Tendong Lho Rum Faat
Date : August 8, 2011
Venue : Sikkim
The Tendong Lho Rum Faat festival is connected with the story of the deluge that is believed to have nearly swallowed Sikkim once. Legend has it that Mt. Tendong, in South Sikkim, saved the Lepcha people during the flooding of the entire Mayel Lyang country, now known as Sikkim. The festival is an annual thanksgiving to the savior mountain.
The three-day celebrations begin with the offering of prayers to Mount Tendong. The Lepchas perform a ritualistic dance, usually on the eighth of August every year, to worship the mountain. This day has been declared as a State holiday.
The Lepchas led by their priests, Boongthing and Mun, pray to the Almighty Goddess Itbu-Debu-Room-Daor – the creator and destroyer of the Lepchas of Sikkim. They also offer chee (millet beer) to save them from death by deluge.
Musical instruments such as the Palitkeng (flute with four holes), the Pentong (flute), the Nibryok palit (double-barrel flute), the Satsang (Sarangi), the Tanbuk (Veena), the Tang Dar (small round drum), the Chakpurjang (longish drum), the Bom Pochuat (a kind of whistle), Tangue (a small instrument made of bamboo, played with the tongue) and the Sahnai are played during the dance. Both men and women participate.
Apart from the dance, various literary and cultural programmes are held in the State capital. On the concluding day, exhibits of traditional Lepcha food, costumes and ornaments are displayed.
Venue : Sikkim
The Tendong Lho Rum Faat festival is connected with the story of the deluge that is believed to have nearly swallowed Sikkim once. Legend has it that Mt. Tendong, in South Sikkim, saved the Lepcha people during the flooding of the entire Mayel Lyang country, now known as Sikkim. The festival is an annual thanksgiving to the savior mountain.
The three-day celebrations begin with the offering of prayers to Mount Tendong. The Lepchas perform a ritualistic dance, usually on the eighth of August every year, to worship the mountain. This day has been declared as a State holiday.
The Lepchas led by their priests, Boongthing and Mun, pray to the Almighty Goddess Itbu-Debu-Room-Daor – the creator and destroyer of the Lepchas of Sikkim. They also offer chee (millet beer) to save them from death by deluge.
Musical instruments such as the Palitkeng (flute with four holes), the Pentong (flute), the Nibryok palit (double-barrel flute), the Satsang (Sarangi), the Tanbuk (Veena), the Tang Dar (small round drum), the Chakpurjang (longish drum), the Bom Pochuat (a kind of whistle), Tangue (a small instrument made of bamboo, played with the tongue) and the Sahnai are played during the dance. Both men and women participate.
Apart from the dance, various literary and cultural programmes are held in the State capital. On the concluding day, exhibits of traditional Lepcha food, costumes and ornaments are displayed.
