Sikkim

 

 

Sikkim is a state in East India in the Himalayan foot hills, bordering China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan.

 

The indigenous peoples of Sikkim consist of the Lepcha, migrating from Tibet, 

Bhutias, descendants of Buddhists who arrived from Tibet in the 15th century,

and Nepali, (who call themselves Gorkhas) descendants of Hindus who arrived from Nepal in the 19th century.

The current population is approximately 13% Lepcha, 16% Bhutias and 67% Nepali.

 

The Lepcha speak Lepcha and use Lepcha script. Lepcha men wear gadas and tie a patang, a kind of weapon, on their waist and don a bamboo cap. Women wear distinctive dresses and ornaments. Among Lepchas, there is a tradition of nuclear family structure and of monogamous marriage. Though divorce is relatively rare, widowed persons customarily remarry.

Traditionally, the Lepcha practice a religion centered around shamans called mun, who officiate ceremonies and festivals, and bóngthíng, who are healers and are often female.

The Lepcha converted to Buddhism in the eighteenth century, though their beliefs are largely syncretic.

 

Bhutias speak Sikkimese, Men and women wear bakhus, while for women only this is accompanied by a hongu (blouse) around which they tie

a woolen cloth around their waist called pangden if they are married. On special occasions they wear a scarf called a khada, which has become common feature in the Sikkimese society and culture even among the Nepalese of Sikkim. Marriage rituals are traditionally elaborate and festive, officiated by a village chief as opposed to a Buddhist lamas; late marriage and divorce are not uncommon practices among the Bhutia.

 

There is an estimated 500,000 Gorkha population in Sikkim – the only Indian state in wich a majority of the population are Gorkhas.

The quest of the Indian Gorkhas for a distinct Indian identity has given rise to the demand for a state of Gorkhaland. The Gorkhas believe that with the establishment of a state for the Gorkhas within India, every Indian Gorkha would have an Indian address that would quell any doubts of their Indian citizenship. The proposed state of Gorkhaland comprises the district of Darjeeling and adjoining areas in North Bengal.

 

Most Lepcha, and Bhutia today practice local forms of Buddhism, incorporating aspects of Bön religion and animism, in contrast to the Hindu Nepalese majority. Followers of Buddhism in Sikkim are largely either Karmapa or Nyingma, though a small section of Bhutias claim to adhere to Bön in particular.

Hinduism has been the state's major religion since the arrival of the Nepalis; an estimated 60% of the total population are now adherents of the religion. Sikkim's second-largest religion is Buddhism, which accounts for 28% of the population