Ugen Bhutia
Deepmoni Gogoi
INTRODUCTION-
From times immemorial, perhaps
after the birth of so called “Gods and religion” human civilization has fought
and is still fighting with each other to show their faith towards their God and
religion. This included escalation of one’s faith and domination and
exploitation of others. However, adoption of democracy in most of the countries
gave birth to the hope of peaceful settlements of conflicting issues. India has
adapted and turned out to be the largest democracy in spite of its
multidimensional ethnic diversity for building peace in its diverse
socio-cultural structure. But, the reality remains different. Today, despite of
many policies and programs, thousands of intellectual debates, India suffers
from ethnic conflicts and cultural imbalance. This is mainly due to lack of awareness of the grass
root level problems and lack of proper plans for integration and deprivation of
participation of different cultures together, which could have improved the
status of democracy in the nation.
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| Statue of Unity: Lepcha King Thi kong Tek and Khey Bumsa |
Among all the festivals celebrated in Sikkim
Pang Lhabsol is a festival observed by the various indigenous communities of
the state. It has been traditionally an event which depicts the loving nature
of all the people who take part in it and thereby helps in the harmonious
development of the state.
Similar to the other parts of the
country, Sikkim too is a culturally diverse state. Bhutias, Lepchas and Nepalese
are it indigenous communities who are different from each other on every
aspects of their life like language, food habits, clothing etc. But despite
these differences all the three communities come together to celebrate the
festival which is originally a Buddhist festival. As Lepchas and Bhutias belong
to the Buddhist community, the participation of Nepalese in the event
highlights the growing consciousness about being the Sikkimese and has turned
this festival into state festival. It is the most unique festival celebrated in Sikkim, it is
held on the 15th day of the seventh month according to lunar calendar that
usually falls on the end of August or the month of September.
Once independent and ruled by a
Bhutia King, Sikkim today is 22nd state of Indian Union. With the
total area of 2,818 square miles or 7,096 square kilometres, it shares its
boundaries with Nepal on the west and Bhutan in the East and China in the
North.
Lepchas are considered to be the
original inhabitants of Sikkim. On the other hand Bhutias migrated to Sikkim much
before 16th century from Tibet followed by Nepalese from Nepal. After
the merger with India in 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of
Indian Union and democracy flowed into the region.
Background of Pang Lhabsol
The history of Pang Lhabsol goes
back to 13th century when a prince of Kham Minyak House (China
occupied Tibet), while on pilgrimage in Tibet, performed a miraculous feat of
raising the main pillar of Sakya Monastery single handed which work otherwise
was possible to be executed by one hundred thousand people. He was, therefore,
given the title of Khye-Bum-Sa meaning ‘the strength of one lakh men’ by Sakya
Lama and was also offered Jomo Guru, daughter of Sakya Lama for marriage, which
Khye-Bum-Sa accepted. Soon newlywed couple settled at Phari in Chumbi Valley (now
part of China occupied Tibet). As the
couple had no child, they consulted the religious authorities for their
blessings for child so as to maintain the continuity of their hierarchy. After
deep consultation, the religious authorities were able to see the prophecy that
the lepcha seer in the land lying southwards would be able to give the boon of
children. Pursuing this prophesy, khye Bumsa proceeded southwards of Tibet and
passing through Yakla reached the present Lingchom area by sheer fulfilment of
supernatural events. There Khye Bhumsa met a hoary headed couple engaged in
cultivation and he enquired about the Lepcha seer of them. The couple lead the
strangers towards a small hut like cave Phyak- Tse below Phiongong at present
Rong-pa, they saw the hoary headed man wearing his native apparel and sitting
on a raised throne. He was Thekong Tek, Lepcha Chief of Sikkim.
After Khye Bumsa stated the
purpose of his visit, Lepcha chief blessed him a son. Soon after their return,
couple had a son and they again visited Lepcha Chief to express their thanks. It
was then that the Thekong Tek insisted for oath of Blood Brotherhood between
him and Khye Bumsa.
On a raw hide of animal sat
Thekong Tek and Khye Bumsa with the intestine of the animal tied around them
and blood splattered all around. The swearing of the oath of Blood Brotherhood
took place under the witness of Khanchendzonga. To perpetuate the treaty and
its objective of unity, peace and harmony amongst the future generation of the
land, a symbolic stone was erected as per tradition with blood splattered over
it. The place where the oath was taken is presently known as ‘kabi Longtsok’ in
North Sikkim. ‘Kabi’ meaning our blood, ‘long’ meaning stone and ‘Tsok’ meaning
erect in Lepcha. Altogether meaning ‘the erect stone with our blood which is an
oath sworn’.
It is
this oath or the treaty of blood brotherhood that today is celebrated as Pang
Lhabsol meaning “worship of the guardian deities” in Sikkim. It has been
celebrated from the time of Chogyal (king) Chakdor Namgyal (early 17th
century), in commemoration of this treaty.
This inherited ritual is
performed by invoking the deities and paying tribute to them. Holy
Khanchendzonga which is still believed to be the protector of the land is one
of them. In earlier occasion Lepcha Boongthing (priest) who were believed to be
empowered with transcendental powers and good enchanter, were assigned to
perform these rituals. Performance of this ritual indicates that the promise of
ancestors has been maintained by their progeny.
Pang Lhabsol and Democracy-
Sikkim does not appear to have a
long history of conflicts among different communities. Though there are some
evidence of cultural exchange and inter-community marriage among the members of
the three major communities in the past. During Chogyal (king) era, Pang
Lhabsol was celebrated as the brotherhood treaty between the two communities
i.e. Lepcha and Bhutia.the recent involvement of the Nepalis in the festival
has escalated the communal harmony. The equal participation of all the major
communities in the state highlights their inherent interest for the
festival.The festival though originally observed by the Lepchas and the Bhutias
, but in course of time the Nepalese
also started observing this festival.like the other communities the Nepalese
too observersed each and every ritual sincerely. Being so engrossed in this festival we find
the Nepalese assimilating with the other communities.
the President of the Pang-Lhabsol
organizing Committee Mr T.Lachungpa on the occasion of erecting the Statue of
Unity in 1996, stated in a press meet that “the people from all communities got
together for the celebration and Pang Lhabsol’s real significance was
understood by all”. He further added that “the significance of the occasion is
that the Sikkimese has never come together in such numbers and with so much
enthusiasm to celebrate a festival unique to Sikkim. I’m not saying that we
should not participate in other functions and programmes, in fact, we should do
so with equal enthusiasm, but we should also ensure that this particular
occasion is celebrated in a bigger and grander fashion in the years to come.
There is no platform other than this when all Sikkimese can come together as a
single unit and celebrate their unity” the words of such a noble person who
gave his heart out for the commencement of the inauguration of the ‘statue of
unity’ still remains true. Even after 16 years, Pang Lhabsol is the only
festival which reminds people to be united, irrespective to their religion,
caste or community and integrates them at one place to celebrate a single
festival.
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| Pic: panoramio.com |
Conclusion:
One of the main objectives of
democracy is the development of a participatory way of life dedicated to the
liberation of the potentialities of its members and requires processes by which
different cultures and groups within a given culture, and individuals divided
by innumerable other differences can co-operate to solve problems. Pang lhabsol
is a festival which ensures participation equally by the members of the society
belonging to various ethnic communities in Sikkim. This festival acts as a
thread that binds the people of Sikkim with a single identity of a nation.
References
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1996- Souvenir-
Inauguration of Statue of Unity.
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1998- Souvenir-
Celebration of Pang Lhabsol as day of brotherhood.
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1996- Sikkim
Observer-National Hill Weekly.
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2011- Sikkim-Ethnicity And Political Dynamics
-
Democracy
as Culture-Deweyan Pragmatism in a globalising world-
Edited by Sor-Hoon Tan & John Whalen-Bridge,
Published-2008
This
paper was presented at a National Seminar on "Democracy and Diversity in
North-East India" at Guwahati university by Ugen Bhutia and Deepmoni Gogoi
(Sikkim University).
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