Lepchas and their Tradition The Lepchas are the aboriginal
inhabitants of Sikkim and they are mostly settled in North Sikkim. They are
mostly Buddhist but many of them have now adopted Christianity. The lepcha
folklores are melodious and contain lots of interesting folk stories. The
origins and tradition of lepchas is better described in the following write-up. This
is the Lepcha’s won biblical account of the sacred process of creation. Since
they believe that they were lovingly created out of mother nature, they proudly
call themselves Mutanchi Rongkup- Mother’s Loved Ones ! Myths and legends of
Sikkim, Renjyong of the Lepchas, go no further into time than the story of
creation cited above. The Lepchas, who have carried their
ancient tribal social culture over to present age, have a rich repertoire of
romantic folklore. A cozy rendezvous with these ancient tales opens up a door
that leads us to the Lepchas’ ever simple life fashioned by their unpretentious
outlook and uncomplicated philosophies. But apart from their legion of fabulous
folklore, authentic information on their historical back ground is still a
rarity. However, trudging through an
inexhaustible treasure of Lepcha folklore, we come across a people whose roots,
in context to Sikkim and adjoining regions, are far more ancient than almost
all other tribes. This is simply borne by the fact that the oldest surviving
names of various mountains, hills, gorges, rivers, lakes and caves in the
region are Lepcha in origin. These plentiful name suggest that in the distant
days, now shrouded by the mist of
centuries, it was hegemony that was paramount in the region. Chunakh-Aakhen, an
old Lepcha book on their history, mentions that a Lepcha king Pohartak Panu
sent his army to Takshashila to help emperor Chandra Gupta fight the invader
Alexander the Great, Chandra Gupta is Chandra Gop Panu in Chunakh-Aakhen. The Lepcha folklore mentions of a
man of extraordinary resilience, courage and vision who is credited with
organizing Lepchas into a powerful tribal organization. His name is Turve. When
Khizar Khan and his successors were ruling over Delhi (1414-1451 AD), Turve was
busy carrying out a Sikkim with its political boundary. To achieve this he had
created a powerful regiment of able bodied youths. They were fully trained in
the art of guerilla warfare and raided enemy camps in lightening speed. This
force, guided by Turve’s acute sense of strategy and a vision for grandeur, was
able to forge a lasting unification between the Lepcha and the Limbu
confederations. Result was the establishment of a nascent kingdom which was to
be known as the kingdom of Sikkim in the later centuries. Turve’s achievements
were considered so great that he was decorated with the title of Punu, meaning
“King”, and was elevated as one. Tradition puts Turve’s capital
somewhere near the present day Kurseong in the Darjeeling district of West
Bengal Like many other tribes in the
Sub-Himalayan region, Lepchas belong to the Mongolian racial stock. There are
quite a few conjectures that, before migrating into the eastern Himalayan
foothills, Lepchas might have been residing in the south-eastern region of
China. From here they moved into Thailand and Burma. Restless people as they
were, the Lepchas kept moving towards north-west of Burma. Negotiating
turbulent Irrawady and Chindwin rivers, as also crossing the mighty Patkai
range, Lepchas entered into what was an ancient India. Still moving westwards
they finally reached the land of Kanchenjunga. It was the land of their quest,
an Utopia. A chunk of blissful heaven on earth they aptly called their own Nye
Mayel Lyang, or a land “as pure as heaven”. Conjectures apart, it is interesting
to note that there exists wide ranging
similarities of culture and customs between the Lepchas and some tribes of
north-east India like Nishi, Adi, Apa-Tani, Miri and Mismi. To give one
striking example we have this Lepcha word for salutation- Kham-ri. In Meiti,
one of the ethnic languages of manipur, it is Khurum-jari ! Perhaps all these
tribes are genetically linked and were partners in their explorations of new
lands in the dim and distant past. Nevertheless, anthropologically
Lepchas are an autochthonous people whose roots lie much deeper that the
history of Sikkim. The bulk of the Lepchas practice tantric form of Mahayana
Buddhism, and a considerable section follows Christian faith. Lepchas refer to their language as ‘Rong-aring’
or ‘Rongring’ and falls under the Tibeto-Burman family of languages.
There are quite a few amazing aspects about the Lepcha language. Words
associated with obscenity are part of everyday vocabulary. It is not considered
taboo to utter these words which, in any other language, one might hesitate or
never utter in public. The other interesting thing about
the Lepcha language is that the Lepcha wiseman seem to have sat together to
give names of various animate and inanimate objects. Hence, almost all the
names of animals start with the letter ‘Sa’, and the names of different
types of snakes and various bamboo products start with the letters ‘Ta’
and ‘Pa’ respectively. Hence Surya, Suthong, su-chyak, suna, suko,
sangi, sattim, sahu are the names of tiger, leopard, bear, dear, lion,
procupine and monkey respectively. Panu-bu, Pamol-bu, Panul-bu, Palong-bu,
are some of the names of various kinds of snakes. Similarly, Ta-zyang,
Tangar, Tangjung, Tafu, Takchim, Talyung are the names of different bamboo
products. Such communal consensus on matters of importance seems an enduring
aspect of the Lepcha life which effectively curtailed protracted and
unfructuous confrontations. Like all other languages belonging
to Sino-Tibetan family, Lepcha language reflects ample monosyllabic traits. As
is peculiar with this family of speeches,
constraints in the range of vocabulary have helped musical elements in
the Lepcha speech. Their language is not ‘vile’ as some hackneyed tradition
suggests. Instead, the Lepcha speech, besides being soft in itself, is quite
euphonic too. Lepchas have their own script but
most of their ancient literary works, called namthars, are found recorded in
Tibetan script. Gazetteer of Sikkim mentions that it was the third Chogyal,
Chador Namgyal who invented the Lepcha script. But the Lepchas believe that
their script existed even before the reign of Chador Namgyal. Some tradition mentions
the name of one Thikung Men Salong as being the originator of Lepcha script.
But Men Salong is also surrounded by considerable controversies, making him a
contemporary of Chador Namgyal by some, and an able minister of the much
earlier Turve Punu by others. In this respect, a consensus of sort is yet to be
arrived at among Lepchalogists. Till then different views will continue to fuel
the speculations. Like all other ancient tribes,
besides being skilled hunters, Lepchas could have been painstaking food
gatherers once. Our first knowledge of this ancient people comes across when
they were already practicing shifting or jhoom cultivation. Clearing new forest
lands every few years the Lepchas cultivated two types of dry-land paddy called
‘Dumbra’ and ‘Ongrey-Zo’, ‘Mongbree’, a kind of millet, and ‘Kunchung’, or
maize eaten in different forms, were other main agricultural products. ‘Zo-Mal’
or rice was meant only for important occasions like wedding, house warming and
celebrating the ‘Nambun’, Lepcha New Year. Lepchas are like magicians in bamboo
crafts and produce a wide variety of aesthetically beautiful baskets and such
other things that come handy in daily chores. Their knowledge of poisonous and
non-poisonous plants, snakes and information on other flora and fauna are
phenomenal. But, with modernity making steady inroads into the Lepcha way of
life such age-old wisdom are increasingly cruising away into the sphere of
myths and legends. The traditional cloths of the
Lepchas are woven in exquisite colour combinations. Men’s dress is called
Thokro-Dum and the female’s dress is called Dumdyam or Dumvum. There is an
obvious contradiction between Thokro-Dum and Dumvum. One essential man’s wear
making a complete Thokro-Dum is a white pyjama that reaches only upto the calf
and resembles a karate player’s outfit. The short pyjama suggests that the
Lepchas might have originated or lived long in a marshy land. However, the
female attire negates this suggestion. Dumvum is a an ankle length flowing
dress suggesting dry land inhabitants. The male dress is almost always coarse,
sturdy and durable fitting to the rigours of life in the open field and forest.
The female dress is made of softer material and worn in the manner that is
petitely graceful. Once an agricultural community, the
modern day Lepchas have versified their interests into many other vocations.
Now, scheduled as an ancient tribe, Lepchas are fast learning to cope with the
hurly-burly of cyber age civilization. But, howevermuch a Lepcha may become
modern in his outward bearings, his innermost essentials remain the same – shy,
simple and sincere. Always carrying that chunk of blissful Nye Mayel Lyang in
each of their unsullied heart. AACHULAY. KINGTSOOM ZAONGBOO CHOO: This is the Lepcha original name of Mt.
Kanchenjunga. The Lepcha meaning of Kingtsoom Zaongboo Choo is the bright
auspicious forehead peak, because the stately pinnacle of Mt. Kanchanjunga’s
snow is wonderously tipped with red and gold under the first rays of the rising
sun and the last rays of the setting sun. Also the cord of birth binds the
Lepchas to this holy mountain peak and as such the Lepchas worship this
Kingtsoom Zaongboo Choo as their guardian deity, for the Lepcha tradition says
that their first proginators Fodongthing and Nazaongnyoo were created by God
from pure, virgin snows of Kingtsoom Zaongboo Choo’s pinnacle. Early in the
morning at sunrise and late in the evening at sunset, if you are care to look
at Kingtsoom Zaongboo Choo, Mayel Molook Lyang’s highest peak, you will be
enthralled by the exalted splendour, grandeur and brilliant and gorgeous
appearance and colouring. You will feel as if you have seen God for the first
time—you find him so nonchalantly solemn. The most adorable name ever conferred
by the Lepchas of old Kingtsoom Zaongboo Choo, their place of very creation or
birth. Later, when Tibetans entered into Lepcha Land, they named this peak as Kangchen Zongnga, meaning the mighty snowy peak . The Sikkimese Bhotias worship this peak as Kuvera, God of wealth. The Indians call this peak as Kanchanjunga, meaning the purest of pure and later when the British came they mispronounced it as Kanchanjunga. KABI LAONG TSAOK: this is Lepcha
name of a historical place of great importance near Gangtok, the capital of
sikkim, where the Lepcha-Bhotia covenant was solemnized in around 1592 between
Thikoongtek, the High Priest of the Lepchas and Jokheboo-Boomsar, the first
Tibetan intruder into Sikkim, where nine stones were erected to mark the place
and held their sacred covenant –Laong Tsaok, meaning the erected standing
stone. Lepcha tradition says that a bull was decapitated and a solemn oath was
sworn over the blood that the Lepchas and the Tibetan would never fight but
live as blood brothers an peace and harmony and if any of the two do not keep
this sacred covenant, curse will befall upon him and his descendants. On the 15th
day of the ninth month by the Tibetan Calendar, the Lepchas worship Kabi Laong
Tsaok, offer Chi, the national drink, Zo (rice, Tafa (parched rice) Ngoo
(fish), Fo (bird) and Rip (flower) in memory of this sacred covenant but later
the Tibetan Kings of Sikkim never cared to keep this oath and the Lepchas
believed that by not keeping the sacred oath, the Tibetan Kings of Sikkim could
not bear the weight of the oath and thus the prophecy of the ancient curse is
fulfilled by the downfall of the Namgyal dynasty that ruled over Sikkim from
1642-1975, came to an end on the 16th may 1975 and Sikkim became the
22nd State of India. The Lepchas believed that Thikoongtek and
Nyikongngal, the High Priest and the High Priestess of the Lepchas who
solemnized the sacred covenant at Kabi Laong Tsaok are said to be still living
in the Yahom Valley which lies under the slopes of Kongchen Choo(Mt.Kongchen),
meaning the crooked shaped mountain. They also believed that when everything is
destroyed by another flood or calamity, these two would again visit Sikkim in
order to create all in the world. |