On-site Jomo Propitiation in Chug valley: video files

<p>Both participants in this ritual are <em>bon-po</em>, practitioners of the traditional religious system in the Chug valley. Jomo Gamdong is the place on the west bank of the Chug river which is considered the <em>pho-bra</em><em>ṅ</em> &lsquo;palace&rsquo; of <em>jo-mo u-si</em><em>ṅ bu-khrid</em>, one of the nine daughters of the female deity <em>jo-mo a-ni u-</em><em>&ntilde;i</em><em>ṅ</em>, located on the Bhutan-Arunachal border in Jomotsangkha block of Samdrup Jongkhar district in Bhutan. The peak of <em>jo-mo u-si</em><em>ṅ bu-khrid</em> is the westernmost peak in the north of the Chug valley (see figure1). Propitiation of the Jomo takes place on monthly basis at home. Only on rare occasions does the <em>bon-po</em> go to the Jomo Gamdong for the propitiation, typically once in a few years.</p> <p>The <em>phobrang</em> is located in a grove of oak trees starting from the large trees in figure5. The area is a collection of large rocks (see photographs). Each rock has a significance, of which little could be recorded (exceptions are the white female <em>naga</em> in figure2 and the servant of the Jomo in figure3). As the marking on the tree in figure4 shows, at the time of the visit many trees were about to be felled. Although the land is owned by individual households from Jagarbasti village in the Chug valley, the trees were felled by people from the neighbouring village of Lish Gonpatse (whether this is a case of illegal felling and encroachment as a result of the on-going land dispute between the two communities, or whether the owners from Jagarbasti sold the standing trees (with the land?) to the Lish Gonpatse people is not clear. This degradation of the site, in combination with the 2016 death of <em>bon-po</em> Kesang, means that propitiation of the Jomo here has ceased completely.</p> <p>The relevant stanza from the Jomo propitiation ritual (see file), in which the very first offerings are always made to the Jomo, are as follows:</p> <p><strong>Phonetic:</strong> [ʨʰɔtɔː {ŋa} ʨʰɔtɔː, ʨʰɔtɔː {ŋa} ʨʰɔtɔː, kʰamzaŋ {ŋa} ama ʥɔmɔː, jap {la} gawɔː ʑɔkpɔː, makp&oslash;n {na} meme ʨʰ&oslash;jɕi, l&uacute;mɔː karmɔː {ŋa}, l&uacute;mɔː j&aacute;ŋzɔm {ma}, l&uacute;mɔː manɖɛn {na} ʦʰeriŋ zaŋmɔː, ʦʰɛnla sɛrgi ʥɔːmɔː {ŋa} sagaŋ, ɬabraŋ {ŋa} laʨʰɛn, l&uacute;braŋ {ŋa} l&uacute;ʨʰuŋ, pʰygɔː {ŋa} gile.</p> <p>ʦʰekjɛt n&aacute;ŋla, j&aacute;ŋkjɛt n&aacute;ŋla, ʨʰamneː kakɲeː, rimneː kakɲeː, natʥa kakɲeː, rimʥa kakɲeː, siwɔː neːdak, kɔrda ɬa l&uacute; ʦɛn sum kakɲeː, ʦʰɛnla sɛrgi ʥɔːmɔː, sɛrkjɛm karpɔː, pʰyjgɔː gile.</p> <p>jaski kɔːra, y&oslash;nla gonʨʰa, n&aacute;ŋna gile. lemʨʰaŋ karpɔː, pʰyjgo gile. ʨʰɔːto {ŋa} ʨʰɔːtɔː.]</p> <p><strong>Tibetan:</strong> <em>ḥbyo ldog ḥbyo ldog, ḥbyo ldog ḥbyo ldog! kham-zaṅ a-ma jo-mo, yab dgaḥ-bo źog-po (&lt;TM ʑokpo), dmag-dpon mes-mes chos-śi (?), klu-mo dkar-mo, klu-mo dbyaṅ-ḥdzoms, klu-mo sman-dran (?) tshe-riṅ bzaṅ-mo, mtshan ser-gi jo-mo sa-gaṅ (?), lha-braṅ lha-chen, klu-braṅ klu-chuṅ, phul-dgos gi-le (&lt; TSD gi-la-aj)!</em></p> <p><em>tshe-skyed gnaṅ-la, g.yaṅ-skyed gnaṅ-la, cham-nad bkag-&ntilde;e (&lt;TSD ɲi), rims-nad bkag-&ntilde;e, nat-brgya bkag-&ntilde;e, rims-brgya bkag-&ntilde;e, sre-ḥu (?) gnas-bdag, skor-da lha klu btsan gsum bkag-&ntilde;e, mtshan-la ser-gi jo-mo, ser-skyem dkar-po, phul-dgos gi-le!</em></p> <p><em>g.yas-kyi skor-ra (?), g.yon-la bgon-chas (?), gnaṅ-na gi-le! lem-chaṅ (?) dkar-po, phul-dgos gi-le! ḥbyo-ldog ḥbyo-ldog!</em></p> <p><strong>English:</strong> Hark (and) dispel, hark (and) dispel, hark (and) dispel, hark (and) dispel! The healthy (?) mother Jomo, the father Gawo Zhokpo, the general Meme Choshi, the white female <em>naga</em> (see figure2), the female <em>naga</em> Yangzom, the female <em>naga</em> Mandren Tshering Zangmo, the name is the pit (?) (of) the golden Jomo, the deity residence for the important deities, the <em>naga</em> residence for the less important <em>naga</em>, it has to be offered ok!</p> <p>Provide (with) longevity, provide (with) prosperity, preventing the flu diseases, preventing the infectious diseases, preventing the hundred diseases, preventing the hundred infectious diseases, the host of the smallpox (?), prevent the roaming of the three, the deities, the <em>naga</em> and the <em>tsen</em>, the name (is) the golden Jomo, the white libation offering, it has to be offered ok!</p> <p>Surrounding on the right side (?), the clothing apparel on the left (?), it is provided ok! The white <em>lemchang</em>, it has to be offered ok! 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This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon this work non-commercially, as long as you credit us and license your new creations under the identical terms. License Deed on&nbsp;<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/</a>. Legal Code on&nbsp;<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode</a>.</p> <p>Tim Bodt: bodttim&nbsp;(at) gmail (dot) com</p>