Lepcha Erotic

The Lepcha, who call themselves Mutanchi Rongkup, are widely regarded as the indigenous people of Sikkim in India, also living in the Darjeeling hills, eastern Nepal and parts of Bhutan. They speak Lepcha (Rong), which forms its own branch of the Sino-Tibetan family and has its own script, and number in the tens of thousands.

Society and subsistence

Traditionally the Lepcha were forest-dwellers with an intimate knowledge of Himalayan plants and animals, subsisting through shifting cultivation, cardamom growing, hunting and gathering, later adding terraced rice and orchards. Their indigenous religion, Mun, with Bongthing and Mun ritual specialists, venerates nature spirits and Mount Kanchenjunga as a protective deity; most Lepcha today also follow Tibetan Buddhism, and some are Christian. A dispersed and long-marginalised community, the Lepcha have worked to preserve their language, script and oral literature, and concerns over development in sacred valleys such as Dzongu have been a focus of cultural activism. Their own script, traditional houses raised on wooden posts, and an unusually detailed knowledge of local plants and animals are all sources of pride, and festivals such as Tendong Lho Rum Faat honour the mountains that sheltered them in legend.

Appearance and adornment

Lepcha traditional dress is woven in bright multicoloured stripes. Men wear the dumpra, a tunic-like garment pinned over a shirt and trousers and gathered at the waist with a woven belt, sometimes with a round cane or bamboo hat. Women wear the ankle-length dumdyam, a wrapped dress fastened at the shoulders over a loose blouse, with silver and coral necklaces, earrings and a woven belt. The Lepcha are also known for finely woven cane and bamboo hats and mats. Bamboo flutes and choral songs accompany their dances, and community groups run classes to keep the language and script alive among the young. Modern dress is common, with traditional attire worn for festivals and formal occasions.