Lepcha people

[1][2] Many Lepcha are also found in western and southwestern Bhutan, Darjeeling, the Koshi Province of eastern Nepal, and in the hills of West Bengal.

The Lepcha people are composed of four main distinct communities: the Renjóngmú of Sikkim; the Dámsángmú of Kalimpong, Kurseong, and Mirik; the ʔilámmú of Ilam District, Nepal; and the Promú of Samtse and Chukha in southwestern Bhutan.

While migrating westward through India, they are surmised to have passed through southern Bhutan before reaching their final destination near Kanchenjunga.

The Lepcha people themselves do not have any tradition of migration, and hence they conclude that they are autochthonous to the region, currently falling under the state of Sikkim, Darjeeling District of West Bengal, eastern Nepal and the southwestern parts of Bhutan.

Gaeboo Achyok extended the Lepcha kingdom from Bhutan in the east to Ilam (Nepal) in the west and from Sikkim to the northern tips of present-day Bangladesh.

It was developed between the 17th and 18th centuries, possibly by a Lepcha scholar named Thikúng Munsulóng, during the reign of the third Chogyal (Tibetan king) of Sikkim.

[14] Some of the name of the clans are "Zuraboo", "Barphungputso", "Rongong", "Karthakmu", "Sungutmu", "Phipon", "Brimu", "Lickchingmu ", “Sadamoo”, “Kabomoo”, “Molomoo”, “Lingdamoo” etc.

It is a multicolored, hand-woven cloth pinned at one shoulder and held in place by a waistband, usually worn over white shirt and trousers.

The popular Lepcha folk dances are Zo-Mal-Lok, Chu-Faat, Tendong Lo Rum Faat, and Kinchum-Chu-Bomsa.

If the marriage deal is settled, the lama checks the horoscopes of the boy and girl to schedule a favourable date for the wedding.

The groom and his entire family leave for the girl's house with some money and other gifts that are handed over to the bride's maternal uncle.

Upon reaching the destination, the traditional Nyomchok ceremony takes place, and the bride's father arranges a feast for relatives and friends.

[26] The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Lepcha as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati.

A Lepcha women in 1860s
A group of Lepcha shingle cutters at Darjeeling in the 1870s
A group of Lepchas in Darjeeling ( circa 1880)
Kinthup , a noted Lepcha Pundit , was a Buddhist pilgrim when he surveyed Nepal in the 1870s (photograph 1914).
Photograph of a Lepcha c. 1900, wearing the traditional cone-shaped hat