Save our identity

Indigenous culture & identity is under threat again. Before it was Hindus. Today it is Christians. Read the articles below: By religion, Kirats are nature and ancestor worshipers which is a common theme to all the natives of the world such as Red Indian in America. It also includes shamanism and therefore Kirat religion is animistic in nature. Indigenous religion has no beginning that is there is no dateline when it was formed and hence it's the oldest form of culture & tradition. In every indigenous religion of the world, the tradition has been passed down orally. Hinduism was introduced to on the Kirats only after the arrival of Licchavis. The last King of the Kirat dynasty ( 900 BC to 330 CE) was Gasti. He proved to be a weak ruler and was overthrown by the Licchavis who came from northern India. It brought to the end of the Kirat dynasty that had lasted for about 1225 years. After the Licchavis defeated the Kirat, they brought Hinduism with them. The Licchavis also built many Hindu temples in the Kathmandu valley. The original Kirat temples were converted into Hindu temples. Sudarshan Raj Tiwari (Temples of the Nepal Valley, 2009) states the BalKumariMandir of Chyagal, Patan, was originally a Kirati temple. He wrote there are many temples around Patan that date back to Kirati times and are rectangular in shape. They usually house Bhairav and Bhimsen, as well as Bal-KumariAjima and other mother goddesses which the Kirants worshiped. They are said to have been renovated during the Malla times". This was uncovered by the design and the materials used to make the temple which was studied extensively by the researchers led by professor Tiwari himself and the UNSCEO team. In addition, historically pre-Christian era the Pasupatinath Temple have its origin away back to the early Kirat period. Stone sculptures found in the vicinity support the antiquity of this place. The Pashupatinath temple was later renovated and modified during the Licchavi period after overthrowing the Kirat dynasty. Pashupatinath temple is surrounded by a many other temples like the KiratesworeMahadev, Bhairav, Guheswori also link to Kirat period. After the defeat, Kirats left the Kathmandu valley and settled in the eastern part of Nepal. The Kiratis divided into 3 Kirat Kingdoms, i.e 'Wallokirat' that lied to the east of the Kathmandu, 'Majhkirat(central Kirat)and 'Pallokirat' that border with Sikkim. Later Hinduism was subsequently imposed on the Kirats and other indigenous community after the unification of Nepal by the Gorkhali King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1769 CE. Every Nepali history student knows the circumstances under which the Kirat Kingdoms were brought under the over lordship of King Prithvi Narayan Shah through treaty and not by the conquest hence enabling him to unify Nepal in 1769. To mark the occasion, King Prithvi Narayan Shah had issued under his LalMohur (Red Seal) the following decree: "We have conquered your country although you had fought valiantly in its defense. We hereby

pardon all your war crimes. Protection of you and your kinsmen will henceforth be our responsibility. You will continue to enjoy whatever customs and traditions, rights and privileges you have hitherto enjoyed as long as this world remains in existence. If ever, me or any of my descendants were to deprive you of these rights and privileges that we are now confirming upon you, may the curse of my own ancestors and gods befall upon me and my pro-genies and destroy us." With this the Gorkha King gave full autonomy and land ownership (Kipat) to Kiratis as issued under the LalMohor. However, he made a simple demand on the Kiratis that they accept new identity to mark the occasion; thus KhambuRai were given a new title of Jimdar, YakthumbaLimbu became Subba, YakkhaRai became Dewan, SunuwarRai became Mukiya, Rong Pa became Lepcha and so on. But true enough the descendants of Prithvi Narayan Shah went back against their promises. The Singha Durbar (literally, Lion Palace) in Kathmandu is the official seat of government of Nepal. A substantial portion of the Singha Durbar was destroyed by fire in 1973 but the fact was that it was deliberately set on fire to destroy all Treaty, Legal document between Kirat& King Prithvi Narayan Shah. According to the work "Nepali Rajniti ma AdhekhaiSachai"(Hidden facts in Nepalese Politics) by GopalGurung, many of the original Kirat religion and culture was banned during the Rana government and all sort of Kiranti documents were burned and destroy which the office used to call Jatiyanastabivag. Today Kirat and other indigenous communities' culture & religion is again facing danger from modernization and Christian's missionaries in the Himalayas region including Nepal. Many Christian missionaries are in the Himalayas from Nepal, Assam, Sikkim, Nagaland converting many indigenous groups into Christians. Their culture, identity, religion and way of life is in danger due to the missionaries who are funded by the United States and other western Churches are working round the clock converting many indigenous people into Christianity as soon as possible. The new film "Avatar" has the message for the people that one should not forsake one's roots for modernization and others culture. One's identity is lost forever once the root is destroyed. If Christian missionaries continue their work in converting people into Christians in the Himalayas your beautiful culture and identity will disappear from the face of the planet. To prevent this all Kirats - Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Newar, Tamang, Thakali, Sherpa, Sunuwar, Tharu, Yakkha, Yolmo, etc must educate yourself and be aware of your culture, religion, language and most importantly your Kirati identity. If not then in next decade you will be celebrating Christmas and speaking foreign language and so on. Anyway here's the beautiful Kirati culture that has been saved. This is by KiratYakthumbaLimbu.