Sisekpa Tumyen is one of the
major festivals of the Limboos and is celebrated in the month of Sise:kla
(mid-July) every year. It marks the end of drought, famine, hardship and misery
and heralds the beginning of prosperity and good luck. It coincides with “sawaney
sankrati” of the Nepali. On this special occasion, the Limboos believe that
the Almighty, Tageraningwa?phuma (Yuma)
descends to earth from heaven to visit each and every house and bestow upon
them with blessing of ample growth of agricultural produce: foodgrains, fruits
and other essential commodities and bless humanity with prosperity and good fortune and prevent them
from hunger, sufferings and famine.
On the eve of this particular day, the
Limboos of each household, clean and decorate their houses and make reed-ropes.
The flowers of cucumber, pumpkin, yaklengphung and freshly ripened maize,
finger millet, foxtail millet, and varieties of fruits are then strung up in
the reed-ropes and is hung on the main door to welcome Tageramingwa?phuma who is
expected to descend on this special day. On the same day, they lit butter-lamp
and offer all the crops and fruits newly ripened to Yumamang in their respective houses. They feast; drink and enjoy by
going from one house to another banging plates and winnowing baskets shouting “Sakmang
Pero Hangnam Tyero”
To:k Chamana Kha:manaro
Sa Chamana Kha:manaro
Thee Thungmana Kha:manaro
Ma:ki Ye:ngmana Kha:manaro
Po:eet Chamana Kha:manaro
Mangdok Chamana Kha:manaro
Pa:ya Chamana Kha:manaro
Sakmang Pero Hangnam Tyero”.
Paraphase:
“Hunger and starvation have gone
Prosperity and good luck have come
We eat food and satisfied
We eat meat and satisfied
We eat maize and satisfied
We drank jhar and satisfied
We eat pumpkin and satisfied
We eat cucumber and satisfied
We eat millet and satisfied
Now hunger and starvation have gone
Prosperity
and good luck have come”.
On this special occasion, the Limboos
prepare and consume their traditional food items, such as the Kangba,
the Lungkhakcha and the popponda. This festival is
still celebrated in Limboo villages of west Sikkim with great devotion and
gaiety. The mythology regarding this festival is very interesting.
According to Limboo myth, in the
primitive days, there lived a king named Manghang in Munakham (the place where
human race originated according to Limboo mundhum). He was very generous, enlightened
and religious minded king.
Once a tremendous drought prevailed in
his country and as a result of which dense forests, green fertile valleys, torrential
streams and calm rivers, placid ponds and lakes all dried up. The whole country
was engulfed in famine and misery. His
subjects were dying of hunger and starvation. The worried king was thinking of
the ways by which his suffering subjects could be redeemed from such a dreadful
famine. He was very concerned to see such a miserable conditions and sufferings
of his subjects and yet was totally helpless. He felt very sad and pensively
contemplated for the remedial steps to help and save his people from this calamity.
As the king was religious and a staunch devotee of the Almighty Tageraningwa?phuma,
he started praying her the day and night for her benediction and relief.
One night, in his deep sleep, the King
heard a voice in his dream. It was an advice of the Almighty, Tageraningwa?phuma
which said, “You are one of mine devotees. You are thinking of the ways to help
out your people. You need not worry. I am very much there to help you. Now, listen:
the moment you wake up in the morning, you go to the valleys of land. There you
will find ample ripened food grains which should be sufficient for yourself and
your people”.
The King, Manghang awoke early in the
morning full of enthusiasm , excitement and happiness. He warmheartedly prayed
to the Almighty Tageraningw?aphuma for giving him such an inspiring advice in
his dream. Thereafter, he set out to see the valleys of land as instructed by Tageraningw?aphuma
in his dream. Along the valleys, throughout the country, the King found
abundant soyabean fully ripened. The King was very much excited and impressed
by such an unexpected bumper of soyabean. It was a Sise:kla month (mid- July)
according to Limboo calendar. The King summoned his subjects of his kingdom and
instructed them to harvest, store and consume those soyabean. He also advised
his people to observe the very first day of Sise:kla month as Sise:kpa
Tumyen: the special festival of Limboos once in every year to mark the
end of hunger, misery and sufferings and beginning of prosperity and good fortune.
On this particular day, he advised to hang the fresh ripened food grains,
fruits and flowers at the main doors of every house to welcome and honour Tegeraningwa?phuma
who brings prosperity and good luck and ward off famine and sufferings.”
Following the instruction of the king,
the people went along the valleys of land and harvested soyabean, brought home,
threshed and consumed by roasting and making pha:ndo and kee:manaba
matchi and sumbak. The people were very much excited by this discovery and
went house to house shouting, “Sakmang Pero Hangnam Tyero” meaning
(famine and hardship have gone, prosperity and good luck have come) banging
plates and winnowing baskets after satisfying
their huger.
Since then the Limboos consider
soyabean as the first food grain that human race ever got to know, harvested
and consumed as food items and started its cultivation for various purposes.Tthe
Limboos use this particular food grain in number of recipes . They make kee:manaba
(fermented) and pha:ndo matchi and sumbak and use them as their
traditional food items. Even today in number occasions especially social
functions, they use matchi or theenuma and sumbak prepared out of kee:manaba
or chembigik and pha:ndo as their special traditional
dish. In the context of the Limboo mythology, the word kee:nama has its root
origin from Limboo word kee:manaba meaning “fermented or rotten”.
The portion of soyabean which the
people had stored in their respective houses was cultivated every year in the
fields. Year after year, there was a windfall production of soyabean. In the
years gone by, they also adopted number of other crops like kyabo
(buckwheat), tho-see (wheat), iplingay (maize), mangdo:k
(finger millet), paya? (foxtail millet), sa:mphay (amaranthus) and yakkho
(pumpkin), po:eet (cucumber), taret (bottlegourd), phutra
(ash gourd), etc. When those crops and vegetables and other fruits ripened,
they hung them at the main door of their respective houses to welcome Tageraningwa?phuma
who was expected to descend and bestow each and every houses with prosperity
and good luck and prevent them from famine, hunger and days of hardship. They
also clean and decorate their houses, lit butter-lamps and offer certain
portion of crops, vegetables and fruits to the Yumamang to please him
for ample of agricultural production every year. They also feast, drink and
rejoice on this particular day which usually fall in the month of Sise:kla (mid-July)
according to Limboo calendar. From this time onwards celebration of Sise:kpa
Tumyen came into existence as an especial festival of Limboos. Even
today, this festival is observed and
celebrated among the Limboo of the villages, mostly in West Sikkim.
But the Limboos are in apprehension of this particular
festival ‘Sise:kpa Tumyen’ which is in its octogenarian stage from
getting marginalized and faded in the days to come in this materialistic world
of cybernism. They have full faith and belief upon the government for the due
recognition of this moribund festival to save it from getting perished and
appeal to all the young-coming-up generations to analyse the value of such
important festival and play paramount role in the community to preserve the
same. Earlier salvation is only the alternative for the survival of this
special festival ‘Sise:kpa Tumyen’.
References
Subba,JR,(1999), The Limboos of Eastern Himalayas with special reference to Sikkim, Ambica
Publication, New Delhi.
Mangyung,Chandra(1991),Sise:kpa
Tumyen,Pa:tila Sapsok,Kwality Stores,Gangtok.
Report of the
CRESP,(2009),IPR, Government of Sikkim, Kwality
stores, Gangtok.
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