Limboos are one of the major tribes
inhabiting the eastern Himalayan regions, like Sikkim, some parts of West
Bengal, North-Eastern states of India and eastern part of Nepal. Their chief
traditional drum is called ‘Kay’ and
is also referred as ‘Chyabrung’.The
kay is an oblong log-drum which is about
12 to 14 inches in diameter and with a length of about 22 to 24 inches. It is
held suspended by the drummer from the neck upto the stomach with the help of a
cord and is usually played only by the male dancers or drummers on some
auspicious, festive or ceremonial occasions like Me:tkam (marriage),Himli:ngma (house warming) ,Lamdha:n
(reception)etc.
Kay is a hollow log drum made out of a soft wooded tree species like ho:ngsing (Litesea Khasyana Hookeri) or khamari (in Nepali). Such soft wooded log drum can produce a deep and sharp sound most suited for the outdoor open air drumming .Like most log drums, the kay has two openings which are covered tightly by the goat-skin on the right and by bull-skin on the left. The one covered by goat-skin produces sharp and thrilling tone and the one covered by bull-skin produces flat and roaring sound. The former is played with the palm of the hand and is called ‘huksagay’ and the latter is struck with a stick (kay chhari) and is called ‘singsagay.
The dance which accompanies the
beating of the kay (Chyabrung ) is called
kay-la:ng. It is a stately and solemn dance with synchronized stepping
of feet generally performed by male dancers or drummers of two or more. On some
occasion, they are also joined and followed by female dancers with swinging
hands and singing melodious songs “kay-La:ng
La:ng” with characteristic vowel lengthening tone. When the melodious echo
of song follows the beating of drum, it gives an enchanting colour.
Originally kay-la:ng was performed
around the Hangsitlang, the main
pillar of the newly constructed house. This ceremonial function preformed
before occupying a newly constructed house was called Himli:ngma. It was done to invoke ‘Akwanama’, the house protecting deity
and also propitiate several deities and spirits to drive away evil spirit and
avoid incidents and ill- luck. With the change of time, the society changed and
the Kay la:ng is now-a-days performed
during me:khim (marriage), Lamdha:n (reception) tee:ha (victory function) and several
other functions or occasions. The expert kay dancer or drummer are known as “kay muktimba” or “kay la:ngsamba” who need not chant ‘mundhum’ to invoke “Akwanama”
while dancing during ceremonies but they tremble so tremendously like the Limboo
‘Phedangma’ usually do. These
phenomena indicate that the kay dancers themselves have tremendous power of
their own.
There are various type of la:ngs (dances) in Kay-la:ng (Chyabrung dance) varying from place tom place and from
region to region. These different types of kay-la:ng were imitation of behavior and action of animals, birds and
insects. Thus accordingly la:ngs are called sammenda
la:ng (Tibetan Goat Dance),yasa? La:ng(Himalayan Chomoise Dance) khireiba la:ng (Stag Dance), pe:ngwa la:ng (Barking Deer Dance), tokmay la:ng (Elephant Dance),ke:nda la:ng(rhinoceros dance),samba
la:ng (Limbo Priest Dance), singvekwa la:ng
(leaf dance), puyema la:ng (Fly
Catcher Dancer),puttukay la:ng (dove
dance) sijowa la:ng (swallow dance), perewa la:ng (Pigeon Dance),ngevonji la:ng (Fish Dance),chiraphe:ma la:ng (Butterfly Dance) and
so on.
Legend on the genesis of Kay (Chyabrung).
In ancient time, there once lived
a man called Kesingen along with his sister, Khappura Nellongdimma Teegenjongna,
deep in a jungle. One day, Kesingen abandons his dwelling leaving his sister
alone. This is because his sister was unbearably jealous of him.
Khappura Nellongdimma Teegenjongna
being left alone, all by her- self at the house started feeling lonely and frustrated.
She cried a lot and thought about the ill-treatments she did to her brother and
felt sorry for the same. One day she set out into the dense jungle in search of
her brother. It was like searching a needle in a haystack, he could not be
found. This made her gloomier than before and full of remorse.
There was scorching bright sunshine
all through the day and Khappura Nellongdimma Teegenjongna was completely exhausted
and was feeling very thrusty .She looked around for water but could not find
any source of water anywhere. While continuing her journey, she came across a huge
and mighty flat rock in the forest. As she was exhausted due to her prolonged
walk, she thought of taking rest on the mighty flat rock and refresh herself in
the cool breeze blowing. While resting on the rock, she discovered tow small
pools on the either side of the rock. She was very much delighted on seeing
those two ponds and drank the water from both the pools thinking them to be the
rain water accumulated on the rock. After quenching her thrust she resumed her
journey.
After many days of journey, Khappura
Nellongdimma Teegenjongna could not get trace of Kesingen and in despair
decided to settle down at a place called Munakham
in Tibet, in the middle of majestic jungle. She constructed a small hut and
started to live there all alone engaging herself in weaving.
One middle of the night, when Teegenjongna
was in deep slumber, she heard an voice in her dream. This was the voice of God.
The voice said, “Now you have conceived because you drank the water on mighty
flat rock. The water on the left side of
the rock was the tiger’s urine while in the right side your brother’s urine.
Since you mistook them to be the rain water and drank them, you will give birth
twins- one cub of a tiger and the other kid of human being.” On hearing this
voice Teegenjongna was in a grip of terror and awoke in fear and astonishment.
The delivery day approached closer
and finally she gave birth to twins, one tiger cub and another human baby. This
was, in fact, the exact prediction as foretold by the voice of her dream. She
named the tiger baby as “Kesamay” and human baby as “Namsamay”. Teegenjongna
gave her utmost love, care and compassion to both of her off springs and brought
them to their youthful age .When Kesamay and Namsamay became young, they
started hunting wild animals and birds and soon it became their amusement and
means of their livelihood. But the most distinctive and peculiar
characteristics between the two was the way they hunted. Kesamay always hunted
the poisonous creatures like the snakes, crabs, frogs, toads, scorpions,
lizards etc. while Namsamay hunted deers, bears, rabbits, stags, birds found in
jungle.
One day, when Namsamay advised his
brother not to hunt poisonous creatures Kesamay got annoyed and threatened Namsamay
saying that he would eat not only poisonous creature but would kill and eat Namsamay too. On hearing such a
frightful reply Namsamay was in state of terrible fright. Since then the
relationship between two brothers became bitter day by day. Kesamay became more
and more furious on his brother and started hunting for him and Namsamay in order
to save his life kept hiding from his sight.
Namsamay one day disclosed his
problem to his mother. Teegenjongna on hearing such an unhealthy statement was
very much surprised and concerned. In order to save Namsamay from his furious
brother she said that she would lie to Kesamay and send him to different
direction if he asks the direction of his going. So, whenever Kesamay asked
about his whereabout. Teegenjongna usually told a lie and send him in wrong
direction. When Namsamay used to go to the Himalayas she used to send Kesamay
down to the valley and vice versa. So, inspite of his best efforts, Kesamay
could not find his brother. One day, he became very angry and asked his mother
to tell him frankly about Namsamay’s whereabout. He further said that he would
even kill and eat his mother. This put Teegenjongna in a great state of anxiety
and was very much afraid. She, one day secretly called Namsamay and advised him
to go ‘Pobongso Pomikmaden’ (place
where varities of bamboo were available) and prepare bow out of ‘sakfa’ (wild bamboo). Thereafter, to the village named ‘Felleray
Fenduwa Pangbhay’ (where only blacksmith lived) to make arrow and therefrom finally to the great Himalayas to get ‘ning’ (poison) to apply on the arrow to make
it more poisonous. After Namsamay prepared bow and arrow following the
instruction of his mother, came to meet his mother once again. Khappura
Nellongdimma Teegenjongna was very pleased to see her son well prepared and
equipped with bow and arrows. She thereby, advised him to down to the valley
and climb the top of the “Chungde:ngo
Yangde:ngo sing” (Bombax malabaricum) tree with bow
and arrow to guard himself (Fungwajangma
Mundhum). Namsamay following his mother’s instruction went down to the low
lands.
On hearing the news of Namsamay’s whereabout
from his mother, Kesamay was so excited that he ran straight down to the valley
to kill his brother. Teegenjongna was now sure that one of her offspring would
die sooner or later. So, she placed two bunches of flowers in front of her. One
bunch was of “ondongphung”(Ocimum Basilicum) as an indicator of Kesamay’s
death or aliveness. The other bunch was that of “Se:kmari” (Apium Graveolen)
for Namsamay’s conditions. To her right was the bunch of Apium Graveolen flower and to her left
was the Ocimum Basilicum flower bunch
and very carefully stared at them as to know which of the two will either wither
away or become fresh. Withering of flower indicates death and freshening
indicates aliveness.
Down in the valley, Namsamay was
sitting on the top of Bombax Malabaricum tree with his bow and
arrows. Kesamay who saw his brother waiting for him was very happy and said to
himself, “Now I got my prey which I have been hunting for a long time”. He climbed
of the tree to catch his prey. Namsamay made several attempts to shoot his
brother with his bow and arrow but failed to do so. Kesamay was reaching nearer
to him and there was no alternative for Namsamay. He was left with only one
arrow now. Kesamay roared once again in anger and told his brother, “For many
days you have fooled me, deceived me to make me run down the valleys and up the
Himalayas uselessly. Now I got you. You will not be spared. I will gobble you up.” When Namsamay heard
this threat he became nervous. Mustering his courage he politely told, “Brother,
see I made several attempt to save my life from you but could not do so. Today
you have caught me cornered. I cannot escape from your mouth now. You just
close your eyes and open your mouth wide. I shall jump into your mouth straight”.
On hearing this Kesamay became overjoyed and closed his eyes keeping his mouth
wide open. This was the chance Namsamay was waiting. He aimed his last arrow
and shot it into the gaping mouth of Kesamay. The arrow was shot so powerfully,
it penetrated his mouth and came out of his anus. Kesamay was killed instantly
and crumbled down the tree to the ground breaking down the branches of Bombax Malabaricum tree on one side
producing a terrible thud. That is why, it is said, that the Bombax Malabaricum tree does not have any
branches on one side even today.
Back at home, the Ocimum Basilicum had withered and Apium Graveolen was becoming more active
and fresher. From this, Teegenjongna came to know that Kesamay has been shot to
death by Namsamay.
Namsamay knew that his brother was
death. But due to fear, he remained on the top of the tree without anything to
eat and drink. Finally when he saw flies hovering and buzzing over the corpse,
he came down of the tree. On seeing the dead body of his brother, he burst into
tears and thought, “To save my life I have alone a great sin by killing my own
brother”. He made of his mind to skin-out Kesamay’s skin to make something out
of it as a mark of respect and remembrance. After skinning, Namsamay took it to
Seho Namla:ng Tembhe and spread it to dry in the hot sun’s ray (Subba,
2005,2009).
When the skin dried Namsamay took
the skin to different places carrying and showing it to the people to get
something in return. Thus, Namsamay could collect eatables such as salt,
garlic, chilly, oil, ginger and other food stuffs from different places and
consumed them together with his mother. But
both of them fell ill after consuming the collected food items. Teegenjongna
was very astonished and went to Tageraningwa?phuma and told him about the
incident and their problem. Tageraningwa?phuma immediately sent for Phejiri Phedangma to the earth to cure or heal them and find out
the reason behind Namsamay and his mother’s sickness. Phedangma after coming to the earth foretold about how Namsamay had
collected food stuffs from the villagers and consumed them with his mother. Phedangma advised him to call the Tumyanghangs (elderly people) ladies and
gentlemen of the village for assemble. Namsamay did the same as Phedangma instructed him.
The Phedangma chaired the assembly and made an announcement that both Namsamay
and his mother have to restrain from taking food items and spices such as
chilly, oil, ginger, salt, garlic.etc. As Namsamay had collected those items by
exchanging with the skin of his own brother which cause them sick after
consuming. The Phedangma further
announced that if both of them fast and mourn for nine days (i.e. till
purification rite is conducted) they would be alright. Namsamay and
Teegenjongna following instruction of Phedangma
and Tunyanghang, mourned and fasted for nine days thereafter performed
purification rite in their presence. After that they became alright. Since then
mourning convention among the family members deceased person has become firmly
established tradition among the Limboos. This tradition is called as Netyukma Theem in Limboo culture. Even
today every member of the deceased family in Limboo tribe observe mourning
period up to nine days in the case of male and eight days in the case of
female’s death. The blood related relatives too fast and mourn for four days in
the case male and the three days in the case of female’s death. During this
mourning period both the members of deceased family and blood related relatives
are prohibited to consume salt, oil, chilly, ginger, garlic etc and mourn. (While retrospecting this observational convention of Limboo tribe
during Netyukma Theem, even the beer or alcohol should be also prohibited
during the mourning period as the yeast used in fermenting beer or alcohol are
prepared from chilly, ginger etc. If not, should logically and rationally be examined
and thought up).
After the purification rite was
over, Teegenjongna advised Namsamay to make something useful out of Kesamay’s
skin as a token of love and remembrance of his brother. So, Namsamay went to
the jungle to look out the tree on which skin could be stretched. It was very
hot mid day. He sat in the shade just beneath a tree to rest and refresh. While
relaxing under the huge tree, he suddenly heard sound coming out of it. Then he
surprisingly stared over the tree. He saw bees buzzing and the tree resounding.
Namsamay thought that this tree would be suitable to stretch Kesamay’s skin. He
hacked down the tree and cut it into many pieces of log. That tree was ho:ngsing (Litesea
Khasyana Hookeri). He brought
home one of the hollow-log and made hole in it. Thereafter, he stretched the
skin of Kesamay on both side of hollow-log. After it was tightened, Namsamay
banged it with his palm. While beating, it produced a sharp thrilling sound
similar to the roaring sound of tiger, “chang-grug-grug”.
The whole area echoed by the resounding with “chang-grug-grug.” Namsamay was very much impressed by its roaring
sound. He hung the drum in his neck and started beating with his hands. The
sharp thrilling sound echoed in the far off village and rocked its adjoining
areas. Hearing such roaring sound, the people from far and wide gathered to see
the drum and Namsamay. They were very impressed by the sound of drum. They
therefore became highly enthusiastic to possess the drum. They also learned to
prepare drum from Namsamay. Some of them became professional drummer, Kay-la:ngsamba. Among those, most
popular kay-la:ngsamdiwaba (most
expert drummers) were Phungdohang and
Ladohang. The drum which was made out
of the Kesamay’s skin came to be named as ‘Kay’
and those who became professional drummer came to be called as Kaydemba which later on became one of
the clans (thar) among the Limboo tribe. Here kay indirectly signified tiger as in Limboo language tiger is
called as Kayba. Similarly the Kaydemba denotes drummer or drum
holders. Kay means drum and Temba means holder.
Initially, the drummers did not
know how to dance with the drum. They just carried the drum (Kay) in their neck
suspended down to the abdomen with the help of rope and roam in the jungle.
While wandering with the drum from region to region, they noticed wonderful
actions and activities of animals and birds and insects. The drummer imitated
those actions, activities and natural behavior of animals, birds and insects and
eventually transformed them into different typical la:ngs (dances) with the pounding sound of kay (drum).
This is why the Kayla:ngsamba (drummer) while performing
kay-la:ng, shows different actions
and behaviors of animals, birds and insects. Those manifestations clearly
indicate as how the Limboo tribes are closely related with the actions and
behaviors of animals, birds, insects and nature.
At the end, the kay (Chyabrung) of
Limboo is not an ordinary hollow-log that everyone carries as one desires but
it is as old as Limboos themselves and its mythology is as dimensional as the
history of human civilization. Its association with the Limboo tribe is a
universally recognized and authenticated. The claim for its procession by any
claimant should have strong historical records and rich legend and mythology as
the Limboos have since the time of their immemorial.
(Note: Positive advice and health criticisms
are welcomed to improve and substantiate this article).
Selected Readings:
1. Chemjong,
IS(1966) History and Culture of Kirat People, Panchthor, Nepal.
2. Muringla,
BB(1979) Kay Po:kma Mundhum, in Pa:tila, Kwality Store, Gangtok.
3. Subba,Chaitanya
(1995) Culture and Religion of Limbus, Hatigauda, Kathmandu.
4. Subba,JR(1999)
The Limboos of Eastern Himalayas with special reference to Sikkim, Ambica Printers, New Delhi.
------------
(2005) Concept of Life After Life and Funeral Practices In Yuma Samyo
Tradition, Ambica Printers, New Delhi.
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(5009) Mythology of the People of Sikkim, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi.
5. Subba,
Krishna, (2003) Origin of Kay, in Namsanglay Oti, Kwality Store, Gangtok.
6.
Yakthungchum, (1995) Kay Po:kma Mundhum, Kwality Store, Gangtok.
7.
Fungwajangma Mundhum, Oral literature collected from Gerethang by the author
and Shan Hang Limboo of Limboo Department, Namchi Government College.
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