The Lama of the

Tamang people The Tamang (; Devanagari: तामाङ; ''tāmāṅ'') are an Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group of Nepal. In Nepal Tamang/Moormi people constitute 5.6% of the Nepalese population at over 1.3 million in 2001, increasing to 1,539,830 as of the 2011 c ...

, is an ancient priestly clan having resided in the area now known as

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

since antiquity and predating the spread of Buddhism, is associated with spiritual and religious dealings, including ancestor worship Additionally, other ''Swagen Bhai'' (Tamang kinship clans) perform priestly rituals, such as shaman ''Jhankris'', but the Lama are most associated with priesthood. This particular ''Swagen Bhai'' (kinship clan) of the Tamang are so associated with religion that all Tamangs are addressed as ''

Lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

'' by other highland Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups in the region, such as Gurung, Sherpa, etc. Nevertheless, only those of ''Swagen Bhai Lama'' are truly Lama. As with all ''Swagen Bhai'', there are complex restrictions on intermarriage between kinship clans. The exact relationship between ''Bon Lamaism'', their religion of antiquity that survives to modern times,

Gurung Dharma Gurung Shamanism is arguably one of the oldest religions in Nepal. It describes the traditional shamanistic religion of the Gurung people of Nepal. There are three priest within the Gurungs which are Pachyu, Khlepree and Bonpo Lam (Pre-Buddhist Lam ...

, the religion of a nearby and related ethnolinguistically close people, and

Bon ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...

Buddhist tradition (Bonpa), has not been established. Nevertheless, the Tamang are considered to be least influenced by

Khas Khas people (; ne, खस) popularly known as Khas Arya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of South Asia, what is now present-day Nepal, Indian states of Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Sikkim. Historical ...

-ization of all ethnic groups in Nepal, in addition to being the most connected to traditional religion of the Southern Himalayan region.

References

Religion in Nepal Ethnic groups in Nepal {{religion-stub