I Mr. Tshewang Penjor from Bhutan belongs to "Tamang" community. In Bhutan we don't have strong Tamang community that can enforce people to maintain our tradition and customs. I being Tamang i dont know how to speak Tamang. I'am really interest to learn more about Tamang community in Bhutan and around the globe. i google and find out that many places in Nepal, India and USA has strong Tamang community. So i would like to get information from Bhutan and aroung the globe regarding Tamang activities and information through email and i can upload to my webpage and share worldwide. Latter on i will migrate the webpage to other paid domain.Please post any thing relating to tamang communities to me at tshewang.penjor@gmail.com.
According to one school of thought ... Tamang is a corruption of the Tibetan work Ta-mangpo that is many horses. This theory holds that group of horsemen migrated from Tibet and settled down in Eastern Nepal and managed to take wives unto themselves. The off-springs were the Tamangs.
According to another schoolof thought ....the word Tamang is corrupt form of Tibetan word ‘Ta-Marpo’ meaning there by a herdsman looking after a herd of horse in the Himalayan pasture. This Ta- Marpo tribe crossed over the Himalayas and began to settle in Nepal. In the process of settlement, they married Gorkha/Nepali women. The children burnout of such marriages began to follow the religious practices of their fathers as well as the social customs of their mother (Hinduism).
The word Tamang has been found to be used in Thirteenth century by David Jackson mentions that King Bumlde Mgon built the Shrin fortress in Mustang to suppress the ethnic group Tamang of Lower Glo (Mustang).
Due to this reason Tamangs migrated outside Nepal like Darjeeling, Kalimpong (West Bengal), Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland etc in India and also in Bhutan and Burma. In Bhutan we many Tamangs in Tsirang and Dagana Dzongkhag. Other parts of Bhutan we have less population.In India they were treated as Other Backward Class and in 2002 they were declared a Schedule Tribe. The Government of Sikkim worked very hard for their status, as they are the integral part of Sikkimese population.
Tradition
Tamangs have their "Mundum" i.e. the song which describes their ancient past. Tamang sing this song on religious and social occasions to the rhythmic beats of musical instrument "Damphu" (tambourine). Before singing of Tamang Selo (song) the name of Siva the god of all the Mongol Kirati tribes in invoked. Tamangs are Buddhist by religion, yet they are equally at ease with some social customs of the Nepali Hindus including the observance of festival like Magay Sankranti, Chaitaydasai, Vaishaki Purnima, Dasai (Durga Puja) and Tihar (Diwali) while performing the obsequies and religious ceremonies the Tamangs are guided by Buddhist lamaistic rites and rituals some times Hindu rites and rituals. Beside these, the Tamangs also follows Bon faith. They have their religious altar (place of worship) no idols of any god or goddesses are kept on such religious altar of the Tamangs. There are only lamps, bells and trisula on such altars. Such altars are generally located under big trees. One could also find some stones here and there kept as the symbols of god or goddess. Walls are erected around the place of worship. The Tamangs offer puja to the god and goddess of earth, under world and the sky. Yellow, White, Green and Red flag flutter around the boundary of the place of worship. The Tamangs perform a special type puja called Fawla Halsu. It is a kind of collective puja in the name of their tribe
Sub-Groups and Marriage
There are more than 100 subgroups (thar and sahathar) within the Tamang, like Bomjon, Yonjon, Ghysing, Moktan, Pakhrin etc. It is an interesting fact that Tamangs either write Lama or kindred names such as Moktan, Ghising, Dong, Yonjan etc, after their names. According to some the custom of using tiles, such as Moktan, Dong etc originated in Darjeeling schools. The Tamang community in Sikkim write Lama after their names. My sub-group or thar is Moktan but i dont write .Inter marriage does not occur within the same subgroup (tahar as well as sahathar). a boy, say belonging to the Yonjan subgroup and a girl belonging to the Moktan subgroup, if the mother of both the boy and girl belong to the same subgroup, however, marriage between them is not possible since they are socially recognized as the son and daughter of the same mother. There is the practice of marrying one’s maternal uncle’s and aunt’s daughter. Unlike in Hindu society, Tamang women do not adopt the last name of their husbands following marriage. Their thar or subgroup does not change; the woman remains in the same subgroup her entire life. When she dies, the body cannot be disposed without the presence and permission of her relatives. There is the traditional practice among Tamang daughters of undertaking small economic activities (Pewa) like keeping goats, chicken, etc. This enables the daughter to learn to stand on her feet and makes her self-reliant.
Child Birth
The purification and naming ceremony of the child is done in three days after the birth of the child. Due to the influence of the Hindu religion practised by the Brahmins this is sometimes done within seven to eleven days after the birth of the child. According to the traditional customs of the Tamangs the father of child performs such ceremony. This is now done by the Tamang Lama or even by the Brahmin priest. The Holy Scriptures used by the Lama for such ceremony is called “Choi”. On the sixth day the mother and the child are kept in a clean room after cleaning their bodies with water.
Pasni/Feeding Ceremony
The feeding ceremony which is called Pasni is done after five months for a daughter and six months for a son. The Tamangs have a peculiar custom of feeding the child with a beak of a Maina bird. There is a belief that in doing so the child would start speaking sooner. The relatives and other persons are served with food and drinks on this occasion. They in return also present money or other gifts to the child.
Chewar/Hair Cutting Ceremony
Chewar or Hair Cutting Ceremony is performed within three or twelve years. There is a tradition of an uncle shaving the hair of the child. The daughters of the family and other relatives are supposed to give gifts to the child on such occasion. There is also a peculiar traditional custom among the Tamangs of performing a Pasni of old person when he attends the age of eighty four years.
The Village Life
The village life of the Tamangs is very simple. They are farmers and agriculturists. The Tamangs like to live collectively and not in a scattered way. They are very social and they live like one big family sharing the joy and sorrows of day to day life. They keep their village neat and clean. They build roads of stones on the hillock of the village were the prayer flags flutter day and night. The villagers wear simple Nepali or Tibetan dresses. The women folk, love to wear ornaments of gold or silver. Their food habits are also simple which consist of millet, maize, wheat or barley flour. They also eat rice in places where paddy is grown. They are very fond of meat especially beef. Some Tamangs eat pork but other does not do so. Both the men and the women drink Janr (prepared out of millet or wheat) a local drink.
Festivals
Buddha Jayanti/Saga Dawa
Buddha Jayanti is the most important religious festival for Buddhist Tamangs. Tamangs pay a visit to Monasteries and offer khatag to Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha took birth, achieved Enlightenment and attained Nirvana. These three important events are celebrated in this festival.
This festival is held on the full moon of the 4th month of the Buddhist calendar in the end of May or early June. Tamangs in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and all over the world celebrate Buddha jayanti on similar ways.
Lochhar (New Year)
Tamangs are an ancient and major indigenous people. They' have unique tradition of counting year by twelve different symbols of creatures. It is said that at the time of Karunamaya Buddha’s Parinirmana (Demise) those creatures had gone to farewell him except human beings because of their pre-knowledge of Lord. The Rat was the first among them to meet. The Ox arrived next. All twelve animals are placed according to their arrival in sequence. This system of counting is transferred from generation to generation among Mahayana Buddhism as a wheel. Lhochhar is a combination word in Tamang Literature. It has two words Lho stands for Year and Chhar for New. We generally use in English as New Year (Lho Chhar).
Language
Tamangs have their own dialect and script. Tamang dialect shares a lot with the Tibetan language. However, Tamang speak a slightly different language and the vocabulary differs in most of the cases and the language occupies fifth place among the languages of Tibeto-Burman family. Tamangs have their own script called “Tamyik” which has beed recognised by the All India Tamang Buddhist Association, Darjeeling, Nepal Tamang Gedun, Katmandu and Sikkim Tamang Buddhist Association from June 1998. This language is at the verge of extinction in the district of Darjeeling and Sikkim. This is mainly due to the fact that Tamang language is not spoken in the family. Of late some social and cultural bodies have been formed to preserve the vanishing language and culture in Darjeeling and Sikkim. The popular government of the Sikkim Democratic Front led by Pawan Chamling has taken up some practical measures to preserve and develop the language and culture of the Tamangs along with others of the tribal race. The Government has recognized the Tamang language as one of the official language since 1995. Some Tamang scholars like Amrit Yonjon and Pempa Tamang have been doing research on the language. Foreign scholar Grierson George Hodgson, B.H.H. Anna Meria, Bryan T. Doreen and others have made useful research on the language. Recognition of Tamang language as one of the official languages is a very bold step and this will ultimately strengthen the main Nepali language.
The Music of the Tamangs
The Tamangs are a music loving tribe. Their most loving musical instrument is the Damphu (tambourine). It is a small roundest drum where one side of the circular wood is covered by the skin of a goat which is joined with thirty two small bamboo pencils like pieces. A legend has it that in the ancient time when the Tamangs moved from one place to the other in search of food and shelter they lived by eating wild fruits, edible yams or meat of the wild animals. It was a kind of community life where they shared food in their temporary shelter. Once a leader of the group names Peng Dorjay went hunting taking some men with him. The whole day passed without any kill and as thery were returning to their shelter disheartened Peng Dorjay’s eyes fell on a mountain goat which was grazing on a high stony cliff. He moved forward cautiously and aimed his arrow at the goat and let it go from the bow which flew at a great speed and struck the right place on the body of the goat which come rolling down the cliff. It was dead. He carried it to his temporary place of halting. He skinned the animal and let the skin dry in the open ground. When the skin was dry completely he created the small roundest drum called “Damphu”. He offered his first prayer of thanks giving to god by playing the Damphu. This small drum Damphu still exists in the some form to this day without any change. The Tamang songs are known as “Tamang Selo”. There are light songs as well as songs with philosophical thoughts. Tamang light songs are called Fabar Wohoi. These songs express the day to day joys and sorrows of the life. The Songs containing philosophical thoughts are generally sung by the Tamba which is called Tambala Wohoi. There are also duet songs which are sung between two parities in the form of questions and answers, one party put some riddles which the other party has to reply in time.
The different kinds of Wohoi Songs are as follows: -
• Sangla Wohoi: - It is a kind of obeisance offered to Gods and Goddesses of different regions and directions.
• Sayr Geymla Wohoi: - It is sung while offering sacrifices to God.
• Moibala-Hai-Wohoii: - It is a kind of prayer asking for the blessing of the God and Goddesses asking blessing from them to enable to sing rightly.
• Damphu Sengba Wohoi: - It is the song on the creation of the musical instrument Damphu.
Tamang Selo has transcended the boundary of linguistic, cultural and social limits. All other Nepali Communities have adopted selo in their music and emotional expression.
• Sacjoua Nam Chiya Wohoi: -[ It is the song of the creation of the universe.
• Nela Wohoi: - It is a song of the various places.
• [bGuudni Chayala Wohoi: - It is the song on the origin of the sacred Ganges.
• Raoichen Chyopghy Wohoi: - It is the song on the different clans and sub-clans of the Tamangs. All the above type of songs contains deep philosophic and religious thoughts. There are songs of humour and wit, philosophical thoughts and of joys and sorrows of life as well. The natural surrounding around which they live have made them sentimental and emotional and such feeling have come out from their heart naturally.
Origin of Tamang.
When i small kid i asked my grandfather about our ancestor and Tamang history. He commented me that Ta - means "Horse" and Mang means.. people looking after the horses. He told that we belong to Tibet and our ancestor got married with Hindu women then after new community was formed. These community was called as " Tamang".
i google and found out "origin of Tamang". according to Wikipedia The name Tamang, Tamag in Tibetan, means horse warriors, Tamags were border police sent by king Trisong of Tibet around 755. They are also good mountaineers and trekking guides. Many of Tamang have been recruited to serve in Indian and British Gurkha regiments since British Raj.
When i small kid i asked my grandfather about our ancestor and Tamang history. He commented me that Ta - means "Horse" and Mang means.. people looking after the horses. He told that we belong to Tibet and our ancestor got married with Hindu women then after new community was formed. These community was called as " Tamang".
i google and found out "origin of Tamang". according to Wikipedia The name Tamang, Tamag in Tibetan, means horse warriors, Tamags were border police sent by king Trisong of Tibet around 755. They are also good mountaineers and trekking guides. Many of Tamang have been recruited to serve in Indian and British Gurkha regiments since British Raj.
According to one school of thought ... Tamang is a corruption of the Tibetan work Ta-mangpo that is many horses. This theory holds that group of horsemen migrated from Tibet and settled down in Eastern Nepal and managed to take wives unto themselves. The off-springs were the Tamangs.
According to another schoolof thought ....the word Tamang is corrupt form of Tibetan word ‘Ta-Marpo’ meaning there by a herdsman looking after a herd of horse in the Himalayan pasture. This Ta- Marpo tribe crossed over the Himalayas and began to settle in Nepal. In the process of settlement, they married Gorkha/Nepali women. The children burnout of such marriages began to follow the religious practices of their fathers as well as the social customs of their mother (Hinduism).
The word Tamang has been found to be used in Thirteenth century by David Jackson mentions that King Bumlde Mgon built the Shrin fortress in Mustang to suppress the ethnic group Tamang of Lower Glo (Mustang).
Due to this reason Tamangs migrated outside Nepal like Darjeeling, Kalimpong (West Bengal), Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland etc in India and also in Bhutan and Burma. In Bhutan we many Tamangs in Tsirang and Dagana Dzongkhag. Other parts of Bhutan we have less population.In India they were treated as Other Backward Class and in 2002 they were declared a Schedule Tribe. The Government of Sikkim worked very hard for their status, as they are the integral part of Sikkimese population.
Tradition
Tamangs have their "Mundum" i.e. the song which describes their ancient past. Tamang sing this song on religious and social occasions to the rhythmic beats of musical instrument "Damphu" (tambourine). Before singing of Tamang Selo (song) the name of Siva the god of all the Mongol Kirati tribes in invoked. Tamangs are Buddhist by religion, yet they are equally at ease with some social customs of the Nepali Hindus including the observance of festival like Magay Sankranti, Chaitaydasai, Vaishaki Purnima, Dasai (Durga Puja) and Tihar (Diwali) while performing the obsequies and religious ceremonies the Tamangs are guided by Buddhist lamaistic rites and rituals some times Hindu rites and rituals. Beside these, the Tamangs also follows Bon faith. They have their religious altar (place of worship) no idols of any god or goddesses are kept on such religious altar of the Tamangs. There are only lamps, bells and trisula on such altars. Such altars are generally located under big trees. One could also find some stones here and there kept as the symbols of god or goddess. Walls are erected around the place of worship. The Tamangs offer puja to the god and goddess of earth, under world and the sky. Yellow, White, Green and Red flag flutter around the boundary of the place of worship. The Tamangs perform a special type puja called Fawla Halsu. It is a kind of collective puja in the name of their tribe
Sub-Groups and Marriage
There are more than 100 subgroups (thar and sahathar) within the Tamang, like Bomjon, Yonjon, Ghysing, Moktan, Pakhrin etc. It is an interesting fact that Tamangs either write Lama or kindred names such as Moktan, Ghising, Dong, Yonjan etc, after their names. According to some the custom of using tiles, such as Moktan, Dong etc originated in Darjeeling schools. The Tamang community in Sikkim write Lama after their names. My sub-group or thar is Moktan but i dont write .Inter marriage does not occur within the same subgroup (tahar as well as sahathar). a boy, say belonging to the Yonjan subgroup and a girl belonging to the Moktan subgroup, if the mother of both the boy and girl belong to the same subgroup, however, marriage between them is not possible since they are socially recognized as the son and daughter of the same mother. There is the practice of marrying one’s maternal uncle’s and aunt’s daughter. Unlike in Hindu society, Tamang women do not adopt the last name of their husbands following marriage. Their thar or subgroup does not change; the woman remains in the same subgroup her entire life. When she dies, the body cannot be disposed without the presence and permission of her relatives. There is the traditional practice among Tamang daughters of undertaking small economic activities (Pewa) like keeping goats, chicken, etc. This enables the daughter to learn to stand on her feet and makes her self-reliant.
Child Birth
The purification and naming ceremony of the child is done in three days after the birth of the child. Due to the influence of the Hindu religion practised by the Brahmins this is sometimes done within seven to eleven days after the birth of the child. According to the traditional customs of the Tamangs the father of child performs such ceremony. This is now done by the Tamang Lama or even by the Brahmin priest. The Holy Scriptures used by the Lama for such ceremony is called “Choi”. On the sixth day the mother and the child are kept in a clean room after cleaning their bodies with water.
Pasni/Feeding Ceremony
The feeding ceremony which is called Pasni is done after five months for a daughter and six months for a son. The Tamangs have a peculiar custom of feeding the child with a beak of a Maina bird. There is a belief that in doing so the child would start speaking sooner. The relatives and other persons are served with food and drinks on this occasion. They in return also present money or other gifts to the child.
Chewar/Hair Cutting Ceremony
Chewar or Hair Cutting Ceremony is performed within three or twelve years. There is a tradition of an uncle shaving the hair of the child. The daughters of the family and other relatives are supposed to give gifts to the child on such occasion. There is also a peculiar traditional custom among the Tamangs of performing a Pasni of old person when he attends the age of eighty four years.
The Village Life
The village life of the Tamangs is very simple. They are farmers and agriculturists. The Tamangs like to live collectively and not in a scattered way. They are very social and they live like one big family sharing the joy and sorrows of day to day life. They keep their village neat and clean. They build roads of stones on the hillock of the village were the prayer flags flutter day and night. The villagers wear simple Nepali or Tibetan dresses. The women folk, love to wear ornaments of gold or silver. Their food habits are also simple which consist of millet, maize, wheat or barley flour. They also eat rice in places where paddy is grown. They are very fond of meat especially beef. Some Tamangs eat pork but other does not do so. Both the men and the women drink Janr (prepared out of millet or wheat) a local drink.
Festivals
Buddha Jayanti/Saga Dawa
Buddha Jayanti is the most important religious festival for Buddhist Tamangs. Tamangs pay a visit to Monasteries and offer khatag to Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha took birth, achieved Enlightenment and attained Nirvana. These three important events are celebrated in this festival.
This festival is held on the full moon of the 4th month of the Buddhist calendar in the end of May or early June. Tamangs in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and all over the world celebrate Buddha jayanti on similar ways.
Lochhar (New Year)
Tamangs are an ancient and major indigenous people. They' have unique tradition of counting year by twelve different symbols of creatures. It is said that at the time of Karunamaya Buddha’s Parinirmana (Demise) those creatures had gone to farewell him except human beings because of their pre-knowledge of Lord. The Rat was the first among them to meet. The Ox arrived next. All twelve animals are placed according to their arrival in sequence. This system of counting is transferred from generation to generation among Mahayana Buddhism as a wheel. Lhochhar is a combination word in Tamang Literature. It has two words Lho stands for Year and Chhar for New. We generally use in English as New Year (Lho Chhar).
Language
Tamangs have their own dialect and script. Tamang dialect shares a lot with the Tibetan language. However, Tamang speak a slightly different language and the vocabulary differs in most of the cases and the language occupies fifth place among the languages of Tibeto-Burman family. Tamangs have their own script called “Tamyik” which has beed recognised by the All India Tamang Buddhist Association, Darjeeling, Nepal Tamang Gedun, Katmandu and Sikkim Tamang Buddhist Association from June 1998. This language is at the verge of extinction in the district of Darjeeling and Sikkim. This is mainly due to the fact that Tamang language is not spoken in the family. Of late some social and cultural bodies have been formed to preserve the vanishing language and culture in Darjeeling and Sikkim. The popular government of the Sikkim Democratic Front led by Pawan Chamling has taken up some practical measures to preserve and develop the language and culture of the Tamangs along with others of the tribal race. The Government has recognized the Tamang language as one of the official language since 1995. Some Tamang scholars like Amrit Yonjon and Pempa Tamang have been doing research on the language. Foreign scholar Grierson George Hodgson, B.H.H. Anna Meria, Bryan T. Doreen and others have made useful research on the language. Recognition of Tamang language as one of the official languages is a very bold step and this will ultimately strengthen the main Nepali language.
The Music of the Tamangs
The Tamangs are a music loving tribe. Their most loving musical instrument is the Damphu (tambourine). It is a small roundest drum where one side of the circular wood is covered by the skin of a goat which is joined with thirty two small bamboo pencils like pieces. A legend has it that in the ancient time when the Tamangs moved from one place to the other in search of food and shelter they lived by eating wild fruits, edible yams or meat of the wild animals. It was a kind of community life where they shared food in their temporary shelter. Once a leader of the group names Peng Dorjay went hunting taking some men with him. The whole day passed without any kill and as thery were returning to their shelter disheartened Peng Dorjay’s eyes fell on a mountain goat which was grazing on a high stony cliff. He moved forward cautiously and aimed his arrow at the goat and let it go from the bow which flew at a great speed and struck the right place on the body of the goat which come rolling down the cliff. It was dead. He carried it to his temporary place of halting. He skinned the animal and let the skin dry in the open ground. When the skin was dry completely he created the small roundest drum called “Damphu”. He offered his first prayer of thanks giving to god by playing the Damphu. This small drum Damphu still exists in the some form to this day without any change. The Tamang songs are known as “Tamang Selo”. There are light songs as well as songs with philosophical thoughts. Tamang light songs are called Fabar Wohoi. These songs express the day to day joys and sorrows of the life. The Songs containing philosophical thoughts are generally sung by the Tamba which is called Tambala Wohoi. There are also duet songs which are sung between two parities in the form of questions and answers, one party put some riddles which the other party has to reply in time.
The different kinds of Wohoi Songs are as follows: -
• Sangla Wohoi: - It is a kind of obeisance offered to Gods and Goddesses of different regions and directions.
• Sayr Geymla Wohoi: - It is sung while offering sacrifices to God.
• Moibala-Hai-Wohoii: - It is a kind of prayer asking for the blessing of the God and Goddesses asking blessing from them to enable to sing rightly.
• Damphu Sengba Wohoi: - It is the song on the creation of the musical instrument Damphu.
Tamang Selo has transcended the boundary of linguistic, cultural and social limits. All other Nepali Communities have adopted selo in their music and emotional expression.
• Sacjoua Nam Chiya Wohoi: -[ It is the song of the creation of the universe.
• Nela Wohoi: - It is a song of the various places.
• [bGuudni Chayala Wohoi: - It is the song on the origin of the sacred Ganges.
• Raoichen Chyopghy Wohoi: - It is the song on the different clans and sub-clans of the Tamangs. All the above type of songs contains deep philosophic and religious thoughts. There are songs of humour and wit, philosophical thoughts and of joys and sorrows of life as well. The natural surrounding around which they live have made them sentimental and emotional and such feeling have come out from their heart naturally.
