If we had followed Sumans original plan, there would have been no respite from boulders, rocks and slopes for the next eight days. The paper presents the role of the galbo, (Lo King), ghenba (Village Chief), Lama (Monk), and dhongba (Household) as local institutions that act in close relation and make community-level decisions. The Dhongbas are units of production of the local social-ecosystem that are entitled to use local resources within the context of the institutions agreed rules, norms, and values. The dialects of the Loba people in different areas are deeply influenced by the Tibetans, and their daily diet and food preparation Sociological and Anthropological Society of Nepal (SASON). Among the four major sects (Nyingmapa, Sakyapa, Kagyupa, and Gyalugpa) of Tibetan Buddhism, no Gyalugpa monastery was founded in the Lo kingdom. J. Barnes and M.R. Nowadays, weak and poor people from anywhere in Nepal can send their children to Gomba in Lo-manthang. Just a few years back, the King used to organize a feast at the time of Loshar (the New Year Festival) for all the Loba people in Lo-manthang. A. Darnal, Prakash. characteristics that distinguish the Loba nationality from other nationalities. chili paste and cheese while it is hot is very sweet and delicious. This institution was the center of attraction in the past. The color identifies them as the Lamas. We had decided to leave Muktinath for the return journey. The sun was already up. Autonomous Region was listed in the third batch of national intangible cultural Xudulong Festival is the most special Lhoba festival which is celebrated on the second month of Tibetan calendar. In-depth interviews with 15 farmers, 10 traders, 5 Buddhist monks (Lamas/ religious leaders), 1 Amchi (Himalayan traditional healer), two development practitioners, two local teachers, and two village heads have been conducted by the researcher, along with field research assistants. At present, the ways of life of Lama have changed greatly and those living, studying, and teaching at Chhoede Gomba have a well-off life. They inhabit the Mustang and Dolpa districts in the northern part of the region (Dhawalagiri Zone), close to the Nepal-China border.. People Group Location: Omid. Joshua Project makes every effort to ensure that the subject in an image is in fact from the specific people group. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2014.951018. Central Bureau of Statistics. We are thankful to Mr. Kanchan Mani Dixit for editing the language of this paper. The Loba are primarily farmers, shepherds, or merchants. Poudel, 135154. The area became restricted to foreigners for centuries and opened for controlled tourism only after 1992. Aanis are active in Muktinath temple and are the main actors in controlling or maintenance of the process of worshipping. Known as Donggeng Gurumu (meaning something like congratulate the safety of the current year and look forward to a bumper harvest in the coming year), the festival witnesses Lhoba people butchering cattle and pigs to be given as presents to the maternal relatives. Dhungel, Ramesh. 2002. For a town with a population of just 800, Lo seemed to be bustling with activity. Cambridge University Press. The people of Lo-manthang have experienced rapid changes in the natural environment, geo-political relations, political changes, infrastructural and technological development, trade, and economy since the 1950s. Department of Milin County Committee accompanied by interviews along the way, Furthermore, due to the out-migration of the Lamas and other people, increased dependency on the market and changing livelihood options of the younger generation are also observable in the Loba community. The King and ghemba formulate or design rules and govern the community affairs, whereas Lama or gomba educate people about peace and harmony and ensure justice in society following the norms and values of Tibetan Buddhism. The Loba who live in the Kingdom of Mustang remain one of the most isolated peoples in the world, both geographically and spiritually. 2015. tight lower body and wrapped legs. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Buckwheat had just been harvested and left out in the fields to dry. It teaches respect for the diversity in society and nature. The Lord longs to set the Loba free from earthly and spiritual bondages, and to birth them into the Kingdom founded upon His Son, Jesus Christ. In less than a month of release . The continuity and changes, and the turn systems are the major mechanisms adopted by the Loba to cope with changing socio-economic, and environmental conditions. At the same time, anthropologists are engaged in documenting indigenous environmental knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous technical knowledge, local knowledge, folk climate models, and cultural-specific knowledge (Ellen et al. "Now we only have 52. From the time, Mustang became the vassal state of Nepal and the King of the Mustang had the titular privilege of enjoying the title of raja (the King) by receiving state grants and customary rights from the Kingdom of Nepal (Dhungel 2002). To support the palace, some households were categorized as the nagjin to work inside the palace: cleaning rooms, carrying loads, processing and cooking foods, and grinding or preparing tsampa were their main tasks. They wear knee-length, sleeveless, buttonlessblack jackets made of sheep's wool with hats made from bear skin or bamboo stripes. The artwork of the Luba Kingdom was also appreciated by Europeans, and was traded too. 2008. likes roast meat, dried meat, milk dregs and buckwheat cakes, especially The Loba are primarily farmers, shepherds, or merchants. animals and sacrificed ghosts or asked wizards to recite sutras, and used witchcraft Please try again or contact inquiry@tibettravel.org. There were moments when we felt we could not go any further and might have to freeze under a star-studded sky; temperatures can plunge to minus at night. Climate change impacts and adaptation response: A study of Trans-Himalaya (Upper Mustang), Nepal. Conference Proceedings 2016: The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya. Overview: The Loba of Nepal, numbering 35,000, are Engaged yet Unreached. They produce single seasonal crops of few varieties (wheat, naked barley, mustard, potatoes, buckwheat, vegetables). The traditionally built structures and the common colors seen in the houses perhaps reflect the Loba culture. Accessed from: https://censusnepal.cbs.gov.np/Home/Details?tpid=2&dcid=27a1b4d1-9a2a-4205-96be-1c540c24f193. The region is called Pemako. Earlier, the land of the Gomba used to be cultivated by those households who sent their children to the Gomba as Lama or Anis. By using this website, you agree to our Dhongba households are ancestral property holders, which is transferred from generation to generation, mainly to the eldest son. Lama teaches ordinary people about offering water (tho) and light (chhume) to God. District Profile of Mustang, 2068 (in Nepali Mustang Jillako Bastugat Bibaran, 2068). The Buddhist Loba people there still farm with wooden plows and spend hours spinning prayer wheels, chanting mantras, and consulting Buddhist astrologers on every aspect of life. In this way, the Lobas have adapted the politico-institutional changes by informally accepting the King as their supreme governance institution. protection project, which will be more conducive to the protection of the folk Most of these sourherners (Lhoba means southerners in Tibetan language) do not traditionally self-identify as a single entity and speak different languages but considered the same Lhoba minority by Chinese and Tibetans. The Chosar caves in Upper Mustang in Nepal, near the Tibetan border. Lhoba speaks Sino-Tibetan languages named Adi and Bokar; as well as Idu Mishmi. The Loba are primarily farmers, shepherds, or merchants. He arranged a four-wheel-drive vehicle for us to cover the rest of the journey to Lo Manthang. The non-violence value of Buddhism are transferred to the people via rituals, performances, and direct teaching. This legacy is an important form of ancient primitive religious beliefs Int. The Kutaks include the King and their relatives, who write their surname Bista and are considered the local ruling class and place themselves at the top of the social hierarchy. Learning about different cultures around us can help us better understand the world we live in! Shrestha, Uttam Babu, Shiva Gautam, and Kamaljit S. Bawa. There are several studies on Upper Mustang, particularly on Lo-manthang. In Anthropology of Climate Change: From Encounters to Actions (pp. Khattri, M.B., Pandey, R. Indigenous institutions as adaptive measures to environmental dynamics: an ethnographic study of Loba Community of Upper Mustang, Nepal. The Lobas speak the Tibeto Burman language and follow different sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The Upper Mustang was established as an independent state by King Amepal in 1440 AD. They fish the Congo River and its main tributaries intensively. People can Widespread climate change in the Himalayas and associated changes in local ecosystems. The Loba are very religious people. They are the political authority as well. Both men Lhoba women wears skirts made from sheep's wool and narrow-sleeved blouses. The Loba local institutions, however, have supported the coping and adaptation of Lobas to the local environment. area of Nanyi). Ojha, Durga Prasad. The area was forbidden to foreigners until 1992, so it used to be recognized as the forbidden kingdom of the Himalayas. The Government of Nepal adopted only the high-yielding and controlled-flow of tourists after 1992. Book originally lived in Gongbu, but later moved to Baden Banga, Milin Village, The word "Loba" originates from Tibetan, which means Examples could be seen in the three storied houses built by feudal lords; the common people and those in the . This paper is a product of multiple fieldworks in different villages of Upper Mustang, Nepal, between 2012 to 2016. The artists are Newars, or Mongoloids, different ethnically from, though partly intermingled with, the peoples of India, whose art they made their ownwhether its themes were Hindu or Buddhist. Furthermore, Amepal, the first King of Lo, played a significant role in the spread of the Lamaism in the Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The Loba dress very much like the Tibetan tribes living in the Himalayan region. The roofs are extremely uniform and smooth, and on each corner a small square is constructed so that prayer flags may be hung there. We know that the Southern regions of Tibet were once occupied by India but in 7th century, Tibet succeeded unifying tribes and started to real this region as well as the rest of the Tibet. Introduction. Kathmandu: Center for Nepal and Asian Studies, T.U., Nepal. It is inhabited by the Loba and the Khampa. 1). The total population of Upper Mustang is 3322, which has the lowest population density (1.49 person /km2) in Nepal comparing the national average of 198 person/km2 (CBS 2022). The Ghara settlement lies outside the main settlement in Lo-manthang, which is more or less the same pattern as the traditional Newa: settlements of the Kathmandu Valley (Pandey 2004). To our left was the Kali Gandaki, gurgling and content. Gorgeous grey and brown cliffs, looking like exquisite shades of raw silk, shimmered in the backdrop. The new year is celebrated three times, as each harvest is seen as a different year (on November the 1st, December the 1st and January). The co-author contributed in framing, refining, and pointing out laps in the manuscript facilitated to enhance the quality of the paper. Terms and Conditions, The farm laborers come from the western part of Baglung, Rukum and Rolpa districts of Nepal. Altogether, there were 18 households, they worked on a rotational basis. The first name is given by a lama, or Buddhist monk. The ghenba makes rules and regulations on agriculture and fixes a specific day to begin the cultivation and harvesting of crops. Nevertheless, some households are bound by the customary rules developed in the past and are still sending their second son/daughter to the Gomba. They produce single seasonal crops of few varieties (wheat, naked barley, mustard, potatoes . Goldstein, Melvyn C. 1971. 1975. 1972. in the Loyu area in southeastern Tibet and adjacent counties such as Chayu, The most important livelihood of Lobas relied on salt (rock salt) and grain trade, which connected them to the central hills of Nepal and India. He Ancestral properties are only transferrable from generation to generation, mainly to the eldest son, as the family's heritage. Customary systems of natural resources management among Tarami Magars of western Nepal. 1990. However, the condition of polyandry is dying out at present. Lo is home to three beautiful gompas with exquisite murals, Choede, Jhampa and Thubchen, all in various states of disrepair. Only a tiny 19-seater aircraft flies from Pokhara to Jomsom daily, and even this shuts down when the weather in Jomsom turns moody and misty, which is often. The Upper Mustang is one of the few areas affected highly by such political change. The main cause of monogamy is quarrel among the brothers (Gurung 2012) and new family law of Nepal. Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to go to Mustang with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. @ Hu Zuxin @ Nyingchi window The Loba follow a collective decision of crop cultivation and harvest. The region and culture In Upper Mustang the Tibetan culture, religion and traditions are believed to be at their purest, harking back to a Tibet before the Chinese occupation in 1951. Loba culture # [ Loba Pakistan weaving] Lhoba weaving and Luoba bamboo, Luoba knife dance with the Tibet Autonomous Region intangible cultural heritage projects. They are absentee landlords who cannot cultivate their lands but want to retain their land under their ownership. We stopped for a bite at the Yak Donalds restaurant. Loba song, dance and music have the most We have also used secondary data to evaluate the facts and ideas, from published scholarly journals to grey literature on the related themes. They had practiced polyandry marriage until the recent past. California Privacy Statement, Luochuan Yigu, a traditional dance in Luochuan County, Shaanxi Province, is one of the national intangible cultural heritage.. Tie-dyeing, known as Zha Val, Ge Val, Jia Val and Dye Val in ancient times, is a traditional and unique dyeing process of Chinese folk. Thus began the next leg of our journey. statement and NGOs also assisted Gombas financially and materially. The surface elevation is between . The people of Upper Mustang have also perceived the changes, particularly the warming, changes in the forms and seasons of precipitation and changes in wind characteristics such as duration, intensity, and wind -temperature (Pandey 2019). If you want to experience a small window to distant hunter-gatherer past of our species, Tibet offers a surprising and unique experience: The Lhoba people. Barnes, Jessica, and Michael R. Dove. Taylor Weidman/LightRocket/Getty Images On a cold evening in 2012, anthropologist Jiban Mani Poudel sat sharing tea and snacks with mountain herders huddled around a cattle pen in Nepal's Nhson Valley. Other geography / data: GMI. The Upper Mustang lies between 30005000m from sea level, however, the main human settlement of Lo-manthang is located at an altitude of 3700m above the sea level. Nepal-Tibet relation 18501930: Years of hopes, challenges and frustrations. Lobas speak their own Loba language, which is similar to the Western Tibetan Language. Architecture By the afternoon, newspapers in Latin America and Spain teemed with tributes. It symbolizes knowledge and virtue among individuals and family members. In agricultural land, black crops and white crops are cultivated annually and are the alternative crops. Chhetri, Ram Bahadur. Sedanloya to settle in the Degen area, their descendants became the later Degen They still practice reme ghyapkin, the turn system, in the community and household works by sharing responsibilities to maintain harmony among the community members. The Lo King, ghenba, Lama, and dhongba had a close relationship and interdependency in Lo-manthang until now. All living things in the world are subject to wuyong and it brings bad fortune to offend a wuyong. Nowadays, another challenge emerged that many people are willing to pay money instead of playing the role of chhime. This new phenomenon harms Lamaism and monastic life in Lo-manthang. Lamas also play a leading role during disasters and support people in coping. The popular way of cooking is putting the game in fire and covering by ashes to prepare for eating. of Metou County use Tibetan, while the other Loba people use Loba. Lama/monks work to improve the spiritual life and general health of the Loba community. People are not even interested in photok because agriculture production demands more inputs than outputs, and lacking household labor increases the cost of production further. Only when we marched to the Yeti Airlines office to buy our tickets to Jomsom did we find out, to our dismay, that all flights were fully booked for the next eight weeks. This town, with a resident population of around 15,000, has a single high street that runs its entire length, a few hotels and the odd shop or two, all watched over by the magnificent Nilgiri and Dhaulagiri peaks. According to a key informant, compared to other households, makhiu and sinkhor received good-quality land from the King for agricultural purposes. We had to descend rapidly before our condition escalated into full-blown acute mountain sickness. When singing, The trek to Kagbeni started around 11 a.m. Otherwise, that household must pay NPR 40,000 as a fine. Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. nationality has successfully declared the national intangible cultural heritage Map Design: Joshua Project, Joshua Project data is drawn from many sources and of varying accuracy depending on source and editorial decisions. The Loba practice this system wherever they go and whenever they need to share something. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The individual students are also sponsored, mostly by foreign donors. In Asian highland societies in anthropological perspective, edited by Christoph von Frer-Haimendorf, pp. As the crow flies, that would have been the shortest route, except that we were not crows and the route entailed going up and down one mountain after another until we reached Jomsom. However, this practice is being changed slowly as new generations of Loba began to marry outside the cross-cousin relations. Because of The country changed its political status from a unitary Kingdom to a federal democratic republic recently, although major political changes were observed in 1991 and 2006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-010-0174-9. Chuksang village (2,965 m) en route was ripe with apples, plums and apricots. Abadani's three 2012. These local institutions are cooperating well, successfully regulating, managing, and protecting agricultural, forest, and pasture lands, and maintaining the monuments in Lo-manthang for centuries. They work in the royal fields and look after the royal herd on a turn basis. The size of the piece of lungta needs to be proportionately equal. Dhongba also manages the royal herds. world and the social development is slow. In archery competitions, Garbo's arrows landed on both sides of the fruit, the We crossed several passes, including Nyi La, the highest pass on this route. It is multi-sectoral practice (Fig. Theory of culture change: The methodology of multilinear evolution. Pandey, Rishikesh. (Press release on initial result of National Census on Population and Housing-Nepal. Those people who have traveled outside of Lo-manthang for work, study, or business and have already earned a good amount of money can contribute to rituals. https://doi.org/10.1086/soutjanth.27.1.3629185. Evangelicals = 2% Professing Christians > 5% and = 50% 3 Superficially reached- Few evangelicals, but many who identify as Christians. Kilolo, chiefs, headed local village government. In Susan A. Crate & M. Nuttall (Eds. Two Buddhist sects, the Kargyupa and the Sakyapa, are dominant in upper Mustang. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative. We moved on, to Tsaile across the river where we would have our lunch and halt for the night. crab porridge is a snack in Macao. The purpose of such institutions is wide-ranged across the communities, from economic, social, cultural, religious, political, and educational to environmental. The ghenba, the village head, is an age-old local institution built upon the socio-cultural and political reality of Loba people and their environmental condition. They build their homes out of stone, making the roofs out of thinly chiseled stone squares. Zhuji Ancient Lane is one of the national 4A scenic spots and one of t. Daxian opera is a local traditional drama in Huaxian and Puyang counties of Henan Province, and one of the intangible cultural heritage at the national level. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology 11: 2459. based on the ancient myths, legends and stories of the Loba people, or on the "The people there still live very much as Nationality. https://doi.org/10.3126/opsa.v9i0.1139. Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (1): 95117. Introduction / History. Rules of society are based on the values of respect and honor. Additionally, managing the irrigation system has become a big challenge because the Upper Mustang region is becoming drier every year (Khatri & Pandey 2021). We can also observe a new development in the family and marriage system, people are practicing family planning, which allows the birth of a few children, so no more celibacy is required to control the population. They are also required to manage the household economy (land, livestock, trade), and look after their entire family members, including the parents, brothers, and sisters, until they become adults. A PhD Dissertation Submitted to Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. These studies have been carried out from historical, religious and economic perspectives. National Geographic explorers were seriously wounded in the attempt to access the caves. Abadani, the ancestor of the Loba people, Other than the game they hunt, they consume maize or millet flourdumplings, rice or buckwheat. They allocate some pasturelands as protected areas and used only in the scare period (FebruaryMarch) when their livestocks become the physically weakest and most vulnerable due to the shortage of fodder. Mustang is a windy, arid, high altitude desert. The paper is based on anthropological fieldwork. Crate, Susan A., and Nuttall, Mark. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v6i0.8480. The dominant sect is Ngorpa, a sub-sect of Syakyapa. Joshua Project may be able to provide more information than what is published on this site. Lately, tourism became a significant source of income for Lhoba people. The path to Kagbeni is along the riverbed, mostly dry, with an occasional crystal stream meandering over the grey pebbles. Dinesh was a bit fuzzy about how long the trek to the next camp was. The Economy of Mustang: Lo Region. Nayuene is celebrated once or twice a year and there are a number of rules that must be followed in order to observe it. They support people with the spiritual power that they have gained through meditation. Populations are scaled to the current year. Upper Mustang is a trans-Himalayan desert (cold) area with an annual average precipitation of less than 20cm. To cope with this sort of crisis, the ghenba System enforced a new rule that every household must play the role of chhime and ghenba on their turn. The Loba tribespeople living in the village of Dhe in Nepal are increasingly abandoning their homes as climate change transforms the landscape. The selection of the KII was based on informants experience and their knowledge of the respective theme of the study. Chapter 2017. Every additional day of stay costs $50 a day. Such changes have severely impacted agriculture, livestock, and the mobility pattern of Loba people for livelihoods. The first author is the primary researcher. The vehicle spluttered and stalled on the boulder- and rock-strewn mountainsides, roared through waterfalls and hobbled on riverbeds. Neither Dinesh, our guide, nor Suman had remembered to educate us on the impossibility of getting flights from Pokhara to Jomsom at short notice. The Lama, as the chief of spiritual/religious works for the individual, household, and community, also plays a role in the sphere of education and ritual activities. The Loba people are working to preserve their way of life as globalization creeps in. After all, all that remains unconnected is just a stretch of 50-odd kilometres between the Tibetan border and Jomsom. The life for Lhoba people are harsh due to the region they live and most Lhoba people are considered poor in the region. obviously different from those of the Tibetans. Anthropologists have focused their studies on cultural ecology and ethnoecology. All seven of us piled into the vehicle. Anthropology and Humanism 36 (2): 193214. Pray that God will open the hearts of the governmental leaders in Nepal as well as the local leaders of Mustang to the Truth. In the past, rich and well-off dhongba families used to send their second son and daughter to the Gomba, who were contributors to Gomba. Gomba had been playing a role and supportive in controlling the Loba population through promoting celibacy by Lama and Anis, which was obligatory to each family that a second child be the Lama or Anis. For them, climate change is connected to several things that include but are not limited to the nexus of nature, culture, science, politics, and belief (Barnes & Dove 2015), which helps to highlight contextual knowledge of cultural realities. The findings reveal that the King is seen as the leader whose governance best suited to the local natural environment, cultural practices, and economy. The first category is ghiughar chhumbe/mhigyaba, who are engaged in worldly/materialistic life (politically and economically) and the second category is ranchunchube/dhawa who are engaged in spiritual and religious life. The waist and neck of both men and women are Structures wrought by the wind and other elements over millions of years and looking like Grecian Corinthian or Ionic columns rose towards the sky. On-the-ground reality may vary from what is presented here. Dynamics of the Himalayan climate: A study of the Kaligandaki Basin, Nepal. The Loba culture has historical, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic relations with Western Tibetans (Dhungel 2002; Frer-Haimendorf 1975). Yibin City is located in the south of Sichuan Province, at the junction of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, and the confluence zone of Jinsha River, Minjiang River and Yangtze River. different. The Loba follow horizontal social stratification by their occupation, educational level, property holding/access, fluency in languages, gender, and lifestyles. Dhongba was a real-life saver of the household in the past, which, with the course of modernization, their burden has been notably reduced and responsibility has been changed as many Loba households sustain on their own. The Nunnery system is about a hundred years old in Upper Mustang. Women wear short shirts with round collar and narrow sleeves, skirts with Other airlines that used to fly to Jomsom diverted their services to the Everest sector owing to increased traffic there. j. anthropol. The maides were allowed to hold nieba slaves and even if a nieba became rich, he could not be considered maide. They focused on the role of local institutions in enhancing adaptive capacity to maintain the livelihood system (food, fuel, shelter, health, education, communication system, sovereignty over resources, and their management) in resource-scare ecological regions. Nepal. They speak the following languages: Luba-Katanga, Luba-Kasai, Luba-Maniema, and Swahili. We are thankful to Assistant Professor Dr. Rajanikant Pandey for his all endeavors for the invitation and cordial hospitality support during the seminar. The skull of the consumed animal is held in front of the houses to symbolize diligence and wealth. Most Lhoba people are animist but a significant portion of the population believes in Tibetan Buddhism (although they still mix animist traditions with this relatively new religion). They have become less dependent on the parental property as they have diversified their livelihood system, including but not limited to labor migration and engagement in trade and commerce, including in the tourism industry. Shrestha, Arun B., and Raju Aryal. Lo-manthang Rural Municipality (LRM), the local government provides grants to the ghenba system to maintain irrigation canals. However, people prefer to give birth to a single child these days, so they would not be obliged to send their loved ones to the monastery.