Caring for Ancestral Heritage away from Home: The Hyolmo Adivasi (indigenous people) of Helambu in Kathmandu

Religious Identities and the Struggle for Secularism: The Revival of Buddhism and Religions of Marginalized Groups in Nepal

“…The power to shamanize is usually obtained at a young age, after an illness which is considered a sign sent by ancestors and which is followed by an apprenticeship with an acknowledged shaman. Composite religious systems are very common among the Himalayan indigenous groups, as extensively reported by many researchers (Berreman 1963;Holmberg 1989;Mumford 1990;Balikci 2008;Torri 2014).…”

“…Since Hinduism provided the state with its main ideology, thus giving primacy to some groups while at the same time assigning the others subaltern positions, secularism became the flag under which to fight for "minority inclusion in all these spheres and for recognition of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious composition of the country" (Letizia 2016, 43). In the case of the Hyolmo, Sherpa and Tamang, for example, the public display of Buddhist features became a pivotal element of ethnic representation (Berg 2003;Holmberg 2016;Torri 2017). As for other groups, religious identity constitutes a key element of differentiation and specificity.…”

“…It is almost impossible to underestimate the role of religion in the process of asserting one's [28] ethnic identity. In this regard, we could almost equate the building of the Hyolmo Gompa 16 in Tinchuli (Kathmandu) with the growing awareness of Hyolmo identity itself (Torri 2017). After all, the Gompa provided a safe space and a cornerstone from which to articulate, express and display-that is, shape internally and make visible externally-their specificity.…”