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VOL. 27, NO. 28, March 21, 2008 (Chaitra 08 2064 B.S.)
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Himalayan Mountain Cults
Anthropologist Gabriele Tautscher discusses various aspects of Tamang community living in highlands of Nepal
By A CORRESPONDENT
With diversity in religion, culture and geography, Nepal is a unique country in all sense but is renowned globally for the snow-capped Himalayas that stretch along its northern border to Tibet.
The life and culture south of Himalayas are very much interesting as well as diverse as it has its own religious values and practices. There are more than five dozen different linguistic and ethnic groups living in the mid-hills and river valleys but only a few studies have been done to highlight the life and culture of these people.
Living between two great religions, Tibetan Buddhism in north and Hinduism in south, the people of mid-hills have their own distinct culture, religious practices and identity. This is what this book is all about.
"Despite this mountain image, the largest part of Nepal consists of the lower, densely populated regions known as the Middle Hills. This is an area of intensity, cultivated valley and skillfully traced hillside," writes Tautscher in her preface.
The present book is an anthropological study on the history and formation of these communal feasts and rituals on Sailung (Thulo Sailung, Sanu Sailung), Kalingchok and Gosainkund, lying in the central Middle Hills of Nepal.
This is the first-of-its-kind book which deals about the various aspects of life and rituals of Tamang community and their practices. As a widespread and biggest ethnic group, Tamang has their own way of living which distinguishes them from rest of Tibetan of northern mountain and Hindus of South. These people have their own sacred mountains and related pilgrimages far and near where they pay respect to their gods.
The mid-hills of Nepal is home of Shamanic beliefs of local Himalayan society as well as Buddhist and Hindurituals. The rituals practiced by Tamang community of mid-hills show their complex relations with Buddhist and Hindu religion.
"These festivals and rituals too, outline the complex interrelation between the Shamanic beliefs of a local Himalayan society and the political religious structures of the powers in Buddhist Tibet and the Hindu Kingdom in the Kathmandu Valley. The major protagonists of these three festivals described- Sailung, Kalingchok and Gosainkunda- are the Tamang people, the largest and most widespread Tibeto-Burmese speaking ethnic group in Nepal," writes author Tautscher.
The three places the author describes in his book are most important religious pilgrimage sites of Tamang. Tamang community regards the lakes situated in the high mountains like Sailung, Kalingchok and Gosainkunda as most sacred places.
"Every possible and imaginable perspective has its necessary place in spatial dimension. If this applies- as it does above- to the sacred geographies of the Tamangs of Nepal, it also applies – and to a greater extent – to the task of ethnographic writing. Indeed, beside the meanings usually attributed (report, analysis, interpretation and so on, its constant task appears to be that of offering a perspective (whatever it may be) within the limited and bi-dimensional space of a volume," writes Martino Nicoletti in his foreword.
As an organization working to uplift the life of hilly people and people living in Himalayan region, Eco-Himal has made tremendous efforts to bring out many important aspects of life and culture of this region. By supporting the publication of this book, Eco-Himal has reaffirmed its commitments.Thanks to author Tautscher's intensive study and field visit, this book gives enough materials regarding the life, culture and religion of Tamang community.
Sailung, Kalingchok Gosainkund
Territorial Rituals and Tamang Histories
By: Gabriele Tautscher
Published by: Vajra Publications and Ev-K2-CNR Publication
Bergamo, Italy
Funded by: Eco-Himal Austrian Development Cooperation and Fund for Scientific Research Vienna, Austria
Price: Rs. 700.00
Pages: 203
