Bon, Buddhism in the Tamang : A Socio-Cultural Study

The Tamba serves as the Tamang’s storyteller and is considered a treasure trove of the tribe’s genealogical history. In contrast, the Ganba is the custodian of the community’s social customs. Together, these two pillars of the tribe’s oral history highlight the distinctiveness of their culture.

The book explores the social, cultural, and religious history of the Tamang, an indigenous ethnic community primarily found in Nepal, with significant populations in India and other countries. The Tamang are known for their rich cultural heritage, language, and traditions. They practice Bon, the ancient religion of Tibet, and Lamaist Buddhism, embodying values from both belief systems.

This Tamang tribe, part of the Tibeto-Mongoloid stock, is considered socially and culturally primitive. However, due to the lack of a written script, there is limited historical evidence to reconstruct the history of the Tamang community. Despite this scarcity of recorded information, the Tamang has a wealth of alternative sources such as folklore, folktales, songs, genealogical stories, and some Buddhist accounts.

Some of the best examples of these alternative sources come from the roles of Tamba and Ganba. The Tamba serves as the Tamang’s storyteller and is considered a treasure trove of the tribe’s genealogical history. In contrast, the Ganba is the custodian of the community’s social customs. Together, these two pillars of the tribe’s oral history highlight the distinctiveness of their culture.

These socio-cultural values play a vital role in reconstructing the history of the Tamang. However, there is still little documented evidence of socio-cultural transformations within the community. Against this backdrop, the book aims to capture the socio-cultural and religious transformations of the Tamang community.