Book Review (Spotlight Weekly)

Shamanic Solitudes
Ecstasy, Madness, and Spirit Possession in the Nepal Himalayas
Written by: Martino Nicoletti
Published by: Vajra Publications, Jyatha, Thamel Kathmandu Nepal Phone 4220562
Price: Rs. 1000.00
Pages:175

BOOK
On Kulunge Rai

Martino Nicoletti, an Italian anthropologist, explains Kulunge Rai’s practice of shamanism in Nepal

By A CORRESP0NDENT

Nepal is a land of mystery not only in terms of its nature and geography but in relations with the ethnicity and diverse culture. Following the opening up of Nepal to the outside world five-decades back, western scholars have shown interest to read the cultural and ethnic diversity of the Himalayan Kingdom.

Nicoletti, an Italian anthropologist, who has for over ten years been a specialist in the ethnography of the Himalayas and history of religions of South Asia, is one of the western scholars who studied ethnography of Nepal’s ethnic group.

Many books have been written highlighting various ethnic groups of Nepal. This is the first one - which discuses the Shamanic Solitudes of Kulunge Rai.

Despite being small in size, various ethnic groups perform different kinds of rituals and practices. Shamanism is one of the rituals widely practiced in the mid-hills. For Nicoletti, Shamanism practiced by Kulunge Rai was a big lure.

Published by Vajra Publication, which specializes in publishing books related to Tibetan Buddhism and Himalayan ethnic groups, the book discusses the universe of Kulunge Rai Shamanism in Nepal. Shamanism is widely practiced among the Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups living in most parts of the mid hills of Nepal. Unlike the world’s two old religions – Buddhism and Hinduism - the Shamanism has its own root and unique rituals.

This is what one can find in detail in the book. Nicoletti has completed the book following his long stay in the region observing the practices side by side with the Kulunge Rai community.

A nomadic religion, generated within the space of a double geography that weaves vivid visionary foreshortenings into the flat weft of reality. “In order to write about shamanism, I have chosen a Himalayan stage – that of Kulunge Rai, an ethnic group speaking a Tibet-Burmese language, settled in one of the remotes regions of eastern Nepal. Here among the Kulunge Rai, a rich shamanic tradition still survives, part of a complex mosaic of rituals, which are the monopoly of various officiates, each with his own restricted set of religious activities or cult of specified classes of deities of spirits, “ writes author Nicoletti. Shamanism is not the sole religious reality among he Kulunge Rai. It is only a fragment, but it shares an infinite number of motifs, signs, meanings, languages and metaphors with the whole ritual context of this ethnic groups.”

Despite the widely practiced Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal, the author observes that the shamanism practice has unique elements. According to the author, it is only a fragment, but it shares an infinite number of motifs, signs, meanings, languages and metaphors with the whole ritual context of this ethnic group.

Based on intensive field works and study, Nicoletti narrates the events concerning the founders of the various clans and of the Kulunge Rai villages. From their languages to rituals and origins of the practices, Nicoletti has done excellent work in discussing all the aspects of Kulunge Rai.

From describing the rituals of shamanism among Kulunge Rai, Nicoletti also discusses different aspects of Shamanism and its practices in Nepal. He delves into issues like how Shamanism evolved among Kulunge Rai and how they follow rituals from cradle to the grave.