Limbu Community of Darjeeling & Sikkim | Chyabrung | Tungeba | Yumaism

It’s really difficult to get a holistic view regarding the origin of the Limbu tribe. Weaving the fragments of oral histories and popular memories, we can come to some conclusions like they might be the ancestors of the Aryans, or had fought against them. They belong to the family of the Kirats as found reference in the Rig Veda or the Mahabharata. They also might have migrated from Tibet or from China. They had their own kingdom called the Limbuwan. They call themselves Yakthumba or the head of the hill tribe. Living in the land of Buddhism, they follow their own pre Buddhist tribal religion called Yumaism. Deity Yuma is their beloved and is worshipped in all occasions. All the folk dances and community festivals carries the impressions of human imagination about their deity Yuma. A percussion instrument called the Chyabrung and a string instrument called the Tungeba is widely used to accompany their folk dances and songs. The house of the Limbus is called Hem and is a two storied building to save them from natural disasters and wild animals. The central pillar is the most important and sacred part of their house, and is worshipped with strict rituals. The central pillar manipulates the central gravity around which the house is made. The Limbus are animist when they perform some rituals to please the evil spirits. The religion Yumaism is their ethnic bond that they have been preserving with care and love which is transcending through generations.