Lepcha people

The Lepcha (population: 50,000) are the aboriginal inhabitants of present day Sikkim. Many Lepcha are also found in western and southwestern Bhutan, the Ilam District of eastern Nepal and even the hills of West Bengal. They are also known as the Rong, Rongke, or Rongpa.

Origins

The origin of the Lepcha is obscure. They speak a Tibeto-Burman language which some classify as Himalayish. Based on this some anthropologists suggest they emigrated directly from Tibet to the north, while others suggest a more complex migration that started in southeast Tibet, migrated to either Thailand or Burma, then navigated the Ayeyarwady River and Chindwin rivers, crossed the mighty Patkoi range coming back west, and finally entered into ancient India. While migrating westward through India they are surmised to have passed through southern Bhutan before reaching their final destination near Kanchenjunga.

Language

The Lepcha have their own language, also called Lepcha. It belongs to the Tibeto-Kanauri group of the Tibeto-Burman languages. The Lepcha write their language in their own script, called "Róng" or Lepcha script, which is derived from the Tibetan script. It was developed between the 17th and 18th century, possibly by a Lepcha scholar named Thikúng Men Salóng. The world's largest collection of old Lepcha manuscripts is found with the Himalayan Languages Project in Leiden, The Netherlands with over 180 Lepcha books.

Religion

Most Lepchas are Tibetan Buddhist by religion, which was brought by the Bhutias from the north, although a few have also adopted Christianity. However, the Lepcha have not given up their shamanistic religion which is known as Mun. In practice, rituals from Mun and Buddhism are frequently observed alongside one another. According to the Nepal Census of 2001, out of the 3,660 Lepcha in Nepal, 88.80% were Buddhists and 7.62% were Hindus.

Customs

The Lepcha trace their descent patrilineally. The marriage is negotiated between the families of the bride and the groom. If the marriage deal is settled, the lama will look to check the horoscopes of the boy and girl to schedule a favourable date for the wedding. Then the boy's maternal uncle, along with other relatives, approaches the girl's maternal uncle with a khada, a ceremonial scarf and one rupee, and gains the maternal uncle's formal consent.

The wedding takes place at noon on the auspicious day. The groom and his entire family leave for the girl's house with some money and other gifts that are handed over to the bride's maternal uncle. Upon reaching the destination, the traditional Nyomchok ceremony takes place, and the bride's father arranges a feast for relatives and friends. This seals the wedding between the couple.

Sex is a common recreation for the Lepcha, beginning at age 10 or 11 and lasting throughout their lives. Adultery is expected and not viewed as a problem. During the harvest festival time, the Lepcha produce homemade liquor to enhance the harvest. At this time, 4- and 5-year olds mimic copulation with each other, at the encouragement of their elders (Meyer). [http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/LEPCHA.HTM]

Notes

1. Meyer, Jerrold S. and Quenzer, Linda F "Psychopharmacology" Sinauer, 2005

External links

* [http://spaces.msn.com/members/lepcha Silas Lepcha Space]
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/lepcha.htm Lepcha script]
* [http://www.lepcha.info/ Research]
* [http://home.messiah.edu/~rl1204/ Lepcha Homepage]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=LEP Ethnologue Report]
* [http://sikkim.nic.in/north/html/lepcha.htm Info]
* [http://orion.oac.uci.edu/~dbell/html/body_gorer.html Marriage Customs]