersections. They ask for money from all pedestrians who take this route-funds that are used to create a grand mock funeral of the devil. This is done to recreate the funeral of Ghanta Karna where his wives had to enlist little children to beg for funds to cremate their fiendish husband.

Ghanta Karna effigies, made up of bamboo and rice straw, are erected at crossroads around the city, the bordering villages as well, made from leafy bamboo poles, bound near the top to form a tall structure. A painted, frowning face of a monster is affixed to the body. At dusk, an eager crowd gathers around the bamboo effigy awaiting the untouchable Ghanta Karna. Then it is set on fire and dragged toward the river where a final farewell to the Devil is made. The ashes are thrown in the river.

Many Newars also associate the Gathemangal festival with Shinajya, where folklore narrates the story of ghosts and spirits helping the farmers of Kathmandu but these creatures couldn’t be fed enough and had to be burned or drowned. Some associate Ghanta Karna to the Aju Dyo, an incarnation of Lord Bhairav.  Today, not much is known about when this festival began but its stories, approach, and performance are unique to Kathmandu and the Newars.  The Ghanta Karna festival indicates beyond all doubt that cultural festivals endorse an experience of social inclusion, positive community engagement, and a way to preserve age-old traditions.

The Ghanta Karna festival is one of the few consistently positive events for indigenous Newars to assert a more positive view of themselves, both traditionally and for recognition as a distinct culture in a global context. It is a festival that is more cultural than a religious one, successfully inherited by today’s Newars from their forefathers which is why it is a significant event.  Throughout the ages, such festivals have helped maintain cultural integrity and the transfer of tradition to a whole new generation of people.  

Hyolmo (Yolmo) Identity and Origins

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On the foothills of the beautiful towering mountainside in Central East Nepal, the Upper Helambu Highlands are tucked up against the massive Himalayas and ringed by jungle-covered hills on all sides. This is home to the Hyolmo or Yolmo people, a small tribe, who may look traditionally Tibetan at a glance but actually hold a distinctive individual identity and story.  The Helambu Highland which actually derives its name from the Hyolmo people themselves is also one of the best trails for trekking and features regularly in Nepal’s tourism posters and rosters yet the people who live in this region remain marginally unknown to Nepal and the rest of the world.

The main settlements of the Hyolmo people are Melamchi Ghyang, Tarke Ghyang, Sermathang, and Kangyul which together form the region of Helambu. Yolmo or Hyolmo is a community of people who have resided in the Helambu region for many centuries. A sizable minority also live in Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Bhutan and they refer to themselves as “Yolmopa” The term Yolmo in Tibetan means “a place of snow and glaciers”. Anthropologists like Graham E. Clark (A Helambu History) and Naomi Bishop (Himalayan Herders: Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology Series) are of the opinion that the Yolmos arrived in the Helambu region more than 300 years ago from the Kyirong region in Tibet. Their language, although similar to the Sherpas and the Tibetans, bears a close resemblance to the Kyirong-Kagate Tibetan dialect.

The Helambu Highlands

The Yolmos also share a strong affinity with the indigenous Tamangs and the Helambu and Melamchi regional folklore speak about Tamangs being the ones who had initially invited the Yolmos from Tibet. These regional folklores which are oral narratives are stories that explain the ritual dependence of the Tamang upon the Yolmo people because of the latter having ties with religious institutions in Tibet.

Other stories of the Hyolmo, as they communicate and narrate it, is that a powerful tantric master (probably Sakya Zangpo) would frequent between Samye in Tibet and Kathmandu, Nepal, which were power centers of tantric wisdom. Helambu became an important stopover between these two destinations thereby making it a sacred land that provided refuge between these two power centers that revolved around the legend of Yolmo Tulku Shakya Zangpo.  Graham E. Clark also writes about how the Yolmo social life is influenced by the vital location of Helambu not only for pilgrimage but also as a trade route.

The Hyolmos are Buddhists with a strong background in Shamanism. Anthropologist Stephen Sparks (Ethnic Minority Development Plan) classifies the Yolmo religious belief system into two groups. One group of Yolmos practices Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism and the other group believes in Shamanism. Their festivals include Lhosar (New Year) and Nara (which fall during the time of Hindu Dashain). The other festivals that the Yolmo people observe are Dukpa Tsechu, Hyulka Tsechu, and Torpe. Much like other hill tribal communities, harvest festivals like Udhauli and Ubhauli are also celebrated by the Yolmo people.

But while the influence of Nyingmapa Buddhism is strong among the Yolmos and defines their religious culture, it isn’t always the crux of their identity and social life. Much like various Himalayan communities, they also have a pre-Buddhist shamanistic spiritual practice. A Hyolmo Shaman is called a Bompo or Bombo, who is a significant ritual expert whose animistic role involves divination, healing, and worship of tutelary deities and divine spirits. Apart from these, a Bompo is also a myth narrator and the upholder of oral narratives passed on by divine ancestors. But there does seem to be a tussle between Shamanistic traditions and Buddhism in Yolmo society.

Much of their folklore deals with the conflict between Bompos and Buddhist Lamas. In his book Landscape, Ritual and Identity among the Hyolmo of Nepal, David Torri writes, “Particular attention is given, in those stories, to the right to perform funeral rites, which, in one way or the other, the shaman is at some point always forced to relinquish. Even today, Hyolmo Bombo, despite claiming formal adherence to Buddhism, still nurture an ambivalent and ambiguous stance towards it, keeping to their tradition, and transmitting their oral lore along continuing spiritual lineages.”

The Yolmo people have many stories to tell. Their stories define the merging of different cultural contexts to evolve into a community that has constructed their identity, their self, according to their own renditions through the ages. From the Helambu Beyul (hidden land) to a significant Himalayan tribe, Yolmo people prevail upon their lore – the verbal expressive narrative deposited in the memories of their people over countless generations. These stories, which embody their knowledge, beliefs, values and which guide their people, form the true identity of their community.

Magar Sub-Tribe, Lineage and Kin-Groups

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In The Gorkha Soldier, a publication by Major H.R.K Gibbs of the British Army in 1944, he wrote, “the great Magar tribe is divided into seven clans viz:-Ale; Bura or Burathoki; Gharti; Pun; Rana; Roka and Thapa. While Northey and Morris’ famed research titled The Gorkhas, their manners, customs and country had mentioned only six “original” sub-tribes of the Magars in their publication, Gibbs added Roka to his list.

All are equal in social status and inter-clan marriages are usual and normal. A tribe can generally be considered a social section based on a genealogical notion of social structure. This is important to understand while studying sub-tribes – a concept that is more or less localized social units that sets them apart from each other. Often the term lineage is used but within the sub-tribe, there is a whole new clan structure which can be aptly called lineage that is exogamous in nature.

Much needed information about the Magar tribe can be found in the document archives of the British army. The records of the Gurkha regiment has been well documented. Though inter-clan marriages seemed to have been common in the Gurkha regiment, anthropologists say that this was obviously not the case in the villages, especially in the rural zones. There, the group was completely homogenous. This was because different clans of the Magars lived apart from each other. There were no means of communication between those clans and proper roads were uncommon. The clans also spoke unintelligible languages and followed different dietary restrictions.

Eden Vansittart, in Notes of Nepal (1894), also omitted the Buda and Roka Magars claiming that they became Magars not because of ethnicity but by settlement. He claimed that only “Allea, Burathoki, Gharti, Pun, Rana, and Thapa” were real Magars. Today, both Roka and Buda Magars are considered a part of the Magar tribe. Both clans inhabit the Baglung region and inter-clan marriage between them and the other Magar clans are quite common. Today it has been widely accepted that there are seven sub-tribes within the Magar tribe. But within these tribes, there are further branches or lineages that the Magars zealously adhere to.

In his research titled, The Hill Magars and their Neighbors, Jiro Kawakita classified the Magar tribe into two basic clans – 18 Magars and 14 Magars. This classification was done based on linguistic differences between the two groups. A marked distinction in their languages seemed to have come from living in different geographical regions. The 18 Magars live around the North-Western Himalayan region whereas the 14 Magars live around the Gandaki basin and the Terai regions of Lumbini.

Within each of these sub-tribes, there are various lineages that essentially form the Magar tribe. These lineages within the Magar sub-tribes weren’t merely created to demarcate or claim an inheritance. A close analysis of the names of these lineages tells us that many names have come from location, work, skills rather than just patrilineal descent.

Lineage names that come from places and locations seem to be prevalent among the Magars. For example, those Magars who lived close to the Bhuji River came to be called Bhujel Magars. Those who had migrated from Palpa to other places became Palpali Magars. Though such systems hardly fulfill the criteria of being called “lineage”, this practice within the Magar tribe seems normal because the Magars give more importance to the sub-tribe rather than lineage.

Writers like Eden Vansittart called these “lineages” kin groups. It was noticed by Vansittart that many men who aspired to join the British forces would falsify their documents by claiming their own “caste” to be a lineage of the great Magar tribe. “So many tribes nowadays claim to be Magars,” he wrote, “that to definitely settle which are, and which are not, entitled to the name, becomes a matter of great difficulty.”

Vansittart who claimed that only “Allea, Burathoki, Gharti, Pun, Rana, and Thapa” were real Magars said that the Bura Magars were actually a part of the Matwali Khas tribe of the East and not from the actual Magar tribe. However, this observation doesn’t hold much ground because Bura Magars are known to have always been speaking Kham Kura while the Matwali Khas speak Nepali.

Many scholars also believe that to claim to be a kin group of the Magars had always been desirable in the past. And this was not only because of the enticement of joining the British Army in the 19th century. This practice was prevalent as early as the 10th century when Mukunda Sen ruled beyond the western borders of Kathmandu. Mukunda Sen (though not himself a Magar), had hired various soldiers from the Magar tribe and provided position and prestige to the Magar surname. It is also believed that in addition to military prestige they also had a higher social status derived from massive wealth accumulation.

Thang’kuh: An ancestral home

Written by Vishal Eli Chamling on . Posted in Articles & Opinions. No Comments on Thang’kuh: An ancestral home

“You live in houses now, we lived in caves then. This was our home”, spoke a deep masculine voice out of a female body which sat in a calm meditative trance. It was like your grandfather telling you stories where you listened, attentive and in awe. This was the experience that I had when I first visited the caves of Thang’kuh in the year exactly ten years before.

Pic: Anil Rai

Located in an idyllic roadside village below  Pubong Fatak, enroute Sukhiapokhari, it is about 15 km south west of Darjeeling. It also goes famously by the name ‘Galdang-Guldung’ meaning ‘tumbling or to tumble’ , chiefly because of how the caves are formed, as if the big rocks have tumbled and formed them by landing on top of each other. The Ancestors, however, have a different tale to tell.

Yaboh Sam Sum Chu, the Supreme Ancestor of the five primordial ancestors, explains in an ancient oral discourse, Mundhum, that Yaboh Chendum carried the big rocks with his big bare hands and flew from “Himsekh”, the mountains to shelter the ancestors who had decided to rest here. They spent eons here until one day Yaboh Yanghayang – the Warrior and his consort Yangangini went into Samadhi in one of the caves to return to Sa’mah’yoh, the eternal world

Pic: Anil Rai

“They played here and they made merry, your clan”, continued Yaboh Sam Sum Chu as he stroked his beard from a feminine chin of the Numaang, Sabi Subba, who was still in a meditative state. The beard was invisible to us, a small crowd of believers, seated on the stony floor of the main cave but the stroking was unmistakably precise. I have a similar beard so I know.

“Oh, the playful, the mischievous Yaboh Chyapu would bother the quiet and wise Yaboh Pfapa Sangey”, he reminisced and suddenly exclaimed, “Sa’wa’la!”, signalling for the chöd drum and chöpen to be brought to him. Anil Rai, a long haired attendant of the Numaang,  rushed instantly with his head bowed in reverence and on his knees, to hand over the instruments to Yaboh Sam Sum Chu. The atmosphere inside the cave was that of an era that was not of this age. The serene forest cover and the clear blue sky outside complimented the astral experience.

Pic: Anil Rai

Almost abruptly the ringing of a mobile phone from the crowd brought me back to the millennium.

Yaboh Sam Sum Chu wasn’t perturbed by the ringing phone as he continued to sing the Mundhum with a perfect beat of the drums never missing the tempo.

The Sakela Conundrum

Written by Vishal Eli Chamling on . Posted in Articles & Opinions. 3 Comments on The Sakela Conundrum

Khambu, a tribe so vast and once so mighty, dispersed in clans (tharrs), languages, now spread across the globe but united with the spirit of Sakela.  Albeit not without its own share of the now legendary curse of dissent amongst the multitude of us, to some it is also known as Sakewa, Sakenwa and so on. Khambus of the Himalayan belt have been celebrating Sakela since the legends of Sumnima & Paruhang have been chronicled. Somewhere along the line, we have deviated from receiving the blessings of our ancestors who had worshipped mother nature and the father universe. Since then we have blamed the regime that was, the faith conversions that have followed and in the name of new found Gods, have conveniently forgotten to worship our mother, who has selflessly nurtured us for ages and for generations ever so unfailingly.

Every Khambu must be inquisitive enough to seek an answer for any question that pertains to the very foundation of being Khambu itself. For what are we without our story?

But this is not about how the story begins or how it ends. It is about how the story must continue.

One of the major predicaments of Sakela is in its inability to reach a consensual date of its observation. What was in the past a ritual combined with the time of harvest, nomadic movement of the clan, positioning of the moon and the migratory flights of the birds, is now conveniently observed from the month of Mangshir to the month of Baisakh following less of the tradition apart from the Udhauli and the Ubhauli. Different regions observe Sakela at different dates. Although there is a vast difference in essence,  in character, Sakela is similar to the Buddhist festival of Tshechu, which is also observed throughout the year during auspicious months corresponding to the Tibetan lunar Calendar. Like the monks who burn midnight lamps to work out auspicious dates for Tshechus, the Nakchongs of Khambus also task upon themselves to ascertain appropriate time for Sakela.

But unlike the Tshechu which is celebrated in the honor of Guru Rinpoche, the founder of Vajrayana Buddhism in the Himalayas, Sakela is observed in our obeisance to Mother Nature. Like the Tshechus, where the focal point of the ceremony is the Chaam; in Sakela, the Sili takes centerstage to impart us the valuable lessons of life. 

With so many clans co-existing together in the Himalayan belt since ages, most of them have succeeded in corresponding their festival to certain calendar dates today. The Khambus have yet to reach a unanimous decision on selecting a calendar date. Hence, by virtue of being a populous Himalayan clan, the dissent has been a boon and bane.

It may seem discordant to observe a five month long festival without a universal calendar marking and without proper organization. However, like nature, which is beyond rules and still within, the Khambus must also find harmony in the variablity of celebrating Sakela while staying true to its spirit.

The spirit of Sakela is the coming together of little children playing in the laps of their mother.