The Lepcha community in the Eastern Himalayas, India

#Lepcha#Himalayas#Indigenous#
Dr. Nandini Bhattacharyya-Panda, D.Phil (Oxon)
[e-mail]
Historian, Sanskritist, Author, Reseacher on ethnic communities in the Eastern and Northeastern Himalayas.
In my nomadic academic trajectory, I have been pursuing research and documentation of the marginal ethnic communities of the Eastern and Northeastern Himalayas, including Nepal, on their history, identity and tangible and intangible cultural heritage.The first community I came into contact with, in 2006, was the Lepcha Community, primarily located in Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kalimpong.The Lepcha community (also known as Mutanchi Rong Kupp or Rong) of Sikkim and Darjeeling hills is one of the oldest communities in the world and they are the original inhabitants (‘indigenous’ in anthropological terminology) of the Eastern Himalayas.
They have inhabited Sikkim since time immemorial when the two regions were not divided by geographical/political borders. In 1835, the King of Sikkim surrendered ‘Darjeeling Tract’ to the British conquerors while Sikkim was reduced to the suzerain status within decades. The ethnic fate of the original inhabitants of the land followed the geopolitical destiny of the region. Like almost all original inhabitants or indigenous communities in the world, this community also lost their ‘history’ with colonization; the identity of this vibrant ethnic group was cast in the colonial narrative as a ‘primitive, savage and dying race’.My longstanding projects on the Lepcha community have attempted to re-trace the ‘history’ of the Lepchas, both in textual records and through visual documentation. I authored Culture, Heritage and Identity: The Lepcha and Mangar Communities of Darjeeling and Sikkim, published by Knowledge World in 2015.A full length documentary film has been made under the title The Lepcha CommunityOf The Eastern Himalayas: Quest for the Roots. I have also made smallershort films on various aspects of their culture, heritage, identity movement, life and livelihood.The research and documentation projects on the Lepcha community are primarily based on the methodology of researcher-community participation.I was nominated as Academic Expert of the Primitive Tribal Board of the Department Justice and Empowerment, Government of Sikkim.

[@suklepcha7211]

Thank you so much for covering our ruining culture and authentic history of the region. It means a lot to us

[@gnidrhyes2508]

Much needed documentary ...thank you for covering my people and our culture 🙏it means a lot to we modern lepcha generation ....Tokchee🙏 (Thank you as we say in Lepcha ) may the blessings of our deities be with you and the kind of work you do ...Achulay🏞️🌍 😇

[@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889]

Thank you so much

[@debayanbose9983]

❤❤❤❤❤🎉😊

[@richardlingdamo2309]

Very informative documentry....tq...aachyuley

[@Salsari.Birbhum]

What a superb documentary! Not all communities nurture good practices. Respect for the Lepchas.

[@remitlepcha2685]

Thanks for nice n rare imformative vedio.

[@biswashchamling]

The Territory of Kalimpong & Darjeeling is belong to Kingdom of Sikkim earlier tribes of this region are Lepchas and Limbus ...Lepchas are also blood relation with Kiratis mostly with Limbus because the Limbus and Lepchas are lived same territory later the Tibetans,Khampas,Bhutias are came to this region and make blood relation with Lepchas ..

[@NerdyYeager82]

Lol We Lepcha are not kirats

[@khom3940]

Only small fraction of limbu r natives of Sikkim, limbu or yakthumba had their own abode Yakthung laje and faktalungma as their head that brought up tamor civilization.

[@arpitaroy6905]

Absolutely brilliant documentary 👏. Learnt a lot about the indigenous community who are resilient and shown resistance against oppressive forces over centuries.

[@debayanbose9983]

❤ Indo - .mongols,,with traditional tibetan influences__

[@jeevankumargurung2438]

Lepcha has good traditions. Lepcha word mean flat nose as our comunity people as mongoloed.

[@dupzorlepcha5935]

Nice video

[@ml4956]

Awesome video and information! I'm 50% Lepcha and I have no knowledge I have been trying to get information about my ancestors and this really helped. Thanks for putting in up. It's sad to see a culture dying hope the younger generation will keep it alive. 🙏

[@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889]

Thank you so much

[@laihoslife1991]

500 years ago we lived with Lepcha people in the range of Mount Everest. I'm from Meghalaya India 🇮🇳 Garo/A•chik community ❤️ we have a history book of this stories ❤️ I love to read.

[@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889]

Thank you so much for your comment. I often visit Meghalaya

[@laihoslife1991]

@@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889 I feel like a dream

[@beyulproduction2120]

May I know the name of the book ?And where can I get that book?

[@laihoslife1991]

@@beyulproduction2120 Yeah I can you give but that book is missing now. I need to search again. And I forgot the exact topic also🤦

[@rajivsarmah8413]

Kanchanjhangha range not mount everest I think. With lepcha n Limboo. Mount everset is inhabited by rai, Sherpa historically.

[@annettelepcha762]

Thank you for this informative documentary 🙏🙏....aachuley

[@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889]

Thank you so much

[@ankurzvlogz7753]

Hello lepsha

[@sionnachmacbradaigh1010]

Excellent video. I just visited the region for the first time and was well- prepared by this documentary.

[@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889]

Thank you so much

[@Aitorma_Debbarma]

Very informative love from Tripura 🇮🇳.

[@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889]

Thank you so much

[@kingslydevadas3952]

Long live the Lepcha. A very nice video.

[@kongchenlepcha254]

❤

[@jnnyyong850]

👏

[@jnnyyong850]

❤

[@lucylepchani1230]

Much gratitude.

[@nandinibhattacharyapanda6889]

Thank you so much

[@Elrita_]

ᰣᰦᰆᰫᰜᰬ 🔥❤️

[@leeomlepcha2401]

Aryum Tokchee moo Thank you from bottom of our heart Lovely documentary

[@lepchalyrics5732]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@MidnightEkaki]

Very good documentary, thank you

[@ziazong4507]

Long live Mutanchi !

[@suktsheringlepcha3733]

Thanks for sharing

[@dupchenlepchaofficial8549]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼