LEPCHA TRIBE
ORIGIN ETHNO AND HISTORY
Lepcha refers to an indigenous people inhabiting in Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong districts of West Bengal and Tripura in India. The nomenclatures of language, people and their culture is same, thus they use Lepchas (for the people), Lepcha for the distinct language and also the culture they carry since time immemorial is also referred as Lepcha culture. The other term that refers to both the Lepcha people and their language is called Rong and the endoethnonym of the Lepchas is Mutanchi Rong Kup Rum Kup the meaning of which is popular among the Lepchas as the beloved Children of God. The Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Tribe Order, 1978 listed Lepchas as Scheduled Tribe in the State of Sikkim. The population of Lepcha as per the Census of India, 2011 is 42,909 with 21,614 male and 21295 female.
The land of the Lepchas is popularly known as Nye Mayal Lyang, and in the process of reshuffling people started referring the land as Mayal Lyang, which is the short form of Nye Mayal Lyang. Thus Mayal Lyang refers to the Lepcha land. Scholars may have different views on the origin and the distributions of the Lepchas in India, but there are some commonalities in their observation such as- “The Lepchas are the original inhabitant of Sikkim” by Hooker (1854), Hunter (1876), Risley (1891), Nebesky (1965) and other. Similar views referring to the distribution of the Lepchas in the hills of Sikkim and Darjeeling. The sources from many scholars who have worked on the Lepchas. Some of them are – O’Malley (1907), Kawagachi (1909), Dozey (1922), Gorer (1938) and others.
POPULATION SETTLEMENT PATTERN
Sikkim is the original homeland to the Lepchas, spreading across the Darjeeling district of West Bengal mainly in Kalimpong, also the state of Sikkim and Tripura.
The general consensus is that, it is a reasonable estimation that the total population of Lepchas was approximately more than one lakh in India, However, the Census of India, 2011 give a different picture bringing it down to less than one lakh. According to 2001 Census conducted, the population of the Lepchas of Sikkim was presented as 35,728, while Lepchas of Darjeeling is 34,000. But the accuracy of the census recorded is contended.
FOOD PRODUCTION AND FOOD HABITS
In the past, the Lepchas depended mostly on hunting, fishing and forest products. H.H. Risley in the Gazetter of Sikkim, (1894), wrote,” The Lepchas find innumerable things to eat in the jungles in the shape of fruits, leaves, piths of stems, roots and flower buds. They also eat an enormous amount of fungi”. The Lepcha food consists of grains mostly maize, millet, white millet (called `Kamdak’ – exclusively used by the Lepchas), variety of roots (like Kaching, Kashok, Pakjek, Pashen, etc.), bamboo shoots, nettle leaves with or without its flowers and meat (occasional) prepared in a simple and rustic manner without any spices.
The main typical items of food, distinct from the food items of other communities are given below:
- Suejom:
Suejom is the traditional non vegetarian food of the Lepchas. In this item, non vegetarian stuff is baked inside the soil. A pit of about two feet depth is prepared and a flat stone is placed on the bottom of the pit. Then’ banana leaves or any suitable leaves are placed on the stone. The non vegetarian stuff is then put on the leaves. Red hot stones, burnt in the fire, are kept upon the leaves. Leaves are again placed over the hot stones. Then the pit is filled up with the soil. After five or six hours the non vegetarian stuff is taken out and it is ready for consumption. By adopting such methods the essential protein and fats contains of the non vegetarian can be preserved.
- Buk Mut:
The edible roots mentioned above and other similar roots are baked under fire. The roots are placed in the fire place covered, by ashes and burning charcoal. Over this fire wood is kept burning for some time till the roots are cooked properly. The roots are the important sources of carbohydrates for Lepchas.
- Tok Tok:
The edible roots are boiled in water also. When it is boiled sufficiently the gruel is ready. This is a major source of food for the Lepchas. Tok Tok is also prepared by grinding the grains of millet or Kamdak (a white millet type grain grown without irrigation), on a flat stone called long chyak with a grinding stone. This item is the major sources of calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, sodium, potassium and phosphorus.
- Khu Zom:
A Khu or bread which is thick bread is prepared out of the flour of millet or maize. The flour is mixed with water and is stirred thoroughly till a smooth paste is formed. The paste is poured over a very hot flat stone or a pan. The paste turns into bread which is eaten with tea or water. The paste can also be placed on a leaf and covered again by another leaf. It is placed inside the ashes and burning charcoal for some time. When the leaves are burnt the bread formed out of the paste is taken out and eaten.
- Sukyor Syer:
The bamboo or cane shoots are chopped into small pieces and boiled for a few minutes. After it is cooled the boiled chopped shoots are kept in a container for months. The decomposed bamboo shoots are boiled with water and taken as soup. Bamboo shoots are the important sources of protein and mineral.
- Ponyu Zom:
The food items which are prepared or cooked with the help of bamboo is called Ponyu Zom. The food stuff such as rice, fish and vegetables is put inside the green bamboo container, salt and chopped ginger with one third of water is added. Opening side of bamboo is covered with the leaves and tied properly with bamboo splits. Now the bamboo is placed on the burning fire till green bamboo changes its color. Thus the bamboo be taken out from the fire and kept it for sometime till its temperature decreases. Now the bamboo baked food is ready for serve.
- Khudee:
Khudee is one of the popular food items of Lepchas it is being served in the important and special occasions. In these items the vegetables are chopped and fried properly thereafter, a thin bread of millet or buck wheat’s floor is prepared. About three to four spoons of fried vegetables are placed on the thin bread and make a gentle rolled; hence the khudee is ready for serve.
- Sorong Bee:
Sorong bee is taken as curry or soup. In this item the leaves of Khuzu or urtica dioica plants are boiled with water till the leaves are properly cooked, special ingredients like salt and ghee are added. This item can be prepared within twenty to thirty minutes.
- Mong-noungthuk:
It is a curry or soup prepared in a simple manner. A chopped non vegetarian / vegetarian stuff is boil with water and the paste of millet floor is added into the boiling water, ingredients like ginger, salt, chilly is added and cooked for atlest 6-10 minutes. Mong-noungthuk is one of the common curries among the Lepchas.
- Chi / Aarok:
It is a beverage millet or rice juice. Chi-Aarok is the indigenous alcoholic beverages of Lepchas.
Besides these items, there are many other items which are prepared in a simple, unsophisticated but in a unique manner. They prefer to consume their food stuff in a simple and natural forms so that the nuetritative value of the foods are not destroyed and which makes them strong and energetic.
DRESS AND CUSTOM (ORNAMENT)
Dress has always played an important role in retaining one’s cultural identity. Lepchas have also retained their ethnicity through different dress codes for different occasions and different genders. The traditional dress for Lepcha women is known as Dumvun and similarly the traditional attire for men is called Dumpra. The dresses worn by Lepcha women are:
- Dumvun
- Mugan
- Sitling
- Dumbun: The women usually wear Dumbun, also known as It is an ankle length dress that is worn with a blouse.
- Jyoordong Tago: It is a long gown which is worn over Dam Bun. The gown is usually worn by married women.
- Tago: It is a red color blouse worn with Dum Bun.
- Taroo: It is a white color scarf worn by women around their heads.
Women also adorn themselves with beautiful pieces of following jewellery:
- Alyak (bead necklace),
- Naykong (earrings),
- Akager (bangles).
- Feather- Chut (blassed by Narok Rum, God of music),
- Kawo, Sambrangbor, designed copied from Sambrang reep.
- Punthop, Kakyap, Chap-Chap jeth, Nyerkyup.
- Originally women used to wear Lyak made from seed/grain (Kalyen) ryotkup Lyak, grown in the river bank.
- Bahur,takvill made from cane later on replaced by silver.
Lepcha men also have unique dresses that are reflection of their unique culture. They are:
- Dumpra: It is shawl like cloth wrapped around one shoulder and is held by a belt around the waist.
- Koojoo Vaadoah: The dress is one of the oldest dresses and is made from a plant called It is dark green in color.
- Thakroah: it is a multicolored dress without any embroidery but has different Lepcha patterns embellished upon it. T he dress is made of soft fibers.
- Tago: It is a shirt worn inside Dumpra, designed with high collars covering the neck. Since the shirt is stitched with a loose fit so it is also worn during hunting and fishing expeditions.
- Tomoo: These are white trousers worn underneath Dumpraand are supposed to be above the ankle and below the knee. Tomoos are also worn while working in the field.
Men also wear colored beats (a necklace) around the neck along with a long knife, known as Banpok or payuk. The bag that is used by Lepchas is known as Tanggyip or Tokvyoal and is hanged on the shoulders.
Different types of Lepcha hats are:
- Thyaak Tuk (also known as Shymboo): the hat is made of black velvet or fur; decorated with bird feathers and is round in shape.
- Papri: the hat made from bamboos or cane and is worn during fishing or hunting.
- Samoak: the hat is an artistic creation of Lepcha people and is made with small cane splits.
DANCE, MUSIC FOLKTALES, FOLKLORES, FOLKSONG, INSTRUMENT
Music forms an integral part of Lepcha culture. Different songs are sung on different occasions accompanied by folk instruments such as flutes and drums.
The themes of the songs include marriage, love, war, and agriculture. Some of the songs are: Aprya Vom, Achuley, Tungbaong Fat Khalen Apraya Vom, Bri Munlaom Aprya Vom, Amar Aprya Vom, Takna Lyang, Mao- Mae, Fyen Alaok, Rangnyoo Rangeet, Kunchoong Pat tachat, Lenchhyo Ashyaot, Varto- Amoo Rum go ma boo gum, Amoo Kasa sa, Pano Gaeboo Achyok, Sam Phyet Athen , Ka Sa Sakchin, Poodam Bunu( water filling song) , We may be vanishing but that will not kill our spirit, and many more.
One of the famous songs that talks about Mount Kanchenzunga is:
Golden snowy peaks of kanchanjunga
Is your crown,
The shining morning dews
Playing on Kursaong and Survo flowers,
Your ornaments.
Oh! Mayel Lyang…..
In Mayel Lyang, the Lepcha land,
In the lap of Mount Kanchanjunga,
To be born, live and to die,
And to be able to meet
My ancestors in Poomju in the Himalayas,
After death,
Through the old and ancient path,
I am happy and glad.
Oh! Mayel Lyang…..
FESTIVALS
Lepcha festivals are connected with nature and almost all the prayers, offerings, ceremonies, and festivals are dedicated to trees, plants, mountains, mother deities (nature), and rivers. It is their undying love for the nature that they consider themselves, Mutanchi Rongkup, the children of nature or snowy peak. Since nature is all pervasive, so they do not need a particular place to worship or celebrate. Lepcha Festivities usually begins after Muns/Bongthings/Pudims decides the auspicious place and time. Lepcha festivals include huge feasting, which may last for days (usually three days). Also, most of the festivals usually take place in the harvest season or in the autumn and winter months. Some of the important Lepcha Festivals are:
- Chyu Rum Faat
Chyu in Lepcha stands for mountains or the Himalayan peaks and Rum means the God, so Chyu Rum Faat festival is a festival of offerings and prayers to the guardian deity, Mt. Kanchenjunga its ranges and the foot hills.
- Lyang Rum Faat
The festival is dedicated to worship of an environment to be performed by Muns/Bongthings/Pudims with rituals wherein the prayers are offered to worship the ecosystem for sustainability.
- Lee Rum Faat
Lee in Lepcha culture means house and the Lee Rum Faat is an invocation to the god of the house. The festival is celebrated to appease the god of the house.
- Muk zyuk Ding Rum Faat
Muk in Lepcha means greenery, zyunk means to sprout, and ding is to stand forth. The festival is celebrated to worship the sprouting of grass. Since most of the Lepchas are agriculturalist so this festival holds utmost importance in Lepcha culture.
- Sakyoo Rum Faat
The festival is observed to offer prayers to Mayel Kyong and the seven immortal Lepcha couples who resides in this paradise. Lepchas believe that the growth of seven immortal couples moves in coherence with one full day. It is believed that the couples in the paradise become children in the morning, young people in noon and old during the night.
- Satap Rum Faat
It is an offering to Satap Rum, the hailstorm God performed during winters (January). Through prayers and offerings, God is requested not to send storms, disasters, floods and offered prayers for good ecology and good harvest.
- Tendong Lho Rum faat
Tendong is the name of the hill in Sikkim and Lho in Lepcha means the Hill. It has also been argued that the original name of the hill is Tungrong that means “the uplifted horn or ladder.” The festival considered as one of the oldest festivals of the Lepchas is celebrated on 8th of August every year to worship the hill. On this day people of Sikkim visit the Tendong hill as a pilgrimage and offer prayers to Ethbu Rum. The Lepcha folklore has it that Mount Tendong saved the Lepchas from the great flood that occurred in Sikkim.
- Namsoong
To welcome the new year the Lepcha celebrate a festival is called Namsoong falls sometimes between December – January. It is the celebration of the victory over the death of Lasso Mung. The Namsoong festival is celebrated for a week.
LANGUAGES & DIALECT
In 1977 Lepcha language was accorded official language status through the Sikkim Official language Act, 1977 by the Sikkim Government. Following this, different text books were developed and published for schools and colleges in the Textbook unit of the Education Department. From the eighteenth century onwards, Lepcha people maintained a literary tradition reflecting their vast culture, history, and language. Some important Lepcha publications are:
- First Lepcha grammar: Compiled in 1876 by General G.B. Mainwaring of Bengal Staff Corps, stationed at lebong, Darjeeling.
- First Lepcha English dictionary compiled in 1898 by General G.B. Mainwaring.
- First Lepcha Hindi-English dictionary in 1983 by D.C. Luksom.
- The firstLepcha reader: Rongg Arok Chhukalbo, published in 1961.
- The first literary magazine: Mayel Lyang was published by Renjyong mutanchi Ringmom Kurmom (Sikkim Lepcha literary organization) in 1978.
- Rong DungitVom (Lepcha folk songs) published in 1977 Sonam Tshering Lepcha.
- Kayu Rong Vom Chhyo (Lepcha Songbook) published in 1986 by Hildamit Lepcha.
Literary traditions: Written
Before the advent of Buddhism, Lepchas had their own literary tradition, which in the seventeenth century it was overlapped during the Chogyal regime the priority was given for conversion to Buddhism.
The orthography is traditionally used as an initial step in reading and writing Lepcha and it is well located in a famous work entitled Lazóng. Lazóng are Lepcha consonants recited by a teacher in the right melody enabling students to speak, read and memorize the letters. After students gain the basic knowledge of Lepcha language through Lazóng then they are taken to the next learning approach that is writing by using another famous work, Shuyuk Llápjen. However, the traditional approach of using and learning the Lepcha alphabet is different from the modern learning/version, which tends to follow the Devanāgarī alphabet.
The Lepcha literary tradition apart from the alphabet learning comprises of literary genres such as story or narrative (Sung), book (Chyo), prayers and blessings (Munlom), legend or biography (Namthar), poetry, fiction, folktales, folksongs, cultural writings, and religious works. Lepcha book (cho) tends to convey a canonical message; Lepcha Namthar is a text informing about the local legends. The legend includes chapters on the biography of some local saint or some native lore. Sung, likewise are traditional narratives or stories that were originally transmitted orally. The literary tradition and their works include:
- Lepcha stories: C.de Beauvoir Stocks’s work narrating traditional Lepcha stories and an article entitled Legende vom Turmbau (legend of the Building of the Tower) by Nebesky Wojkowitz.
- Lepcha Legends: the works of Geoffrey Gorer, Matthias Hermanns, Amal Kumar Das, George Kotturan and Richard Keith Sprigg describes several Lepcha legends.
- Lepcha Myths: the description and analysis of various Lepcha myths are done in the works of Halfdan Siiger and Jorgen Rischel. The work also encompasses the analyses and translation of Lepcha texts. Various works provide a translation of traditional myths and legends. The most relevant are Kharpu Tamsang’s books that capture traditional stories or Lepcha mythology in the vernacular language.
RELIGIOUS BELIEF
Lepcha traditional religion is based on oral traditions performed by the Mun /Bongthing Padim. They are regarded as the custodians of Lepcha culture. They play an active role in healing illness, exorcizing demons and guiding souls to afterlife. All the rituals and religious ceremonies from birth to death are initiated by Mun /Bongthing Padim who act as an intermediary between Gods, humans, and spirits. It is also believed that Mun /Bongthing Padim can interact with the supernatural.
The Lepchas are divided into different religious communities such as Buddhist, Christianity and Hindu but they have a common cultural denominator, which is their tradition. The commonality, for instance, can be traced through a common expression Rongkup-Rumkup used by all the Lepchas belonging to different faiths, which means “Lepcha, the Children of God.” Another commonality between all faiths is that almost all the prayers are an invocation or are directed towards nature such as trees, plants, mountains, rivers, and streams. Naamthars, the manuscript covering the different aspects of Lepcha culture, history, and philosophy mentions about the relevance and wide acceptance of Mun- Bongthing tradition amongst Lepchas. The Mun and Bongthings tradition is believed to have emerged with the creation of Nyolik Nyosaong Mun and Azaor Bongthing by Rums (means God here) to look after the welfare of the world.
They are nature worshippers. Nozyongnyu is considered as the Chief Goddess of the Lepcha tradation and It-Bumoo is acknowledged as the mother creator, a female earth deity. Lepchas have separate deities for separate clan, village, family, and region. The clan deities are usually named after the names of peaks and rivers; the village deities have some natural environment and the regional deities are those associated with Kanchenjunga.
The rituals and ceremonies are usually performed for the benefit of the individual households and community. It follows a ritualistic process in which the first offering is made to the devils followed by a second ceremony. In the second ceremony offerings to the Gods and Goddesses of Khanchedzonga, Chu Rum Faat. The presence and services of Mun/Bongthing/Padim in all occasions and ceremonies like birth, marriage, and death are necessary for Lepcha tradition.
They also performs various rituals, which are therapeutic in its effect. Without using any herbal medicine or amulets. They can cast off the evil spirits and remove bad luck by directly confronting the Mung or Rum. During the ritual process, they bargains with the evil spirits that ranges from accepting an animal sacrifice in place of human life to moving of the spirit into a rough image representing the person being trapped by the spirit.
Despite the introduction of Buddhism and Christianity to the Lepchas of Sikkim, the traditional Lepcha culture and their faith in the local gods and goddesses continued without any discomfort or hesitation. In this religious intervention and domination, various texts were translated into the vernacular language. The translation of the Bible into the Lepcha language is considered one of the revolutionary steps in an attempt to convert Lepchas into Christianity. The notions around acceptance and non acceptance of Christianity aroused with the realization of the “exclusive attitude” of Christianity, which tend to prevent people from following their own traditional culture and rituals. In the 19th century, the conversion of Lepchas into Christianity by Scottish missionaries took place, which resulted in the distancing of few Lepchas from their traditional belief system. Despite the Christian and non Christian divide, the traditional religion and Buddhism retained its position in Lepcha religious life, thereby reducing the dominance of Christianity in the Lepcha culture and language.
The different-layered religion in the Lepcha culture though co-exists together through the equal division of roles, rituals, and values towards the community and people but the unspoken tension between the two coexist. Accommodating Buddhism into the Lepcha culture has somewhere or the other eroded the Lepcha identity thereby resulting in some minor or major changes. For instance, the Buddhist practice of cremation of the dead (especially Muns and Bongthings) is not fully acceptable by Lepchas as they believe that cremating the body marks the end of the lineage. They rather opine that the dead body of the Mun or Bongthing should be buried according to the traditional Lepcha tradition as it facilitates the coming back of the spirit to the lineage of the deceased Mun or Bongthing and the continuity can be maintained.