The Limbu people are known as Yakthungba (referring to a Limbu man) and Yakthungma (referring to a Limbu woman) in their own language. Yambechha means male and menchhuma means female. They are the descendants of the Kirant dynasty of ancient Nepal. The Kirant dynasty ruled Nepal from 3102 BC. C. until the seventh century AD. C. as the first rulers of Nepal.
Historically, until 225 years ago, the Limbus had their own territory which was known as Lumbuwan before King Prithvi Narayan Shah united the territories that make up present-day Nepal. Today this area is in the eastern part of Nepal (including Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Panchthar, Ilam, Dhankuta and Tehrathum and the northern parts of Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts). According to the 2001 Nepal Census, the population of Limbus is 359,371 (1.58% of the Nepali population). They have traditionally been followers of the Kirant religion, which is a type of animism, the belief that both living and inanimate beings, such as trees, rivers and mountains, have souls. They have their own spoken and written Limbu language. The LIMBU script is known as the Sirijanga script.
Historical social role of limbu women:
Traditional Limbu women wore sim (it is a 7-yard-long material wrapped like a skirt) with a cholo, a blouse that is made from locally hand-woven dhaka material. Phaee (a long cloth) is wrapped around the waist to bind the sim. They always covered their heads with thakhumya (a large scarf) as an accessory. They loved to wear large gold and silver ornaments. Limbu women traditionally wore a pair of Nesse (large, flat-design gold earrings), a gold mundri as a nose ring, and a dhungri, a nose ornament. On their hands, the Limbu women wore gold or silver bracelets. Silver kalli were worn as anklets. They also used different types of ornaments on different occasions, ceremonies and festivals. Some of these ornaments were Phangsese (a necklace made of nine gold beads strung with glass beads), Labaphung (a crescent-shaped gold ornament worn as a hair clip), Namloi or Yogakpa (a large silver necklace), sisiphung or nekkhophung (flower-shaped gold earrings), reji (coin necklace made from ancient silver coins), and Swagep (a gold ring worn on the fingers). Also in the past, Limbu women used to wear Laskari in their ears, 5 or 6 similar small gold rings in a row. Old Limbu women can still be seen in the villages dressed in this way. All the types of clothing and adornments worn by the women suggest that the Limbu economy adequately provided for their needs in those days. Traditional Limbu women looked very elegant and created a unique identity in the world.
Limbu women like to dance the Ya-Lang (rice dance) and the Ke-Lang (traditional Limbu drum dance) on formal occasions such as weddings and religious ceremonies. There is also a dance called Mang Lang (Dev naach-dance of God) to celebrate religious occasions.
Most Limbus are farmers, and many men serve as Gurkha soldiers in foreign (eg British, Indian) armies or as security personnel in Singapore, Brunei and Hong Kong. Women help in agriculture by working in the fields. They plant rice, harvest the crops and take care of the domestic animals. They also raise children and take care of their in-laws.
My mom used to talk about “pewa” (Pewa is a limbu word, it’s a source of pocket money). Limbu parents were very generous to their unmarried daughters, allowing them to have their own money by providing them with “pewa”. Some single women used to keep a couple of goats or pigs, so they could sell their cattle and get money to buy what they wanted.
My grandfather gave my mom a couple of orange trees, from which she could get her pocket money by selling oranges in the Dharan market. This allowed him to buy her own jewelry or whatever she needed. In those days, buying gold and silver jewelry was a kind of family investment.
This article is about the Limbu women. I must not forget their gourmet cuisine. Limbus generally eat the usual Nepalese food, steamed white rice, dal (lentil soup), tarkary (curry) and aachar (a kind of hot sauce). I would like to mention some Limbu gourmet foods: kinema ko achar (pickled fermented soybeans), gundruk ko achar or gundruk ko soup (fermented mustard greens), yangben (moss that grows on trees), etc. They also drink a soft drink called tongba (millet beer), which is consumed in particular in large bamboo or wooden containers with tiny bamboo straws).
Limbu women used to be great businesswomen, cloth artists, and hard workers. There was no imported yarn available for weaving, so they used to grow cotton on their fields themselves. They used to spin yarn for weaving after harvesting raw cotton and drying it in the sun. Once opened, the “chhitko sari”, woven by Limbu women, was very popular with other Nepali women. They also used to weave hand cloth called Dhaka. They would be very creative in coming up with different types of ethnic patterns like tanchhokpa (star). They sold that cloth material to women and men in other communities, since imported clothing was not readily available. This type of traditional weaving has been passed down to their female descendants. Dhaka stuff is very popular now, and you can get Dhaka topis (caps), traditional pachheuras (big scarves), and Dhaka cholos (blouses). Today, neckties and Dhaka kurta-suruwals (trouser suits) are very popular. The traditional material is also used in the interior decoration of contemporary modern houses; You can find it used for cushion covers, curtains, table runners, tablecloths, etc. This material is also used in boutiques to make unusual and unique designer suits. Definitely, the credit goes to our mothers and grandmothers for transmitting such skills from generation to generation.
Contemporary Limbu Women and their Social Role:
Today’s Limbu women generally do not dress in traditional clothing or wear heavy jewelry. They wear all kinds of contemporary attire like kurta suruwal, sari and other formal and casual western attire. Married women wear traditional Nepalese adornments such as Tilhari with saris and kurta suruwal. Single women wear light jewelry such as earrings, hoops or pendants, a pendant with a chain, gold link bracelets, a ring and anklets with kurta suruwal and western-inspired outfits. Some married women also wear formal Indian-inspired gold jewelry, such as heavy mangal sutra necklaces and large dangling earrings.
Contemporary limbu society, especially in urban areas, has evolved from the village society of a hundred years ago. Modern society has brought many changes. Limbu women’s responsibilities generally include keeping the home, cooking, caring for children and in-laws, as before, but now also include helping to educate their children and perhaps running a store or pursuing a career outside the home. Of course, stock investments are not common in Nepal. Limbu women manage financial investments in land or property. There are many women whose husbands still work as Gurkha soldiers in foreign countries. Those women learn to manage their lives very efficiently on their own.
Today, some Limbu women have established careers in all fields: politics, media, business, professional performing arts, legal services, education, and the medical profession. Mentioned below are some names of Limbu women active in different fields:
Anjana Limbu (Shrestha): Film actress, her best known film is Balidaan
Anupama Subba: Actress in the famous movie “Numafung”
Bishnu Chemjong: The first star of Lux Nepal; She was chosen out of 5,000 contestants because of her beautiful voice.
Jina Lingden: The First Female Limbu Pilot
Jayan Subba Manandhar: choreographer and owner of a modeling agency called Ramp
Kala Subba: Active model, choreographer and Hits FM RJ.
Lila Subba (Shrestha): Member of Parliament of Nepal.
Pabitra Subba – A well-known and established Nepali singer and actress.
Malvika Subba: Miss Nepal 2002, worked with Kantipur telvision as host and event director of Miss Nepal pageant for 2 years.
Srijana Subba: Active member of Kirat Yakthung Chumlung and representative of the Limbu Shamans Association of Nepal. She works as a program officer for the NGO-FONIN.
Contemporary Limbu women are highly regarded for their incredible achievements in a short period of time. Young Limbu women today, whose mothers and grandmothers may be illiterate or barely literate, can go to university or gain specialized training for skilled employment.
Although there are only a small number of Limbu women compared to the total population of Nepal, they are active in all fields.