Gurung
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The Gurung is an ethnic group from the Central region of Nepal. They live primarily in West Nepal’s Gandaki zone, specifically Lamjung, Kaski, Tanahu, Gorkha, Parbat and Syangja districts as well as the Manang district around the Annapurna mountain range. Some live in the Baglung, Okhaldhunga and Taplejung districts and Machhapuchhre as well. Small numbers are believed to be living in Sikkim, Bhutan and India's West Bengal.
As of 2001, there are 543,571 Gurung (Τamu) (2.39% of Nepal's total population) of which 338,925 speak Tamu language.
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[edit] Origin
The Gurungs believe that Lamjung, Kaski and Gorkha are the birth places of their community.
Some anthropologists deduced that the Gurung, Tamu (also spelled Temu) are descended from the historical pre-Mongol, Hun people of Central Asia, and spread and settled in Nepal they came to be known as Gurung. Others argued that they are of more recent Mongol migrations.
However,in view of their language which is the most closely linked to Tibetan among Tibeto-Burmese languages,and some Gurungs' presence north of the Himalayan range(Grierson 1909:182),it is most convincing that Gurungs migrated from Tibet.Their religion,Tibetan lamaism and festival,Losar/Lochhar also support this.
"Pye-tan-lhu-tan" is the sacred scripture of the Gurung, which contain oral accounts of their traditional history.
Though only about half a million in number, the Gurung people have made distinct and immense contributions to history and culture and have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to world peace and progress. At present, the majority of Gurungs live in Nepal, where they form one of the many ethnic groups in the country. In Nepal, Gurungs have and continue to play significant roles in all spheres of the country’s development. Outside Nepal, many Gurungs, some in their renowned role as Gurkha soldiers, have lived and been exposed to diverse world cultures in areas as different as Bhutan, Europe, Hong-Kong, India, Japan, Korea, and the United States of America.
In Nepal, Gurungs can be divided into two categories, highlanders and lowlanders (though Gurungs are predominantly highlanders). Highlanders living on the slopes of Himalayas still rely heavily on a pastoral and agricultural way of life. They grow rice, wheat, maize, millet and potatoes, normally on terraced mountain slopes. They also derive subsistence from sheep breeding for meat and wool, using fierce mastiffs as sheepdogs. The highlanders’ way of life resembles that of Tibetans in terms of religious beliefs and cultural practices. In contrast, lowlanders are more influenced by Hindu religious beliefs and practices. It is not surprising to see Gurungs using a Hindu priest for birth and a Buddhist Lama (priest) for last rites at someone’s death.
Many Gurung families, however, have another important source of income - the pensions and salaries of family members who are in the army. Among them are the legendary fighters of the British Gurkha Regiment, who were honored with Victoria Crosses for their bravery. Indeed Gurungs are renowned for their role as Gurkha soldiers, making unparalleled contributions in far flung places such as Europe during World Wars I and II, Burma, Malaysia, the Falklands, Africa, and India. Most recently, Gurungs have participated and continue to participate in most United Nations peacekeeping missions throughout the world.
Despite many pushes and pulls of modern day life, Gurungs are increasingly eager to learn, preserve, and celebrate their distinct cultural heritage and practices. This includes not only the various belief systems and cultural practices surrounding festivals, birth, marriage, and death rituals, but also the Gurungs’ own language Tamu Kwei, generally considered a Tibeto-Burman dialect. This focus on Gurung culture continues to provide invaluable insights and inspiration toward the future.
In an ever more interdependent world, Gurungs face the challenge of balancing the preservation of their unique cultural heritage with adaptation to the demands of modern life. The majority of Gurungs still struggle for basic opportunities to improve their livelihoods. As in the past, Gurungs need to invest in opportunities that build on their well-known attributes as people who are hard working, trustworthy, adaptable, and quick-learners in meeting the challenges of modern life in Nepal and beyond its boundaries. Gurungs seek support and guidance from individuals, institutions, and governments.
[edit] Lifestyle
Their traditional occupation was based on sheep herding and trans-Himalayan trade. In the 19th and early 20th century, many Gurung were recruited to serve in the British and Indian Gurkha regiments. Today, the Singapore Police, Brunei reserve units and the French Foreign Legion incorporate ethnically Gurung members. While serving in the British Army they have earned more than 6 Victoria Cross awards. Gurungs are not only restricted to military occupations, many live in urban areas and are employed in all types of labor, business and professional services.
Gurungs trace their descent patrilineally, organized into two groups, or moieties of patrilineal clans.
A noted Gurung tradition is the institution of Rodhi where teenagers form fictive kinship bonds and become Rodhi members to socialize, perform communal tasks, and find marriage partners. But the institution is rarely in existence because of its notoriusity in the community. 'Rodhi' literally means weaving and making of baskets.
[edit] Religion
[1]The Gurung are followers of Bön shamanism or Pyetañ Lhutañ which is one of the oldest religions in the world using its own Priests; Pachyu, Klehpree and Bönpo Lama. Tibetan Buddhism was later introduced to the Gurung Community after Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and most of his followers settled in the Northern part of Gandaki Region where the Gurungs are predominantly inhabitants. The Tibetan Lamaism then established the influence of the Tibetan Buddhism in the least educated Gurung community, endangering to the heritage culture, traditions and religion values. Today, some of the Gurungs are followers of Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism). Nowadays, a pocket of Christianity and Muslim follower gurungs can be found. The influence of Bön shamanism is strong among many Gurung.
In Religion categories: Pyetañ Lhutañ is the Bön Religion where the nature and anchesters are worshipped and animism is practised. The animism is the belief in a supernatural power that organises and animates the materials of uniserve.
Hindu influence from the Nepali led to many Gurung practicing Tibetan Buddhism with influences from Hinduism as well as Bön. Pockets of Gurung who live among the Hindus have converted to Buddhism.
According to the 2001 Nepal Census, 69.03% of the ethnic Gurung were Boudhists, 28.75% were Hindus and 0.66% were Christians.
[edit] See also
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- Gurung language
History of Gurungs In 1958, Bernard Pignede, a French student of anthropology came to Nepal to study about Gurungs. He spent seven months in a Gurung village Mohoriya (Kaski, Gandaki) and traveled through many neighboring Gurung villages to do his research. He learned to speak tamu-kuwei (gurung dialect) and documented pretty much everything about the gurungs - their social structure, culture, religion, history, occupations, legends and myths. He translated pae, a ritual and religious practice that one gurung generation has passed down to another for thousands of years. Pae conveys the oral history of gurungs and is considered very sacred. Unfortunately, Pignede died tragically in 1961 at age of 29. After his death, Professor Louis Dumont published Pegnede’s work in 1966. The book was immediately recognized as a major contribution to the anthropology of the Himalayas. Later, two noted anthropoligists - Sarah Harrison and Alan Macfarlane ( www.alanmacfarlane.com ) translated it in English and published the first English version in 1993. Harrison and Macfarlane did further study of gurungs and added more to Pignede's work. The English version of book is called "The Gurungs", which is probably the most acclaimed research on Gurungs so far.
Besides this document, Bernard Pingde also collected other texts from various sources that tell the origin of Gurungs.
a). One of the texts which was in Nepali came from the east of Nepal where the Rais and Limbus live. It goes as follows: "The Kirati are the oldest inhabitants of Nepal. Soyenbumanu who lived in the land of Hemonta had several children, The second Thoinua, went off towards Japan. The third went towards Thailand, Burma and Cochin-China. The eldest went towards China, then Tibet, and arrived at the northern frontier of India. His name was Munainua. He had ten children: Yoktumba, founder of the Limbus, Yakakowa, founder of the race of Rais, Lunpheba, founder of the Larus, Thanpheba, Suhacepa, founder of the Sunwars (Chepangs, Thamis), Gurupa, founder of the Gurungs, Mankapa, founder of the Magars, Toklokapa, founder of the Thakalis, Tamangs and Sherpas, Thandwas, founder of the Tharus and of the Danwars. For thirty-three generations, the Kirati governed in Kathmandu".
b). C.B Ghotane, a Gurung scholar has the following interpretation of Gurung history:
"The origins of the Gurungs, Magars, Tamangs, Tharus, Sunwar and Danawar of central Nepal seem to be connected with the ancestors of the Kirats, an ancient Indian tribal group, who occupied the northern area of the Indo-Gangetic plain and the foothills of the whole Himalayan range which extends from the Kashmir valley to Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.
The earliest civilization of Kathmandu valley was founded by Kirats. They lived in the foothills and the large inner valleys of Nepal. They appear to have fled to the green mountain tops for safety after the overthrow of the Kirat ruler in the first century A.D. They were pushed further north with the invasion of Indo-Aryans, who infiltrated Nepal in great numbers during the period of Muslim attacks on India from the fifteen century.”
Bernard Pingde also collected a few other "vansavalis" that Brahamin priests had prepared. The accountability of such "vansavalis" is questionable since they contain conflicting facts and are influenced by the Hinduism and it’s castism.
Pingde did his research during 50s when most of the Gurungs were still living in their ancient villages and their rich culture and traditions were well preserved. Today, many Gurungs have migrated to the cities of Nepal and abroad. They are struggling to preserve their language and culture. Pingde's book on Gurungs serves as a great source of knowledge for anyone who would like to know about one of the ancient people of Nepal, the Gurungs.
[edit] References
- http://www.tamu-pyelhu.org
- Nepal Population Report 2002
- Rastriya Janajati Bikas Samiti
- Nepal Ethnographic Museum
- A Guide to the Gurungs: Alan Macfarlane and Indrabahadur Gurung (PDF)
- Rise of Mongol Buddhist resistance
- Ethnologue profiles: Eastern Gurung Western Gurung
- Tamu Cultural Festival in December - Nepal
- A History of Nepal - Cambridge University Press
- www.gurungs.org
- http://www.tamudhee.co.uk
- http://www.harkagurung.org
- http://www.harkagurung.net
- http://www.keepnepal.org
- http://www.alanmacfarlane.com
[edit] Further reading
- McHugh, Ernestine (2001). Love and Honor in the Himalayas: coming to know another culture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812217594.
- Mumford, Stanley Royal (1989). Himalayan Dialogue: Tibetan Lamas and Gurung Shamans in Nepal. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 029911984X.
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