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Limbu Nahangma Ritual: The Quest for Life Spark

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Limbu Culture. No Comments on Limbu Nahangma Ritual: The Quest for Life Spark

“Indigenous people are healthier when their lives include traditional activities and values.” – Dr. Cheryl Currie

For the Limbu people, houses are the dwelling place of ‘life spark/vital force’, guarded by the spirits, who protect all sacred objects constituting the material and spiritual continuity of the family or the clan lineage. It is a domain that in many ways functions as a distinctive entity defining, protecting, and sustaining its members, as a kin-group. It is the responsibility of the head of the house, patriarch or matriarch, to guard the contents, and in particular, their vital life spark. To this end, all Limbu houses must perform the Nahangma appeasement ritual for the vital ‘life spark’ to be restored.

This ‘life spark’ is called Mukuma/Mukkum Sam in the Limbu language. For the Khambus, it is Saya. Mukuma Sam is inherently present in all living beings. This life spark has been passed down from the ancestors through nature and affects and is affected by the surrounding environment because it is the energy that binds and animates all things in the physical world. This applies to the energies and presences of the natural world. Mukuma Sam also empowers, and with unlimited authority, passes on the strength and protective aggression, necessary to operate in the physical realm.

The vital force Saya makes itself felt, not only in the subjective physical or psychic states but also, and in particular, in the social, economic, religious, and political spheres- that is, it finds expression in success, wealth, prestige, and power (Gaenszle) 1

The ritual of Nahangma is performed to restore Mukuma Sam of the family patriarch or matriarch (Tumyahang).  A scrutiny of the essence of worship, beyond the spiritual dimension, involved in the concept of Nahangma ritual, shows that it invariably constitutes the domain over which the family’s authority extends and on which its livelihood is based. Asking, through ritual, to reinvigorate the life spark is equal to endorsing the presence of a relationship between the physical world and the ancestral realm. The ritual is an enhancement of this life spark that finds its source through the benevolence of supernatural entities. Only then will humans be able to manage their dominion and govern it by laws promulgated exclusively by themselves. 

Nahangma, the divine feminine, possesses several attributes. She is associated with power, beauty, strength, benevolence, and rage. ‘Hang’, or ‘Hangma’ are terms that denote personalities that wield immense authority. Generally, hangma means queen, but it can also mean ‘protector’. In the Limbu myth, the ancient components made possible the events of the first female beings to take up their dwelling in our cosmos. While Yuma, the mother spirit, and her fertility allowed the birth of the first man, Nahangma appears to have been earth and nature itself – an immensely organic, ecological, and conscious whole. She is the one with whom humans would eventually lose touch, affecting their powers to operate in the house and the physical domain.

According to the Limbu myth, Porokmi Yambami Mang, a divine deity, once went to a village called Iwa Hongwana and won the Shot-put (Paklung) competition.  After his victory, as he threw the Paklung towards the North, the daughter of Sodhung Lepmuhang, a divine spirit, appeared. She came to be called Nahangma. In the realm of Sawa Yethang, the Eight Limbu Warriors, a fire destroyed various villages. Misfortune had struck, and the land was ravaged by diseases. Sodhung Lepmuhang, asked the youngest son of the Eight Kings, a prince named Seninghang, to go back to the villages and fetch sparkling water, a spear, and three power Shamans. On the way back, as he was playing with the spear, he suddenly started to tremble and went into a state of trance. Anyone who came to wield that spear would astonishingly start to tremble. Upon divination by the Shamans, they came to know that Nahangma was a warrior divinity and she was the one who had to be worshipped to avoid all calamities. She came to be called Khambutling Nahangma, and the Eights Kings started to worship her.

Armed with weapons, Nahangma resides in a snowy realm called Chotlung. Her realm is bright and high, where millions of springs converge to a single point called Sam Lamdoma.  Here, there is an unending expanse of blooming flowers, each spiritually connected to a human in the material world.  It is a life’s vegetable-twin, its double, its external soul, its flower soul, Phungsam (Sagant) 2. These flowers are the twin soul of humans that adorn the realm of their ancestors. As long as the flower blooms, its physical human twin will have the strength and good health. If it withers, the risk of misfortune or sickness increases.  These flowers that live in the shadow of Nahangma’s kingdom must always stay blooming so that an individual’s Mukuma Sam is at its highest capacity and has a strong connection with the ancestral world.

Traditionally, the head of the house, Tumyahang, offers a sacrifice to Nahangma twice a year, once at the beginning of the ascending season (Ubhauli) and once at the beginning of the descending season (Udhauli).  This ritual is performed by Limbu shamans like the Phedangma, Samba, and Yeba, with the Tumyahang beside him. The ritual starts in the afternoon and could easily take more than a few hours. An altar will be created in the fields below the house with an offering to Saba, the divine monkey spirit. The monkey spirit is impulsive and will attack the prey instinctively. Over thousands of years of irreconcilable differences between humans and their ancient brethren, the human officiant will try to appease the monkey spirit with offerings and sacrifice. Other divine entities, like the spirit of the forest (Tampungma), and the spirit of the Waters (Warokma), will be consoled by offering a rooster or an egg. The offerings will act like a symbolic fortress for protection against their arrival at the Nahangma altar (Laso) later on. When the temporary altar for the wild spirits is dismantled, the path is blocked, Lam Sakma, to the house.

When dusk sets in, the officiant will have to make offerings to Yuma. In Limbu culture’s oral narrative, Yuma, the primordial mother spirit, and Nahangma are perennial antagonists. Yuma could get jealous of Nagangma, and only the offering of sacrifices has the power to pacify her momentarily. The officiant intones the Limbu ritual speech (Mundhum). Spiritual masters and their invisible energies are invoked. The Limbus consider all neighbouring territories as power places, whose positive connotation derives from their conceptual association with the spatial categories of the hills, rivers, fields, and forests. The Mundhum is recited to honour a series of geographical locations, describing an ideal circular route of all cardinal directions. In the end, the central pillar of the house (Hangsitlang), transforms into the centre of the ritual, and the physical world.

Inside, an altar (Laso) has been created in honour of Nahangma. A bed of wild banana leaves is spread out with rice grains over it, and a brass container filled with water, millet, yeast, ginger, and salt. Among other items, there are weapons of the head of the house, which are the same as those of Nahangma- the bow and the sword/Khukuri. During the Mundhum recitation, the officiant constantly holds the sword or Khukuri. Sodhung Lepmuhang is first invoked. Then, the ten founding kings, and the eight warriors are all summoned to the altar of Nahangma.

While performing Nahangma, the Phedangma pleads to the almighty god for the energy, success, prosperity, and longevity of the benefactor and the whole family. Narrative stories are recited saying, thang tithing- tithing, thang yeppit-yeppit, thang wechcha-wechcha (Limbu phrases meaning- getting high-up, up with energy, up with prosperity) along with physical gestures and performances. (Limbu)3

The officiant takes a cosmic journey to Sam Lamdoma, the expanse of flowers to capture the lost ‘life sparks’. In this particular traditional domain, all the principles of the rite have their legitimacy. All the objects presented play their part in the conceptual structuring of the ritual, not only with the explicit purpose of transforming the entire physical dwelling into an altar but also with the intent of transposing divinations into responses from the otherworld. The officiant holds a red rooster, one that has been raised for at least a few years by the family. The red rooster is supposed to channel invisible energy and deliver a message through a fixed and precise liturgy directed to the tutelary spirits and vice versa. The rooster is placed on the left and right shoulders of the Tumyahang briefly.

A tremendous blow of a wooden stick strikes the back of the rooster. A few drops of its blood must drip upon the banana leaves, through its beak. Only then has the offering will have been accepted by Nahangma. Few of its feathers are plucked out and placed upon the altar. The officiant will wrap a white turban around the Tumyahang’s head, and while wrapping it, he places a feather upon the turban.  The officiant will then hold the sword, and the Tumyahang near him will carry the bow and arrow. Tumyahang must now howl and stamp his feet on the ground to imitate the ancient warriors of his clan. This gesture is repeated a few times. The Shaman will proclaim that his ‘life spark’ has been restored. His head has been raised, and all misfortunes have been averted.

At this stage of the Nahangma ritual, besides recalling Mukuma Sam, the offerings to Nahangma are also made to honour her virtues. Although the Limbu community is founded securely on some hegemony of the male lineage, this ritual inclines towards bearing witness to the existence of a mythical matriarch. Nahangma, with traditional masculine virtues, in their widest meaning, emerges and takes over Limbu domestic hierarchy with ritualistic authority. For the Limbu people, the Nahangma ritual, besides constituting the premise for a reintegration of the life spark/vital force, transforms the house from a static residence to a repository of traditions generated by the cultural schemes, history, and practices of its inhabitants.

References:

1. Gaenszle, Martin.(2000): Origins and Migrations: Kinship, Mythology and Ethnic Identity among the Mewahand Rai of East Nepal.

2. Sagant, Philippe.(1981): La tête haute : maison, rituel et politique au Népal oriental.

3. Limbu, RK.(20125): Limbu Indigenous Culture and Knowledge

Thōte – A Tamu Gurung Festival

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Gurung Culture. 2 Comments on Thōte – A Tamu Gurung Festival

Thōte (Tahote) is a ritualistic festival of the Tamu Gurung people, performed to forbid the entry of evil energies into the village community. Thōte, as an ancient tradition, is still an unchangeable rite in a Gurung society. Irrespective of geography and demographical vastness, the immediate natural domain of their habitat always forms a crucial part of the Gurung identity. The traditional history of Gurung rituals is vast, but special attention must be paid to Thōte, which, besides allowing us to focus on some of the aspects relating to the symbolic idea of community, also permits us to consider the relations that, through the idea of ritual, are instituted between the society and the supernatural entities that govern it.

In a nutshell, Thōte (Tahote) is a village worship festival, but the richness and complexity of its theme give it more meaning than just ‘forbidding evil forces from entering the village’. Thōte is a palpable display of the community’s lives and traditions connected intrinsically and spiritually to their traditional land, waters, and natural resources. The idea of ritual presented by Thote consists in an active form, many of the elements potentially present, or endured over time, amidst the Gurungs. Thōte serves various purposes- to banish evil from the village community, as a prayer for the protection of human life, cattle, and crops, and also as a glaring display of pride in cultural identity.

Thōte aims to address ritual ceremonies as the beginning of all power and energy to shape the village for the better, by warding off any unseen, unfavorable influence from the outside. We can be fairly certain that this tradition predates Tamu Gurung’s conversion to Buddhism. There is no particular tutelary village deity worshipped during the ritual. Instead, anonymous supreme spirits, without any human merit, but who hold vast sway over society, are either appeased or sent away from the village.  Both the Pachyu, a traditional Shaman, and the Khyabri, the Buddhist Shaman, perform the ritual together. Even with different backgrounds, they perform their sacred functions, and primarily protect and reinvigorate the intangible forces that influence the village.

Almost all Himalayan tribes celebrate Udhauli and Ubhauli – rituals/festivals to appease the deities for the well-being of all sentient beings. Thōte can be considered the Gurung equivalent. As a rule, Thote is performed three days in Chaitra (March-April) and three days in Shrawan (July-August). They perform the rite on Tuesdays. Organizing the ritual and managing the entire array of ceremonies are always determined by the community elders upon reaching a consensus. While the Gurung community today is not strictly governed by a hierarchical system, it can be described as a society adapting to the present social structures through traditional respect awarded to the elders within the community. Planning and execution will require knowledge of the ritual, its significance, and an understanding of the interrelation of all these factors. Traditions and customary laws dictate that all the elders with abundant experience, gather at the village center, to determine and finalize the management plans of the ritual.

Before the beginning of the ceremony, the villagers perform the task of collecting numerous offerings needed: a specific amount of corn, millet, and rice. Each household has to provide volunteers and items necessary for the subsistence and survival of the ritual.  In the village, each house is responsible for contributions, even though the household could subsidize individual members. Items like Ranijhar (Himalayan weed) and Bhakimlo (Rhus Chinensis/Nutgall Tree) are collected to cultivate ritual into a sacred process. The use of these items is significant to the Thote ceremonies and reinforces the transition of the normalcy of village life to ecstatic religious experiences. Different metallic weapons and musical instruments are also collected to be purified through the rite. These items, in the daily life of the individual or the group, acquire great importance, and it would seem, then, that without their presence in the village purification ritual, the ceremony is impossible. The ritual will be considered adequate and successful if the village can resolve all conflicts with the spiritual entities to revitalize energies through customary rites.

At least in general terms, the symbolic association of the community, from a social dimension, appears to be mutually integrated, as the entire village comes together for the preparation and management of the ritual and the festivities. Food is prepared collectively to appease the spirits. For sacrificial rites, Roosters are collected. A group of men and women gather to begin the village cleaning work as they clean out the drains, remove weeds and repair the pathways. The villagers gather branches of the Bhakimlo tree and hang them in the cardinal directions upon the entry/exit gates. 

Some of the logs of the Bhakimlo are cut into fine pieces of wood. A thin wooden piece of this wood is called a fitlee. Temporary gates of Bhakimlo wood and Ranijhar weed are constructed, and five fitlees hang on them, creating an invisible division between the village and unknown space. The ritual, which at the macrocosmic level, runs between two sets of religious beliefs-Buddhist, and Bon– is represented on a reduced scale by the Bakhimlo branches that are marked with yellow paint to represent Buddhism’s colors in the Gurung ceremonial repertoire. Bhakimlo wood also hangs on the doors of the village houses.

Mock weapons, to be used as props during the ritual, are also made out of Bakhimlo wood. The Indigenous populace, in most cases, form self-sustaining plant communities that have successfully adapted to a local region, and they tend to resist damage from freezing, drought, and common diseases, with the help of indigenous plants in that particular region. Bhakimlo (Nutgall) has always played a similar role in the Gurung community’s survival for ages. Other materials, such as charcoal, turmeric, white and red soil or rice flour, bird feathers, and animal skins, if any in the village, for embellishing a performer, are collected. As the collection of all the ritualistic materials concludes, the elaborate ceremony and performances begin.

The ceremony begins with a procession from the entry gate. The villagers start a fire, and juniper incense burns over charcoal embers and butter. The shamans beat their drums, and the five Fitlees upon the gate, are worshipped and purified. A volunteer will carry the incense in a censer and lead the procession. The performers follow the volunteer with the mock weapons.  It appears that the Gurung vision of their domain does not entail any firm split between two dimensions. Items of ritual are simultaneously relevant to the physical world and the spiritual realm.  Every performer is required to commit to the performance. They enter the village roads, where their dances and pantomimes are staged to resemble a fierce battle, representing the averting of evil spirits and the restoration of balance at the end.

The performers disguise themselves as wizards, ghosts, and animals, and most wear tattered costumes made up of rags, animal skin, and feathers. They paint their faces, and the Ranijhar adorns their bodies. The organized sequence of events, rituals, and texts exist separately from the performers. The procession may be a ritual movement that requires contiguous control and physical cadence, but the performance is not scripted, nor does it adhere to conventional actions. Other participants walk behind them – whistling, shouting, and the beating of drums ensue. The procession will reach out to every house in the village, around which they will perform animated actions with loud noises and whistles to deflect evil energies.  This procession reaches the exit gate where they will ignite a fire, incense, and worship the five fitlees believing that evil has left the village boundaries.

Outside the gate, the ritual resumes. A rooster is brought, purified by aspersing local alcohol, and sacrificed with a ritual hack. By performing the sacrifice, the Gurungs ask the spirits to return the ‘life force’ and catalyze the presence of ‘health’ within the village. Local beer and alcohol are offered to the spirits. After leading all those attending the rite outside the village, the sacrificial objects too shall remain outside. The rooster meat, and the remaining alcohol, are consumed by the participants. The village is proclaimed the place of protection and safety: the opposite of unknown space. The village gate changes polarity during the ritual and is transformed into a physical boundary between the invisible powers and humans. What affects the welfare of the village may subsequently, at the same time, apply to other realities- the unknown space, on a substantially greater scale; the hill where the village is located, on a smaller scale, and the human spirit, beyond everything else. 

Tamang Marriage: Mock Capture and Negotiation

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“Tambase Kairen Sungmami, Hyangla Jamey Busingda,
Chhangra Maangra Mokkon Chaajinji, Nhugi Kutumbala Jimmari,
Hyang Tamangla Rimthimari“

“The Tamba speaks of history, Hereafter our daughter,
Her rituals are all done, the onus upon the Patriclan now,
Says all Tamang customs“

–Tamba la Hwai (Tamba’s Song)

Marriage customs and rituals have passed through a long progression of cultural evolution among many tribes in the Himalayas. Even with group affiliations and individual choices, marriage customs, with a few exceptions, employ age-old conventions across various communities, including the Tamangs. Many time-honored customs and rituals attached to the wedding system exist in traditional Tamang culture. Regardless of urban influences, in the rural regions, these rituals, sometimes strange to an outsider, are still integral parts of a mosaic of traditions associated with the Tamang community. Tamang marriage rituals are relevant even in modern times and continue to shape their society, individuals, and cultural narratives.

The conventional model of patrilineal descent and its sociological norms still govern the societal system of Tamang relations. A Tamang woman must leave her natal family and settle down with her husband’s family when she marries. Traditional Tamang marriages (Brelsaang) occurred between cross-cousins, thereby convoluting the distance between natal and marital families. In a system of such convention, that produces various possible elementary structures of kin in society, the generic terms Maiti (Wife Givers/Natal) and Kutumba (Patriclan), and their meanings, though maintained in Tamang parlance, bears an intricate structure that forges new ties between extended material kin. 

Tamang society, for the most part, is patrilineal. Descent is traced through the father’s lineage, although cultural values are motivated by matrifocal endeavors. Affinity towards the tribe plays a significant role while conveying the social definitions of marriage in general and identity in particular, as the bride keeps her surname even after marriage. This means that the affinity of a daughter towards her surname or clan (Rui/Hui) remains unchanged. Therefore, marriage, due to the collective character of both genders, is seen as a shared experience, influenced by individuals and patriclan sections, rather than merely being an individual affair. It becomes a medium that helps bolster affinal relationships. Of course, such a powerful and socially embedded inter-tribe construct also presents complex marriage negotiations. 

Eloping and mock capture, separately, are familiar concepts of marriage in rural Tamang societies. While endogamous marriage is always the norm, arranged marriages (Maagi Biha) are the only proper amicable system of marriage involving cross-cousins. Maagi Biha also has the consent of the parents. Nevertheless, eloping and mock captures are not unprecedented traditions. Bride capture may have once been a tradition but is not practiced in totality anymore. Mock capture, colloquially referred to as Chori Biha, occurs as a part of the marriage ritual in an endogamous marriage arrangement. 

Capture is symbolic today, where the bridegroom or his friends should go through the form of feigning to steal the bride or carry her off from her friends by superior force. Although the marriage has consent, theft or abduction that follows has a concerted matter of form, to make the marriage valid. Real capture would mean actual abduction but ritual capture also means obstructing the allowance of the groom to capture the bride to allow for negotiations upon the fulfillment of particular demands by the bride’s family.  

Once mock capture has been accomplished, and the bride begins her life with her groom, the particlan sends a wooden container filled with alcohol to the father of the bride, as a request for negotiation. The container, sent through the mediator/negotiator (Ganba/Tamba), is called Thegaan Pong.  Thegaan Pong symbolizes promise and honor, in Tamang traditions (Rimthim). Alcohol containers are called Pong and often reflect Tamang cultural perceptions of the role of alcohol in rituals. Tamang culture has an established heritage of traditional practices, and the enactment of such, according to situational appropriateness may involve complex and subtle dissimilarities. However, the rules governing the use of alcohol and its containers are always rigidly observed. The mediator, and the Pong, must reach the house of the bride within five days of the capture. 

Tamang marriages must follow reciprocal obligations between the bride’s and groom’s clans on both sides. While all rituals of negotiation may sometimes not always be achieved in totality, all marriages ultimately follow the traditional protocols of negotiated exchange. The ideal roles and functions of kin on both sides are equal, to some extent, and have their ways of initiating the union, but if actual experiences of marriage negotiation are scrutinized, they all begin with a formal request by a party representing the groom. Subsequent reciprocity of dialogues and material gifts enter the marriage into a framework of traditional legitimacy that ultimately will also validate the offspring from the couple. 

 At the bride’s home, the mediator and his assistant offer three Pongs of alcohol to the woman of the house. Rejection is usually rare but it is up to the bride’s family to accept or decline the Pong. Upon acceptance, formal marriage rites will occur. During the wedding, the groom’s mediator, with containers of alcohol and other gifts, engages in an elaborate meandering dialogue, informing the bride’s kin about the groom’s assets and genealogy. These gifts, at the outset, might look like bride purchase, practiced in ancient times, but is today considered Riti Danda, or bride penalty. In standard Tamang traditions, such payment is simply a matter of custom, ‘an affair of manners rather than morals.’

Exchanges are often an emotive issue and serve as a customary introduction between kin on both sides. During the wedding feast, witnessed by the village and clan members, the groom gives pieces of fabric and money, to the bride. These symbolize the promise of the groom to become a lifelong provider. Due to the powerful and socially embedded system of reciprocity, material gifts are exchanged as the groom offers money and alcohol to the bride’s mother, and she hands him a white turban-a symbol of honor. 

As the wedding ritual progresses and the bride’s natal kin (Maiti) gives her away to the groom’s patriclan (Kutumba), four different kinds of witnesses must be deemed present and duly honored. 

  1. The omnipresent divine spirits
  2. A Rooster to represent the Himalayan Monal and the Peacock of the plains
  3. Fish, to represent the holy waters
  4. All the guests present to witness the wedding

These witnesses are called Chhongkhor or Chaardam and serve as reminders that the markers of a legitimate marriage also require the blessings of all realms, physical and spiritual.  

After the solemn union between the bride and the groom, both clans will impart money and blessings. While both clans, to some measure, perceive each other as equals, during the ritual, the bride’s natal kin stand in a principal position as they become ‘wife-givers’. For the Tamang people, the clan holds enormous importance, and marital choices do not always pertain to individuals. Decisions should be made in the larger interest of the clan. Therefore, Tamangs place enormous emphasis on arranged marriages, although gradual erosion of traditional marriage systems in favor of individual choices, sometimes exogamous, has been observed in the Tamang community presently.

Khyah – The Newari Ghost

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‘Jim baa na macha bale khya khangu ha.’ 

 ‘My father saw a ghost when he was a child.’ Told periodically along the labyrinthine alleys of old Newari towns, these ghost stories have transferred from generation to generation. They continue to remain as frightening as ever.

Every culture has a ghost story to tell. The existence of good and bad ghosts is inherent in the collective cognizance of all communities in the Himalayas. Ghosts exist across all religious and mythological traditions. Among the Newar people, however, such archaic supernatural entities are ubiquitous, thereby steering the narratives of individual, collective, ethnic, and religious memories. Although ‘Khyah’ in the Newari language translates to ghost, it is essentially a spirit that actively participates in the set of circumstances that govern the physical world.

Khyak or Khyah, the mythical creature, is one of the central characters in Newari folklore. It is a burly, hairy, ape-like creature, prominent in children’s stories, popular in Newari society. Among the Newars, there are countless accounts of Khyah sightings, legends, tales, and publications. Khyah serves as a meaningful rhetorical character or legend that helps transmit knowledge across generational boundaries and fosters cultural associations. Usually, such terrifying creatures are symbolic of evil, but Khyah represents both good and evil and redefines Newari moral understanding of the causes and consequences of negatively valued behavior.

Himalayan Mythical Creature, Newari Khyah Ghost

To the Newars, not all Khyahs are bad. Some are the protectors of the house, family, and prosperity. They are also the guardians of good fortune (Saha, in Nepali) that prevails in the house. Khyahs always dwell in the dark as they are afraid of the light. There are two types of Khyahs; white and black. The white ones are the good ones who fill the house with good fortune and happiness, while the black Khyahs are equated with bad luck and hindrances. Household Khyahs are revered in Newari houses and reside in attics or dark storerooms. This is a form of spirit worship that most Himalayan cultures adhere to. Khyahs appear in the bhandar and dhukuti, rooms where grains are stored, and where other valuables like gold and silver ornaments are kept. The resident white Khyah is supposed to bring good luck to the household. 

 According to Newari legend, the old Gods gave birth to the terrible Khyahs. It is said that a child was born to the old gods, and a tussle began between them to hold the baby. The struggle led to the detachment of the skin, and the child only remained with flesh and bones. Out of the flesh came Khyah, and Kavam emerged as the skeleton. The mythical twins became symbolic of the counterbalancing principles of good and evil. To control the power of the twins, the Gods created the Newari instrument called Dhimay from a tree trunk. During Khyah Pyakhan, the traditional Newari dance, dancers dressed as Khyah, dance to the beat of a Dhimay. Much like the Newari cultural faith in the existence of two halves of the universe that fit together like night and day, the Khyah twins represent the symmetry of the cosmos in motion. 

Dhimay

Khyak stories and legends present deep insights into the affective dimension of human learning and socialization in the Newari community and the role of stories in the transfer of cultural knowledge and values. Story and myth still form an integral part of traditional forms of education among the Newari community. As a challenge to the coherent, rational model of a standardized mainstream educational archetype that inclines towards trivializing story and myth as figments of imagination, Khyaks are symbolic of Newari belief in the spirit realm and supernatural entities and play a pivotal role in their cultural narrative.

In Nepali, the words “Deuta Palnu” (Nurturing a Deity) aptly describe this tradition. Such reverence for good Khyahs comes from Newari animism traditions and practices since ancient times. In Kathmandu valley, one can find wall paintings, statues, and carvings of them – testaments to the significance of this mythical creature in Newari culture. Images of Khyaks are also placed at temples as guardians of the shrine. In Newari festivals, dancers display Khyak Pyakhan, which is a dance depicting the powers and struggles of the Khyak creatures.

The cultural, social, and spiritual significance of Khyah is reflected in the cycle of ceremony adhered to by traditions. Khyahs often make significant appearances in the Newari Gufa tradition, a ritual meant for young girls before the beginning of their menstruation. During this ritual, girls remain inside a dark room with a small doll that represents Bahra Khyah. Ever present and continuously infiltrating into the mainstream Newari culture, Khyah reaffirms the notion that physical and spiritual coexist. It endorses the idea that personal welfare in this world is caused by entities beyond the physical sphere, significant for mutual survival. 

Therefore the world of spirits or ghosts is not one of wonder but of familiarity. The world of humans is only one of the multiple parallel worlds that work together to continue the process of Khyah and people. To the Newars, if one aspect of the knot is removed, the integrity of societal traditions is threatened, and all other aspects are weakened. To some, Khyahs represent the idea of good and bad in the world. To others, they are an integral part of a rich cultural heritage. Many, however, attach Kyahs to the regular terrifying stories heard and help preserve the memory of the loving grandmother who narrated these stories at night. Amidst the Newars, these stories, legends, and traditions always survive with individuals – much like the omnipresent terrifying Khyahs themselves.

Ritual Officiants of Sunuwar Koĩts People

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Sunuwar people, also known as Mukhia, are one of the four branches of the Kirati tribe. The term Sunuwar was used because they lived on the banks of the Sunkoshi River, while Mukhia is an Indo-Aryan term conferred upon by the Sen Kings. Today, they prefer to call themselves Koĩts in their mother tongue and are proud to identify themselves as Kirati-Koĩts. Kirati Koĩts follow the Mukdum which is equivalent to the Mundhum followed by Khambus and Limbus. While the Khambus lived in “Majh Kirat” and the Limbus in “Pallo Kirat”, the Kirati Koĩt people inhabited the Wallo Kirat Region that falls between the Sunkoshi and the Dudh Koshi Rivers. Their language called Koĩts Lo is about 90% similar to the language of the Bahing/Bayung Rai people.

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The Sunuwar cultural backdrop is highly imbued with ritual motifs, not just through traditions handed over by the ancestors, but by the perceived occupation of indiscernible entities, such as nature and ancestral spirits. Even as cultures have intermingled, traditions expanded, contemporary Sunuwar people use Shamanic knowledge to help them make sense of events occurring in their environment. Within the conceptual structure of memory and space predicated by Sunuwar Koĩts culture, the shaman transforms it into a reality by ritually influencing the transcendent forces perceived as the basis of cause and effect.

Among the systematic ceremonies occurring amid Sunuwar cultural domain, rituals are certainly the ones that hold great prominence and significance. The sociological approach to observing Sunuwar Koits traditions is primarily through a functional analysis of their rituals –domestic and public. These rituals and other cultural traditions help contribute to the survival of the society by promoting social integration and interaction. 

Sunuwar traditions employ two different types of officiants for their rituals. There is a Naso/Nokso who is a performer of rituals and a Poinbo or Ngyami, who are shamans. A male shaman is known as Poinbo, and a female shaman is called Ngyami. A Naso isn’t a traditional shaman and is not capable of making a two-way communication between the spirit world and the human realm. However, he holds vast knowledge of the Koĩts Mukdum/Mundhum (ritual language, oral narrative) and performs rituals and invokes the ancestral spirits of respective Sunuwar lineage. This ritual language is also known as Salak or Salaku and intonated by both types of officiants. He can perform sacrificial rites and all traditional rituals. 


Naso is a hereditary position and acquired by male offspring for a particular lineage. It is usually a father Naso, who grooms his son to take over the responsibility of rituals. The son has to memorize all ritual chants by a repetition of ritual procedures and through observation. This training and familiarization begin at a very young age. He will be required to learn about the oral traditions of the tribe and all the myths of his culture, from the elders. At the death of his father, it is he who has to carry out funerary rites. 

Sunuwar people have developed coherent ritual classifications that originate with belief systems and creation myths, transmitted orally from one generation to the next. It is a Naso who performs these rituals in the community. He conducts all life-cycle rituals and public worship events like Syadar (Nature Worship) and Surom (Worship for prosperity). His main performance is the ancestor worship ritual called Chegu in which Yabre Gubre, the dead ancestral spirits are worshipped. The performance of the Sunuwar rituals serves to infuse, validate, and maintain the values of their traditions. It is a Naso who upholds these traditions through rituals. 

In contrast, the position of the Poinbo or Ngyami is never hereditary. They are traditional shamans and only those who have been approached by the spirits through dreams and visions can become a Poinbo or Ngyami. These spirits, over time, impart wisdom and power to them.  

Much like the Naso, shamans also undergo a period of training when they learn how to cultivate and interpret dreams and visions from an experienced shaman who will become their spiritual mentor. While the Naso operates and performs sacrificial rites during the daytime, the Poinbo or Ngyami perform their rites at night to reduce awareness of the surroundings outside his/her focus. It is also generally disclosed by shamans that they can see spirits better at night. 

Poinbo or Ngyami usually perform séance and exorcise ghosts and evil spirits from the living. Their practice includes spiritual healing and appeasing or banishing wandering souls of those who have died an unnatural death. They are psychopomps who act as arbitrators between evil spirits and living, and their sphere of ritual practice is not limited to only the Sunuwar Koits. They are also employed by other communities for rites during ‘inauspicious’ events.


Naso and Poinbo/ Ngyami wear different costumes, utilize different percussive instruments and items of spiritual defense. A Naso uses his bow and arrow, one passed on by his father, while the Poinbo/ Ngyami use a wooden knife called Phurba. While both enjoy dissimilar powers and authority and have distinct individual journeys, during public rituals the Naso requires the help of the Puimbo or Ngiami to invoke and summon the spirits for whom the rite performed. When the ceremony is over, they also need to help the spirits return to the spirit realm.

For the Sunuwars who are spiritually pluralistic, rituals reflect and construct social, political, ethnic, and economic relationships. They represent the very center of the community, where sacred traditions and their cultural contexts become exceedingly significant. Sunuwar Koĩts liturgical traditions uncover the interwoven complexity marked by overlapping identities of tribe, ethnicity, and region. But these officiants simplify them by clearly demarcating and maintaining a great degree of distinctiveness. Sunuwar officiants are all connected and aligned for both are employed in the service of the community, and work within the sphere of ritual contexts. 

Folk Music of the Limbu People

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Limbu Culture. 1 Comment on Folk Music of the Limbu People

The folk music of the Limbus is central to understanding their cultural elements, including their worldview, relationships, traditions, roles, and practices. For centuries, folk music has long been a traditional method of entertainment, but in the Himalayan region, it also encompasses mythical storytelling and the performance of rituals. Traditional music genres of the Limbu people include all of these components. 

Much like that of other Himalayan indigenous communities, Limbu tribal music is traditionally vocal. Limbu folk songs are accompanied by performance and ceremony, which usually take place without written prompts, but they come from various generations of practiced and perfected interactions.` This autochthonous folk music also reflects the depth of the cultural concepts that exist within the tribe. It displays kinship structures, relationships, ritualistic beliefs, creation myths, and the creative function for relationships with physical and spiritual beings. Today, the Limbu community is utilizing and recreating their traditional culture with music as a medium of entertainment, which helps preserve ancient traditions in the modern age.

Ethnic Limbu folksongs are called Samlo. There are a variety of folksong genres, but Palam Samlo always tops the Limbu repertoire. Palam is sung while doing chores, working in the fields, or during social events like weddings and festivals. But it is associated the most with Yalang (Paddy Dance). It is a commonly held notion that after harvest, the people would gather at a particular house. Here they held hands, formed a circle, and went around while stamping upon the paddy to extract rice grains. This dance would later be accompanied by songs that ultimately became Palam.

For an open-eared listener, traditional Limbu music is not difficult to enjoy. Even if you do not understand the language, repeated hearings of these songs will gradually reveal the subdued, haunting melody enfolded in their carefully tuned forms. At its core, traditional Limbu songs serve as repositories and disseminators of lifestyle, knowledge, and traditions. Limbu folksong genres such as Palam, Sarek, and Khayali, while being traditionally recreational, also depict social life, and emphasize a balance of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual processes. 

Limbu people categorize the Palam genre into four forms or moods. There is one that denotes flirtation and courting in the form of riddles. The second form is about love in its purest essence. The third form represents love and proposal for marriage. The fourth one describes human life as flowers. This assists young men and women to subtly declare that their destiny is to realize emotions and love. The essence of Palam is to exchange feelings of love and affection and experience pain and pleasure through a heart-touching song, sung in harmony.

Palam Samlo, initially intended as paddy dance, has become incredibly popular over the years. Limbu traditional songs, which are centuries-old, still bring the community together for social activities or ceremonies. But in time, there have been changes in its form and tempo. Palam has now been divided into Sakpa Palam, played with a faster beat, and the Khemba Palam, on a slower beat. As Limbu society evolved, their music has diversified into various genres that bear both social and religious contexts.

Khayali is another popular genre among the Limbus. It is a duet that is a casual exchange between male and female vocalists. These songs are dialogues, witty repartees between two singers. In Khayali or Palam, the meter remains constant within the tune. Its rhythm, which uses syncopation, is usually relatively uncomplicated. There is extended use of vibrato. In many instances, the instruments are dominated by vocals. This occurs because the lyrics and emotions become larger than the music itself. The form is generally strophic where each stanza is sung over the same music. Strophic forms in music exist because they are iterative. These are songs that consist of short sections of music that have been repeated countless times throughout history. 

Many other types of Limbu folksongs exhibit their daily activities. These are songs that have been transferred from one generation to another. There are wedding and farming songs that help deconstruct the parameters that define their society. All genres of Limbu folk music present a different understanding of their lifestyle. Where there are general folksongs, we can also find numerous ritual song genres among the Limbu people. These are a part of Limbu Mundhum (oral narrative) and always accompany life-cycle rituals. Limbus has always ascribed spiritual importance to these rituals through their songs.

According to various sources, apart from Palam and Khayali Limbus classify their song (samlo) genres into the following:

Hakpare – Spiritual song sung only by women.
Namdatte Kehsam – Wedding Song
Domke Akma – Sung while working
Thakptham – Sung while moving into a new house
Nisammang Sewa – Devotional song accompanied by performance
Mingwan – Ritual song while naming a new-born
Tamkye – Sung while cultivating the fields
Agnekwa Sammet – Lullaby

Limbu folksongs demonstrate that music plays a fundamental role in influencing, defining, and maintaining tribal cultures. Renowned Limbu folk singers continue to emerge with artistic collaborations to create space for identity building through indigenous music. So while other forms of culture may be challenging to preserve, Limbu folksongs are still popular and perhaps will be able to maintain and balance their cultural constructs through traditional music. 

The Inimitable Khambu “Flower” Shaman

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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. 

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 Sakewa

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. 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.

The Burning of Evil – Ghanta Karna Festival

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Newar Culture. No Comments on The Burning of Evil – Ghanta Karna Festival

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

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Hyolmo Culture. 2 Comments on Hyolmo (Yolmo) Identity and Origins

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

Written by Pradeep Rai on . Posted in Magar Culture. No Comments on Magar Sub-Tribe, Lineage and Kin-Groups

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.