Date and time:
2019-09-20 13:00 - 2019-09-20 14:00
Location:
VU Azijos ir transkultūrinių studijų institutas, Universiteto g. 5, Vilnius
On September 19-20, VU Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies is organizing a series of public lectures about North east India. Second lecture of the cycle will be held by PhD student of Estonian and comparative folklore in Tartu University Ms. Kikee Doma Bhutia.
In the Eastern Himalayan belt of North Eastern part of India lies a tiny second smallest state of Indian Union, Sikkim. It is sandwiched between the Tibet autonomous region on the North, Bhutan on the west and Nepal on the east. Until 1975, Sikkim was the independent Himalayan Kingdom for 333years, ruled by the monarch who were the descendants of Tibet. On 17th July 2016, Sikkim, it’s sacred landscape and the rich biodiversity has been included as the first World Heritage Site under the mixed category, which includes both nature and culture. The main focus of my presentation is to situate and unfold the sacred landscape of Sikkim according to belief narratives which revolve around the advent of Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rimpoche or Second Buddha. In the History of Sikkim 1908 compiled by His Highnesses the Maharaja Sir ThutobNamgyal, and Maharani Yeshay Dolma of Sikkim, “In the Tibetan Chag-rta (Iron-Horse) year, King Khri-srong-Ideu-btsan was born and in the sa-glangyear (Earth-Bull), Guru Padmasambhava was invited by him from India in 749 A.D to Tibet (Namgyal 1908:5). It is believed that it was during this time, when Guru Padmasambhava on his way to Tibet, passed by the Hidden land of Demojong (valley of rice, valley of fruits) and sanctified the land and tamed the supernatural beings by turning them into the guardian deities of the land and hid ter ma (Buddhist religious scriptures) in the different parts of lands. I will further display, how these myths sanctified the landscape and drew the sacred geography of the land which was again turned into the pilgrimage places for the people of Sikkim.
My focus lies more on the contemporary spirituality and local belief narratives about the sanctified sacred landscapes and how pilgrimage plays a vital role in maintaining, continuing and renewing these beliefs system. Thus, this paper remains an introduction to Sikkim and my research work as a whole in which I am developing into different aspects of belief narratives as a part and parcel of the everyday practices and belief of the people.
More information about the lecture: bit.ly/2mjyFhj.