Saturday, June 27, 2009

Roots of Kiratas-Shaivism

Well i am going to throw more insights about Kirant. The Kiranti came about after the Sensitization process in Nepal.
That is Kirat>> Kirant and Kirati>>Kiranti

Kirantis are the same non-Vedic tribes called Kiratas in Veda and many other ancient works such as Purano, Ramayana and Mahabharata epic.

Here's some of the work i have come across through my studies on these group. Only after studying the aboriginal tribes you would understand the roots of Hinduism
better.

I have define Hinduism as below.

Hinduism =pre-vedic religion(aboriginal) + Vedic religion

Please note that the term Hinduism itself is a new word coined by scholars in about 19th century to differentiate all the religious practices in India that was different from Islam. Veda never said it was going to be call Hinduism.

Some definition of Hinduism are
Hinduism is the oldest world religion and began in North India. It was founded by a blend of conquered people of Indus and Aryan beliefs. It is a polytheistic religion.


Here's some short excerpt from scholars, Western as well as Indian about Shaivism.

The religion of most of the ancient communities of the Central Himalaya was primarily based on the superstitious beliefs and was connected with the practice of sorcery,exorcism, and magic. The tree worship, the worship of Mother-Goddess and Chandika Devi, snake worship, stone worship in the form of linga or the cult of phallus, held very important place among the ethnic communities in ancient India. The aborigines of the mountain tribes of the country, who had not come into contacts with
Brahmin's revered an invisible supreme spirit, various other evil spirits, minor deities.., etc the practice which still survives.


Shaivism:

Shiva, generally considered a non-aryan deity, secured a prominent place among the Kiratas.
It can be roughly asserted that Shiva-worship might have begun among the Kiratas in the mountainous regions of the Himalaya in pre-Vedic times, before the advent of aryans. Shaivism, in some form, was the prevailing religion of the aboriginal Kiratas.
On the basics of an episode described in the Mahabharata, as well as in the Kiratarjuniyam(Shiva in a form of Kirat fight against Arjun), of Bharavi, the Kirata may be identified with Shiva, and it may be suggested that Shiva was their popular deity.

Romila Thapar, while supporting this literary evidence, also has admitted that in all likelihood the Kiratas were the worshippers of Shiva. The assertion that Shiva, the god of the Himalayan mountain, was worshiped by the non-Vedic kiratas, can be proved in many ways. Some of the foreign scholars have also consolidated the concept that Shiva was a patron god of the aboriginals. Megasthenes has also referred to the two Indian deities-- Dionysus(identified with Shiva) and Herakles (identified with Krishna). The former was worshiped as the highest gods on the mountains and the latter was adored in the plains.Thus it is clear that the practice of worshiping Shiva might have begun much earlier to the Christian era, even though the Kiratas did not call themselves Shaivas.

Chandrapida, the prince of Ujjian, in course of his expedition against the Kiratas and the kindred tribes, inhabiting the vast tract of forest extending beyond Suvarnapura, as far as the mountain Kailash(the abode of Shiva) in Tibet, saw both the Shiva temple and a cave in its southern direction, as recorded by Banabhatta in his Kadambari.
That is a definite indication of Shiva worship in the Kirata region of the northern Himalaya. The concept of Shiva worship originally flourished among primitive tribes, living in the hills and forests --the Vratyas, the Nisadas, and other non-aryan. ~ Ancient communities of the Himalaya by Dinesh Prasad Saklani


"The clear conception of Siva arose in the Upanisadic age. Siva as been, for the first time, explicitly mentioned as the Aryan god in the Svetasvatara Upanisad in the background of Yoni-Linga relationship. There was never mention of Siva as Aryan god in Rig Veda, the oldest text of Aryan". From here it can be ascertain that Siva was worshiped by the aboriginal Kirata before the advent of Aryan. ~Tribal roots of Hinduism By Shiv Kumar Tiwari

The Aryan incorporated Sivaism which was the religion of the aboriginal Kirat people into Vedic religion and also other religion sects as given by scholars below;
According to "The Indo-Aryans of ancient South Asia" By George Erdosy, the primitive Saivisim, Vaishnavism, Sankhya and Yoga which are the four corner stone of modern Hinduism was recognized as non-vedic by the orthodox exponent of the Vedism in the early periods.

Kiratas along with other tribes non-conforming to Vedic teachings was classified as Mleccha(babarians) in many early texts, in a sense that they were destroyers of Aryan. Hence the Siva was name as destroyer in the Hindu Trinity. ~ G.P Singh (The Kiratas in Ancient India, 1990)

"When the Aryan found that their gods like Agni, Indra, Varun etc. were loosing popularity and people did not worshiped the gods which they brought, rather they were worshiping Subra(Siva)and following Saivisim, then they placed Sibarai worshiping under banned. At first the Aryanised conquerers held this religion (Saivism) in disdain and placed in under a ban. But it did not helped; ultimately peoples over come such banned and Saivism continued to strive among the aborigines. At the same time to secure easy recognition by the aboriginal people, they placed Siva into Hindu pantheon".
~ Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization By John Marshall, John Hubert Marshall Sir

Until you study the Kirat people, you won't understand the root of Hinduism or the early civilizations in India. Many books written about India and Indian civilizations are biased because many do not cover the aspects of the aboriginal tribes. Though many scholars have studied about Kiratas, these group are still unknown to the world because
lack of much publications and largely because the Kirat people live in Nepal where the Brahmin's government have all sort of censorship and control for the past 250 years after coming to the power.

What is Kirat and who are these people?

I will let you know on my next post.

14 comments:

  1. Good to see a blog on Kiratas. Thank you for leaving a comment. I'll be back to know more.

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  2. What is Kirat and who are these people?


    The term Kirat is a corrupt form of Kiriat, Kiryat or Kirjath which means a fort or town in Moabite language of the Mediterranean region.

    When their number increased, they built many forts and towns and called them Kiriat-hime, Kiryat-yarim, Kirjath-arba, Kiryat-baal, Kiryat-hujro, Kiryat-sanna and Kiryat-sapher which indicate the meaning of the town or fort of the forest, or the town of the god Baal, or the town of books, or the town of palm trees. The residents of the above noted towns started calling themselves, “Kereti” which later on became Keretite or the Kerite tribe. The ancestors of this tribe if identified, comes to Nahor; the younger brother of Abraham, a resident of Ur in Babylon. He belonged to the Semitic family. When the Hebrew people under the leadership of Moses, invaded their country, they were defeated and expelled from their native land. The Kereti people then led a nomadic life and spread towards the eastern and north-eastern countries.

    In 2400 BC, a branch of which came to Mesopotamia or the Assyrian country, intermingled with the Ashur people and formed one nation with them. Later on they migrated to Northern India and the Himalayan region via Media(NW Iran)and Nisa(Turkmenistan) of Northern Persia with the title of the Kirat-Ashur tribe led by Shambar Ashur. But in Nisa they were called Khambos or Yavan and claimed their descent from the Greeks of the Ionian island. In the Sanskrit book of Yogini Tantra, the Kirat nationality is included among the Yavan, Pallava, Koch. The Greeks had also known the Kirats by the name of Kirhadai. The last remnant of the ancient Kiratite or Cherethite tribe was found recorded in the book of 2 Samuel, 15 - 18. They were a martial tribe during the reign of the Syrian King David in 1049 BC. ~Prachin Bharat ka Rajnitic aur Sanskritik Itihas by Rati Bhanu Singh Nahar, page 231 ~ HISTORY OF THE KIRAT PEOPLE (2003)

    Sir John Hammerton in his book called “Early Races of Mankind", mentions that probably in the 4000 BC, there was a civilized race of mankind on the lower Euphrates of the Mediterranean region described as Mongolian or Summerian of the Cheldean. They had their own independent forts or towns. They used to fight for their border line and had erected an inscribed stone pillar of agreement in the middle of their boundaries. The defeated town never agreed to live under their enemies. They used to quit their native place for good and migrate to other countries. In like manner, in about 3000 BC, a big horde of people left their native place and came to the east and established the Chinese Empire. There is no doubt that the Kirat-Ashur people came to North India earlier than the Aryans yet they had known them very well in Persia.

    According to Early Races of Mankind by Sir John Hammerton, Vol. I, page 434, when the Aryans came to India for the first time and started to advance towards the hilly regions, they had to fight against a Kirat-Ashur king whose kingdom was situated on the bank of river Indus in the Himalayas. His name was Shamba Ashur. He was defeated in the battle, so he left his place and came towards the east and established a stronghold in the Kinner land which is now known by the name of Himachal Pradesh in India. In this place, a horde of Mongolian people came and intermingled with this stock of Kirat people and constituted one big Kirat race. Gradually they spread towards the east and resided in the Himalayan region of Nepal, Assam and Sikkim.

    The History of the Kirat People mentioned that combination of three races known by the names of Khambongbas(Khambos), the Tangsangthas(Mongols) and the Munaphens(Chinese) migrated to the Himalayas regions. The Khambos, were the first immigrants to the Himalayan region followed by the Tangsangthas and the Munaphens. The latter group Tangsangthas and the Munaphens people intermingled with the Khambos to constitute a big human race. ~HISTORY OF THE KIRAT PEOPLE (2003)

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    Replies
    1. I live in Nepal and I am a Rai. Just wanted you to know that Rai and Limbu priests still worship Shiva but no other gods. For proof, there are two of these priests at Kirateshwar above the Pashupati shrine, who worship Shiva and I met a Limbu shaman who had a poster of Shiva. Being Shaivites, they don't worship the Shiva lingum.

      Delete
    2. Hi Yala2

      My name is Nishant Balgovind and I am a film maker by profession. Right now I am making a documentary movie on Bodo. I wanted to do some research and shooting in Nepal region where these Kirat people live and enjoy their tradition and culture. Bodo are said to be Kirat and then Kachari and then Boro and then Bodo at present in North East Part of India that is Assam. I don't know weather you could help me or not, but if you could then I shall be very thankful to you.

      thanks and regards
      Nishant Balgovind
      +91-9004811814

      Delete
  3. Kiratas as referenced in Vedic literature:

    In the ancient text such as Veda, the Indo-mongoloid people were called KIRATAS.

    Let me quote some paragraphs from the book (KIRATA-JANA-KRTI) by Suniti Kumar Chatterji.
    The name Kirata is for the first time found in the Yajurveda (Sukla Yajurveda, Vajasaneya, XXX, 16;
    also Krsna Yajurveda, Taittiriya Brahmana, III, 4,12,1).

    In connexion with the Purusa-medha or ‘Man-Offering’ sacrifice, where a list of all kinds of human beings
    and animals symbolically or figuratively offered to the gods as sacrifice is given, we find the following passage:–

    guhabhyah Kiratam; sanubhyo Jambhakam;
    paravatebhyah Kimpurusam

    which upon translation will read ‘A Kirata, for the caves; a Jambhaka (long-toothed man?) for the slopes;
    a Kimpurusa (an ugly man, a wild man, an ape?) for the mountains.’

    Then in the Atharvaveda (X,4,14) we have a reference to a Kirata girl (Kairatika) who digs a herbal remedy on
    the ridges of the mountains:–

    Kairatika kumarika saka khanati bhesajam:
    hiranyayibhir abhribhir girinam upa sanusu.

    ‘The young maid of Kirata race, a little damsel, digs the drug:
    Digs it with shovels wrought of gold on the high ridges of the hills.’
    (Translation by R.T.Griffith.)

    “Macdonell and Keith have the following note in their Vedic Index on Kirata:
    ‘Kirata is a name applied to a people living in the caves of the mountains, as appears clearly from the dedication
    of the Kirata to the caves in Vajasaneyi Samhita (also Taittiriya Brahmana), and from the reference to a Kirata
    girl who digs a remedy on the ridges of the mountains.

    KIRATAS are described in the ancient text as ‘gold-like’, i.e, yellow in color (and not dark or black like the Dasas
    and Dasyus and the Nisadas and other pre-Aryan
    people.

    Here’s the quote from the the book taken from Kirata-parvan section of Varna-parvan of the Mahabharata.

    Kairatam vesam asthaya kancana-druma-sannibham
    “Taking up a Kirata resemblance, like unto a tree of gold” (IV,35,2);

    dadarsatha tato jisnuh purusam kancana-prabham
    “Then the Victorious One(Arjuna) saw a Man, shining like gold” (IV, 35,17);

    na tvam asmin vana ghore bibhesi kanaka-prabha
    “O thou that art shining like gold (addressing Siva in the form of Kirata), dost thou not fear in this terrible forest”
    (IV, 35, 18)

    As with all the Mongoliad people of Nepal, Assam and Sikkim their color(yellow) of their skin matches the one described in this ancient texts.

    The Ramayana mentions the golden color of the Kiratas; thus

    Kiratasca tiksna-cudasca hemabhah priya-darsanah,
    antar-jala-cara ghora nara-vyaghra iti srutah
    (Kiskindhya-Kanda, 40, 27, 28, qouted by N.N Vasu)

    upon translation is The Kiratas, with hair done in pointed top-knots, pleasant to look upon, shining like gold, able to move under water, terrible, veritable tiger-men, so are they famed.

    Secondly The Kiratas in Sanskrit (Sanskrit: किरात) mentioned in early Hindu texts are the tribal of the forest and mountains with this Sanskrit phrase “kiram atati bhramati yah” meaning one wandering over the forests.
    All the mongoloid people of Nepal, Assam and Sikkim were indigenous before the Brahmins(Aryans) migrated from Indian plains in the later period.

    The Vedas mentioned the indigenous as The Yavanas, the Kiratas, the Gandharvas, the Cinas, the Savaras, the Barbaras, the Sakas, the Tusharas, the Kankas, the Pathavas, the Andhras, the Madrakas, the Paundras, the Pulindas, the Ramathas, the Kamvojas who are all non-aryan in origin. They were all mentioned together as tribes beyond the kingdoms of Aryavarta. The Aryavarta-kings had doubts on dealing with them. (12,64).

    Here beyond the kingdoms of Aryavarta means the Himalayan region. In ancient Hindu scriptures, the Himalayan region extending from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Nepal, Assam and Tripura was referred as the “Kirat Desh” or “the Land of Kirats”. Still today one can find mon khmer Kirat people in Himachal Pradesh.
    Google it and you find it!

    So who are these Kirat people in Nepal?

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  4. So who are these Kirat people in Nepal?

    So far only ethnic group of Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar and Yakkha was officially recognized as Kirats.
    Today Dhimal, Hayu, Koch, Thami, Tharu, Chepang, and Surel ethnic groups also consider themselves to be of Kirati descent.
    source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirat>

    But one scholars have pointed out that all the Mongoloid/Tibeto-Burmese people in Nepal are KIRATAS. Here's a short excerpt of work.

    “The ancient Kirantis of Nepal, a very powerful people in the neighborhood of the tribes on the northern frontier of the Himalayas are said to to have held dominion down to the delta of the Ganges. They were both short and tall in structure having well-formed face, fair complexion, small, as well as large oval eyes, scantly beards, short nose, etc. Hodgson has placed the complex professionalize language of Nepal under the head of Kiranti, which is connected with the Tibeto-Burman group. The most powerful section of the Kirantis who settled down in the Valley of Nepal in ancient times, probably in the pre-Christian era, are identified with the present days Kiratas, i.e Kulung, Thulung and Yellung. The Newaris who are happen to be one of the oldest inhabitants of Nepal Valley are also identified with the Kiratas. They are supposed to have lived between Gandaki and Sunkosi. In support of this identification, it has been noted Newari names of Patan Yellai is a changed form of Yellung Kiratas.

    By no stretch of imagination, the Newaris, Gurungs, Magars and Lepchas can be identified with the Kiratas. The Thadus or Tharus occupying the Tarai region from Nepal and eastern Rohilkhanda along the frontiers of Oudh to Gorakhpur are supposed to be identical with the Kiratas. The great bulk of them are now subjects of Nepal Government.” ~The Kiratas in Ancient India(1990) by G.P Singh


    Hence since the dawn of the mankind, the mongoloid people were living in ancient India as tribes of the forest and mountains.
    After the arrival of the Aryan in the later period, the two races collided and both ultimately had to fight for territorial, survival and existence.
    The later group Aryan had known the Mongoloid people by the name of Kirat in the Mesopotamia region even before the Aryan arrived in the Giantetic plains of Indian-sub continent.

    And the Aryan refer Mongoloid as KIRATAS as mentioned by the the Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Shukla Yajurveda which refers Kiratas as cave dwellers. See above.
    With the expansion of the Aryan civilization, the KIRATAS in ancient India slowly disintegrated but were never defeated.

    G.P Singh in his book “The Kiratas in Ancient India”, quoted this from the ancient work of India.

    “those who are braves cannot be extinguish” referring to the Kiratas(Indo-Mongoloid people)

    Therefore even after all these centuries of bringing people into the fold of Vedic Hinduism, and creating several ethnic division through caste system, the Kiratas still exist today and some Kirati group has manage to keep the Kirat belief and culture intact though they have lost many original practices due to the Sanskritization.

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  5. KIRATAS are described in the ancient Vedic text as ‘gold-like’, i.e, yellow in color.

    Here's the appearance of KIRATAS>>KIRANTIS today.


    "They are considered a bit different from other Nepalis. They are more like Chinese tribes, whom they resemble physically as well. In fact they are often mistaken for Chinese." ~ Quoted from
    The Origins of Indians : Version 3.2
    The Phallic Worship:

    This video shows Kirantis celebrating one of their festival called Sakela/Sakewa this year in UK. Kirantis form part of the fame Gurkha Regiment in the British Army. Many Kirantis are now living in UK.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7BP2yoZQNU

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liKFXqoHXo8&NR=1


    Just copy/cut and paste the link at the browser.

    From the video, the appearance of Kirantis are all answered.

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  6. This is regarding the first question "In one of my previous posts, I had argued that phallic worship could have been originated from Sino-Tibetan/Austro-Asiatic people present in India's north-east and east. My argument stems from the fact that neither Dravidian tribes nor IE tribes practice phallic worship and it's observed among Sino-Tibetan people of Nepal and north-east India. Now I suppose its presence among Austro-Asiatics could be because of contact with Sino-Tibetans."


    This video shows some aspect of Kirati religion today.
    This video shows the Kirat Temple. Look closely and you find three stones in a phallus shape The three stones are the main deities of the Kirat.
    Hence interestingly one need to ponder, Did Kirat really started the Shaivism religion and the cult and trantics associated with Shaivism because scholars have now seen the link that worshiping of stones and nature originated from Kirats and not Vedic Aryan.
    Hinduism in the first place has no single founder.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zad3XncfGhY

    This video shows form of cult and trantics which is the aspects of Kirati religion.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFxWZYiMlyU

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBqqH-3HizY

    The last video answers the following question.
    "But they keep a seperate room near the kitchen for their worship and non-kirantis are not allowed to go near the room."

    This video shows the kirati chula puja. chula means stove or cooking area in the kitchen. puja means worship

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PXfadTav-4

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  7. The Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata viewed Kiratas as fearful and terrible highlanders. The Ramayana describes: "The Kiratas with their hair down up in knots, shining like gold and pleasant to look upon, bold enough to move under water, terrible, veritable tiger-men, so are they famed" ~ (Eastern Himalayan Culture, Ecology and People)

    Google "Vedic Aryan entry into Nepal" by Shiva Raj Shrestha "Malla" It gives some insight about war between Kiratas and the vedic Aryans in the early period.

    Here's the excerpt from "Vedic Aryan entry into Nepal".
    "The "Kiratas" of Western Himalayas had hundreds of fortresses and had to fight with the Vedic Aryans. The famous war between Kirati Emperor Sambara and King Divo-dasa is described even in the Rig-Veda. After the defeat of Kiratas, the Nishadhas were the main enemies of the Aryans. Aryans must have realized this and by accepting Kiratas Supreme God Lord Shiva as their own, developed friendly ties with the Kiratas." ~The Vedic-Aryan Entry Into Contemporary Nepal
    [A Pre-Historical Analysis Based on the
    Study Of Puranas] by Shiva Raj Shrestha

    link: //himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_147_01.pdf.

    or

    http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2000/dec/dec03/editorial.htm

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  8. Nagas in Sanskrit means snakes. It is given by the vedic aryan for Nagas people in NorthEast India used to worship snake.
    Kiratas on the other worship phallus stone. watch the video "Connexion of Mongolia-Kirat:Revealing the Mystery of Origin of Phallus Stone Worship"
    After the arrival of vedic aryan, these 2 culture of worshiping stone and snakes were taken in by the vedic culture. Today in Hinduism, phallus stone(Shiva Lingam) is adorned with snakes around it , representing Shiva with snake around his neck.

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  9. The Video "Connexion of Mongolia-Kirat:Revealing the Mystery of Origin of Phallus Stoine Worship" is in the youtube.

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  10. Kiratas came from Indus-Saraswoti region into the Himalayas including present day Nepal
    ----------------------------------------

    Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 9,000 years. The foremost settlers in this region was the Mongoloid people who are termed as "Kiratas" in Veda and other ancient texts.
    Actually nobody knows when they came into Nepal and from where. But finally this has been discovered after the excavation in Nepal.
    This is quite a findings released by the Journals of the Department of Archaeology of Nepal, published 2003.
    You can read more about the excavation and the findings in this source:

    Archaeological Activities in Nepal Since 1893 AD To 2002 AD by Prakash Darnal
    A History of Nepal by John Whelpton
    God-apes and fossil men: pale anthropology of South Asia by Kenneth A. R. Kennedy


    Senior Professor Sudarshan Raj Tiwari from Nepal in his book (The Brick and the Bull, 2002) states, " The similarities among the cultural practices of bygone days leave little doubt that the Kirats did indeed come from the Indus-Saraswati Valley.

    Now what was this similarities among the cultural practices that present Kiratis(Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar, Yakkha) are practicing in reference to cultural practices which was found in the Indus-Saraswoti region or simply Indus Valley?

    It was discovered during the excavation of Harappa civilization in Indus Valley that phallic symbols resembling the Hindu Siva lingam was found in the Harappan remains.
    And if you guess correctly, the present Kiratis do still have sort of phallic symbol in "chula-puja" worship.
    Kiratis today still have many unique rituals and culture that were practiced in the Indus Valley.
    check this video --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zad3XncfGhY

    Through their unique religion and culture, scholars and anthropologists have uncovered that the Kiratas came from the Indus-Saraswoti region or simply Indus Valley.

    Kiratas first appear in the Yajur Veda (Shukla XXX.16; Krisha III.4,12,1) and in the Atharva Veda (X.4,14) , 1400 B.C - 1000 B.C meaning that Kirat tribe were one of the many tribes living in the Indus-Saraswati Valley or simply the Indus Valley.

    --->The Manusmriti identifies the Kiratas as one of the eleven tribes who inhabited the Indus-Saraswoti region. (Tiwari, 2002)
    ---> The Kiratas were forced to move away from their homeland in Indus-Saraswoti region and into the Himalayas including present day Nepal. (Tiwari, 2002)
    ---> Kirat came to Nepal in about 700 B.C. and ruled over it. (Baburam Acharya)

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  11. I am too very much interested in the history of kirats.In western himalyas at present the kiratas live at highers mountains.You can find them at the border regions of Utranchal like mana village.And in himachal pradesh in kinnour and lahul spiti.In kullu also you will see kirata facial features among the Khasha tribe mostly in interior regions.You go to upper kullu belt and lag valley and the higher regions of kullu you see so many people look like kiratas.You wonder wether they are kiratas or the khashas.
    You go to Malana.I think the malana people are the last of the kiratas in their pure form.
    they speak the kirat language which is very much different from the native kulvi language.
    I hope you would bring out more interesting facts about the kiratas if you research about the western himalyan kiratas.
    thank you.

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  12. Here's some historical background of Nepali flag that have connection with Kiratas.

    Historical Background of Nepali flag
    -------------------------------------

    The national flag of Denmark, Dannebrog, is red with a white Scandinavian cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side. According to the Guinness World Records 2010, Dannebrog is the oldest state flag in the world still in use by an independent nation

    Heres little bit about Nepal flag.

    The national flag of Nepal is the only non-quadrangular national flag, and one of only two non-rectangular official jurisdictional flags in the world (the other is the flag of the American state of Ohio). The flag is a simplified combination of two single pennants that represent, for some, the mountains of Nepal while for others the Hindu flags. The flag was adopted, with the formation of a new constitutional government, on December 16, 1962. The individual pennants had been used for the last two centuries and the double pennant since the 19th century.

    Historical significant behind the design of Nepal flag.

    In the ancient War of Kurukshetra, described in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata dating back to some 800 BC, there is mentioned that Yalambar, the first King of Nepal took part part in this great war. There is no mention of its flag, but there is a national flag of the Kirati people which, as some claim, represented Nepal in this great war. It is also claimed, the Kirat flag served as a model for the Nepali flag and some are suggesting it should be adopted as the new national flag for Nepal.

    The origin of the unique double triangle of Kirat flag symbolizes the Kirat and Nepal during vedic age(1500BC - 600BC). That's how the Nepal flag is believed to have derive from as some scholars have uncovered the secret now.

    If so, it predates, by a long shot, the Dannebrog(national flag of Denmark).


    Here's the brief insight into Kirat flag. There are three significant meanings in the Kirat flag.
    1. Color:
    The saffron yellow(golden yellow) represents that sun will never set in Kiratdesa(nepal). That Kiratdesa viz Nepal will last as long as the sun.
    The golden yellow also represents the Mongolian people who are "gold-like" in appearance with this phrase
    "Kairatam vesam asthaya kancana-druma-sannibham"
    "Taking up a Kirata resemblance, like unto a tree of gold" (IV,35,2)

    2. Shape:
    The unique double triangle of Kirat flag symbolizes the Kiratas and Kiratdesa(nepal) during Vedic age which is over 5000+ years ago. The double triangle also represents the Himalayas which was a homeland of Kiratas(Mongolian people).
    The border of the flag is in red. The red border symbolizes the brotherhood among the Mongolian. It also symbolizes Kiratas as brave and resilient.

    3: Symbol:
    Finally the center of the flag is encircle with bow & arrow. The circle represents the universe, both external and internal. The inner circle represents the Mother earth. The outer circle represents the sky or the Father sky. This symbolizes the Kirat as being harmony with nature which is their aspect of their culture & religion. The circle is white symbolizing the purity of their culture & religion. The bow & arrow symbolizes Kiratas as warriors.

    The fact this significant piece of Nepali history was hidden from the world was because of the censorship imposed by the previous Hindu Shah-Rana leaders. But with the abolition of last Nepali monarch and the establishment of a federal democratic republic of Nepal in May 28, 2008, this is one of the many facts of Nepali history that is coming into daylight.

    Courtesy: New Spotlight & NTY 2011

    ---------------------------------------------

    Anyway I found the Kirat flag at this site. http://flagspot.net/flags/np-kir.html
    You can also catch glimpse of this flag at this youtube video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvF0Sde8D4Y

    ReplyDelete