Musahar Community
Musahar or Mushahar are a Dalit community basically live in the eastern Gangetic plain and the Terai. They are popular as Banbasi.The other names of the Musahar are Bhuiyan and Rajawar. Their name literally means ‘rat-eater’ due to their main former occupation of catching rats. And there are many who are still force to do this work due to destitution and poverty. The Musahar consists of three endogenous clans: Bhagat, Sakatiya and Turkahia. They are now mostly landless agricultural laborers and sometimes still have to resort to rat catching to survive during lean times.
They are one of the most marginalise castes in India, even among Dalits. Although the Musahar are Hindu, and celebrate most local Hindu festivals. Some of them are Holi and Diwali, they believe in a number of tribal deities, including Dinabhadri and Buniya Baba. Musahars also have their own rituals like the kul pooja. At kul puja which participants bathe in boiling milk to worship ancestors. They also offer liquor during poojas and weddings.
Gandharva Community
The Gandharvas are the foremost representatives of traditional Nepali folk music who travel different places to entertain people. And to spread the information of some events to them. They are the musical entertainers like minstrels or troubadours. Before the time of modern means of communication like the television, the radio, the telephone etc., they were one of the major means of entertainment as well as information. Despite having such a significant contribution, they are not allow enough space in the pages of history and the scholarly articles. The caste-based Nepali society imposed them the role of singing and dancing. But did not pay attention on the exploration of their sacred religious origin and performance.
Thakali community
Thakali people are an ethnolinguistic group . They are originating from the Thak Khola region of Mustang District in the Dhaulagiri zone of Nepal. Thak-sat-se is the traditional area of the Thakali community. It lies over Mustang District, the valley of the Kali Gandaki River in western Nepal. According to the 2001 census, Thakali population of around 12,973 constitute only 0.06% of Nepal’s population. As per the 2011 Nepal census, there are 13,215 Thakali people in Nepal. Thakalis are some of Nepal’s most successful business people. They trade in places like Tukuche and Thaksatse. Thakalis were classified according to the place of Mustang they came from. They are owners of Nepal’s hotels and motels. However, due to extensive trade all over Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, many Thakalis have resettled in Pokhara, Kathmandu and in southern Nepal.
Thakalis are very organize people. They have neat kitchens and keep tidy houses. Lhafewa (Bar Barse Kumbha Mela), Tornala (ancestral worship) and Falo (Kumar Yatra) are the major festivals of Thakalis. Dhnom is the title of the Thakali priest who performs the work of the local shaman. Madaal, Khaprang and Thamken are their main musical instruments. Thakali people are divide into 3 groups which are Teen Gauley (Thakali from Thini, Syang and Chimang village), Marphali (Thakali from Marpha village, classify as Hirachan Pannachan, Jwarchan, and Lalchan), 4 jaat (Thakali from southern part of mustang classified as Sherchan, Tulachan, Bhattachan, Gauchan).
Newar Community
Newar are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Newars form a linguistic and cultural community of primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities following Hinduism and Buddhism with Newar language as their common language. The Newars caste have develop a division of labor and a sophisticated urban civilization not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills. Newar have continue their age-old traditions and practices and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture and civilisation of Nepal.
Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine. Newar religious culture is rich in ceremony and is mark by frequent festivals throughout the year. Many festivals are tie to Hindu and Buddhist holidays and the harvest cycle. Street celebrations include pageants, jatras or processions in which a car or portable shrine is parade through the streets and sacred masked dances. Other festivals are mark by family feasts and worship. The celebrations are held according to the lunar calendar, so the dates are changeable.
Sherpa
Sherpa is one of the Tibetan ethnic groups, native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, Tingri County and the Himalayas. The term Sherpa or sherwa derives from the Sherpa language words shar (“east”) and པ pa (“people”), which refer to their geographical origin of eastern Tibet. Most Sherpa people live in the eastern regions of Nepal and Tingri County however, some live farther west in the Rolwaling Valley and in the Helambu region north of Kathmandu, Nepal. Sherpas establish gompas where they practice their religious traditions. Tengboche was the first celibate monastery in Solu-Khumbu.
Men wear long-sleeve robes called kitycow, which fall to slightly below the knee. Chhuba is tied at the waist with a cloth sash called kara, creating a pouch-like space called tolung which can be used for storing and carrying small items. Traditionally, chhuba were made from thick home-spun wool, or a variant called lokpa made from sheepskin. Chhuba are worn over raatuk, a blouse (traditionally made out of bure, white raw silk), trousers called kanam, and an outer jacket called tetung.
Tharu
The Tharu people themselves say that they are a people of the forest. In Chitwan, they have lived in the forests for hundreds of years practicing a short fallow shifting cultivation. They plant rice, wheat, mustard, corn and lentils, but also collect forest products such as wild fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants and materials to build their houses; hunt deer, rabbit and wild boar, and go fishing in the rivers and oxbow lakes. The Tharus never went abroad for employment – a life that kept them isolated in their own localities. In this isolation they developed a unique culture free from the influence of adjacent India, or from the mountain groups of Nepal.
The most striking aspects of their environment are the decorate rice containers, colorfully painte verandahs and outer walls of their homes using only available materials like clay, mud, dung and grass. Much of the rich design is roote in devotional activities and transfer from one generation to the next, occasionally introducing contemporary elements such as a bus or an airplane.
Limbu
Limbu bury their dead, and practice and observe death rituals for two to three days. During a death ceremony, they put the head of the dead person in a chares ko thal (Brass bowl), and coin on the forehead. They block the nose and ear and put alcohol on the lips of the dead body. Nikwasamma is a death ritual done to cleanse the house by Phedangma. Relatives, neighbours, and visitors bring money as respect and put an offering on the top of the dead body. Sons of dead person shave their head and eyebrows in respect for the body of the dead. They are recognize as the new heir in the family. The sons bury the dead body, covering it with white cloth, in a wooden box. The length of the mourning period varies depending on the gender of the decease.
Tradations of limbu
Weddings, mourning, gift exchanges, and conflict resolution involve consumption of alcohol.Especially the Limbu traditional beer popularly known as thee which is drunk from a container called tongba.Dances are arrange for visitors to the village. These affairs give young Limbu girls and boys a chance to meet and enjoy dancing and drinking. Limbu are an indigenous and native people of the Himalayan Limbuwan region of Nepal.
The original name of Limbus is Yakthung, Yakthumba or Yakthungba. Limbu males and Limbu females are called “Yakthumma” or “Yakthungma”. Ancient texts state that “Yakthung” or “Yakthum” is a derivative from Yaksha and some interpret its meaning as the “Yaksha winner”. In Limbu language it means “heroes of the hills” (Yak – hills, thung or thum – heroes or mighty warriors), which connotates with the ancient Kiratis. Subba is also title given by the Shah Kings, only to Limbu village chiefs. Subba was not an indigenous Yakthung terminology, but now the two terms are almost interchangeable. Limbus practice many of their own life cycle rituals. They believe that lineage is not transmit patrilineally. Rather, a woman inherits her mother’s gods, and when she marries and lives with her husband she brings with her the deities that will then be recognize as the household deities.
Chepang
Chepang is an indigenous ethnic group living in Central and Southern Nepal especially in Chitawan, Gorkha and Dhading districts and also known as one of the isolate tribal groups of Nepal. They have their own language known by Chepang but is called Chyo-bang by the people themselves. Over the past two or three generations, the Chepang have begun to slowly shift from a semi-nomadic (slash-and-burn) lifestyle to a more settled way of life, relying increasingly upon the production of permanent fields of maize, millet and bananas. The severe topography, however, has made permanent farming difficult (and usually insufficient), and the forest has remained an important (although decreasingly so) source of food for the Chepang.
Historically, the collection of wild yams and tubers, fish caught from nearby rivers, bats and wild birds, and periodically wild deer hunt from nearby forests, have supplement their need for carbohydrates and protein. The people speak 3 different dialects of this Tibeto-Burman language that is closely related to Raute and Raji, two undocumented languages spoken in western Nepal. Chepang is one of the few languages which uses a duodecimal (base 12) counting system rather than the decimal (base 10).
Magar
The Magar, also spelled as Mangar, and Mongar, are the third largest ethnolinguistic groups of Nepal representing 7.1% of Nepal’s total population according to the Nepal census of 2011. The original home of the Magar people was to the west of Gandaki river, and roughly speaking, consisted of that portion of Nepal which lies between and around about Gulmi, Arghakhanchi, and Palpa. This bit of country was divide into twelve districts known as “Bahra Magarat” (Confederation of Twelve Magar Kingdoms), which include the following regions of that period: Argha, Khanchi, Bhirkot, Dhor, Garhung, Ghiring, Gulmi, Isma, Musikot, Pyung, Rising, Satung, and Pyung. During the medieval period, the whole area from Palpa to Rukum Rolpa was called the “Magarat”, a place settled and inhabit by Magars.
Another Confederation of Eighteen Magar Kingdoms known as “Athara Magarat” also existed, and was primarily inhabit by Kham Magars. Maghe Sakranti is consider to be one of the most important annual festivals of the indigenous Magar community. In fact, Maghe Sakranti is the government declare national festival of the Magar community as well as the Tharu community (2009 AD). It is celebrate on the first day of Magh (tenth month of the Nepali calendar, in mid-January), a time that marks the transition from winter to spring.
Rai
The Chamlinge Rai belong to a cluster of people known as the Rai, the largest ethnic group in eastern Nepal. Each of the Rai groups speaks a different dialect and has its own religious beliefs. Their languages have transformed from the original language to a mixture of local dialects, from which most take their names. Although their facial features are clearly Mongoloid, the Chamlinge claim no relation to the Mongolian race. They believe that they are descendants of the goddesses Marema, Mahadeva, and Nina, (daughter of the earth). The Chamlinge Rai are primarily rice farmers. Unfortunately, they have been limit by insufficient knowledge of technology, causing a poor yield in crops. They farm rice in the low-lying areas, and raise potatoes, maize, wheat, and barley at higher altitudes.
The men are responsible for plowing the fields, while the women take care of planting the seeds. While the majority of Chamlinge Rai are Hindus, there are also a large number of animists (believe that non-human objects have spirits). In addition, they have been heavily influence by Buddhism. This mixture has create a wide variety of gods and worship practices among them. These customs are most evident during such events as births, marriages, and deaths.
Tamang
The name Tamang means “horse trader.” They are generally very poor people. The majority of Tamang follow Tibetan Buddhism, but mix this heavily with animism and to a lesser extent, with Hinduism. Their priests, or lamas, have a dominant role in the community and perform ceremonies for funerals, etc. Perhaps the most powerful person in society, however, is the shaman, who exorcises demons and interacts with the spirit world. Most of the Tamang live in Nepal. The Tamangs, who have lived in the hills outside the Kathmandu Valley since ages, have been mention in various Nepalese. And colonial historical records under a variety of names. Such as Bhote, Lama, Murmi, Sain, Yolmo. Some of which terms erroneously conflate the Tamangs with Tibetans. Meanwhile the Tibetans called them Rongpa.
Historian Ajitman Tamang identifies a dozen Tamang distinct gles (petty kings) with domains extending from Dhading to Ramechhap over much of east-central Nepal. Each of these gles rule of a network of smaller principalities linked by clan ties and a common culture. Records like the dongrap and pharap show the connections between these various gles. Tamang tradition and culture includes a distinct language, culture, dress and social structure. They have over 100 sub-clans. About 90% of the Tamang are Buddhist. Their language, Tamang, comes from the Tamangic branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family and is closely relate to Gurung.
They follow the Chinese lunar calendar of the 12-year cycle. Sonam Lhochhar is the main festival of the Tamangs and is celebrate in the month of Magh (February–March). It is celebrate to welcome the Tamang new year. Also significant is Buddha Jayanti, a religious festival base on birthday of Gautam Buddha.
Marwari
Marwaris were first invite from India by late great king Prithvi Narayan Shah to make Kathmandu the center of business. Later the Ranas invite more of them to build business. Since the Ranas were not able to pay them all they were offered land to make houses on. That’s how they ended up in Nepal. At today’s date Mawari community are involve in several businesses, from sweet shops to textile industries. I cannot say anything about their future though. May be you should find a book about history of Kathmandu valley.
