The Mundhum (also known as ''Peylan'') is the ancient religious

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

and folk literature of the Limbu people. It is an ancient, indigenous religion of

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 ...

. Mundhum means "the power of great strength" in the Limbu language. The Mundhum covers many aspects of the ''yakthung'' (Limbu) culture, customs and traditions that were followed since before the rise of the

Vedic civilisation The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betwe ...

in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. The Mundhum is organised into two parts: ''Thungsap'' and ''Peysap''. The Mundhum extends beyond religion, serving as a guide for culture, ritual and social values. The Mundhum is written in ancient Limbu and versions vary among the various Limbu tribes, serving as each tribe's distinctive culture and framing their social identity and unity in relation to other tribes and peoples.Monika Bock, Aparna Rao. ''Culture, Creation, and Procreation: Concepts of Kinship in South Asian Practice''. Page 65. 2000, Berghahn Books.

Thungsap Mundhum

The Thungsap Mundhum was collected, preserved and passed on by word of mouth and folklore until the art of

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was introduced. It was an

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

composed and recited in the form of songs by ''Sambas'', religious poets and bards. The Kirat priests in the beginning were called the Sambas where ''sam'' means song and ''ba'' means the one (male) who knows the sam.

Peysap Mundhum

The Peysap Mundhum is a written book about religion. It is divided into four parts: the Soksok Mundhum, Yehang Mundhum, Samjik Mundhum and Sap Mundhum. The Soksok Mundhum contains the stories of creation of the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

, the beginning of

humankind Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

, the cause and effect of

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

, the creation of evil spirits such as the evil spirits of envy, jealousy and anger, and the cause and effect of death in childhood. The Yehang Mundhum contains the story of the first leader of humankind who made laws for the sake of improvement of human beings from the stage of animal life to the enlightened life and ways to control them by giving philosophy on spiritualism. In this book, the leader has made rules for marriage, arbitration, purification and religion. The story of destruction of human beings by a deluge and the cause of existence of many languages among the Kirat people, the social customs of seasonal worship to the worship of God, the rules of purification on child birth and death are mentioned in the Lepmuhang Mundhum. The Mundhum is a spiritual, rhythmic and

shamanic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

form of scripture. Mundhum rituals and teachings are only used and performed by a very special Kirat religious master or shamanic guru of Kirant. Mundhum is written in very ancient native Kirat language and tones. To study Mundhum, one must study a native Kirat language such as

Rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, Limbu, Yakha, or

Sunuwar The Sunuwar or Koinch (; ''Sunuwār Jāti'') is a Kirati tribe native to Nepal, parts of India (West Bengal and Sikkim) and southern Bhutan. They speak the Sunuwar language. According to the 2001 census of Nepal, 17% of the tribe follow the Kir ...

. Topics in the Mundhum include the origin of earth, air, water, fire and life, medicine, God, all ritual birth, marriage, death.

References

External links

Mundhum Kirat Yakthung Chumlung

Mundhum Translations

{dead link, date=February 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Religion in Nepal Nepalese religious texts

Thungsap Mundhum

Peysap Mundhum

See also

References

External links