Mundum: Oral Tradition, Ritual Practice, and Cultural Identity Among the Bantawa Rai
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajsl.v5i2.8421Keywords:
Bantawa Rai, Cultural Identity, Indigenous Knowledge, Mundum, Oral TraditionAbstract
This study examines Mundum as a living oral tradition and indigenous knowledge system that shapes ritual practices, symbolic power, and collective identity among the Bantawa Rai of eastern Nepal. Although previous scholars have primarily interpreted Mundum as mythology, folklore, oral literature, or a sacred religious scripture, its broader sociological significance remains insufficiently explored. Addressing this gap, the study is theoretically grounded in Practice Theory, drawing primarily on Pierre Bourdieu’s (1977) concepts of habitus, field, and capital, which explain how social life and cultural practices are continually produced and reproduced through embodied social action. Adopting a qualitative ethnographic approach, the research draws on both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were generated through observation, in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and repeated discussions with purposively selected ritual specialists, cultural experts, and community elders possessing extensive knowledge of Mundum and Bantawa Rai traditions. Secondary data were collected from books, peer-reviewed journal articles, research reports, and other relevant published and unpublished sources. The findings demonstrate that Mundum extends beyond a sacred oral scripture to function as a living corpus of oral tradition, an indigenous knowledge system, and a framework of symbolic power that organizes ritual practices, legitimizes ritual authority, preserves cosmological knowledge, and structures social relations within the Bantawa Rai community. The study concludes that Mundum constitutes the central cultural institution through which the Bantawa Rai sustain their ritual life, indigenous worldview, social order, and collective identity.
Downloads
References
Abrams, L. (2016). Oral history theory. Routledge.
Allen, N. J. (2012). Miyapma: Traditional narratives of the Thulung Rai. Vajra Publications.
Barth, F. (1969). Ethnic groups and boundaries: The social organization of culture difference. Little, Brown and Company.
Bell, E. (2008). Theories of performance. Sage.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge University Press.
Chamling, B. (2014). Mundum: The myth of origin. Kirat Rai Chamling Khambatim.
Chemjong, I. (1967). History and culture of Kirat people. Kirat Yakthum Chumlung.
Chemjong, I. S. (2003). Kirat history and culture. Kirat Yakthung Chumlung.
Cho, K.-J. (2020). A linguistic history of Bantawa [Doctoral dissertation, Australian National University]. A ustralian National University Open Research Repository. https://doi.org/10.25911/5fae52df938d5
Cohen, A. P. (1993). Culture as identity: An anthropologist’s view. Anthropological Perspectives, 24(1), 195– 209. https://www.jstor.org/stable/469278
Danandjaja, J. (2019). The use of prose narrative for the reconstruction of Tano Niha local history. Antropologi Indonesia, 2(1), 12–22.
Dewan, G. (2021). Yakkha Munthum. Kirat Yakkha Chhumma.
Dewan, M. S. (2025). Exploring identity and selfhood in A Number A Number: A Freytagian analysis. American Journal of Arts & Human Science, 4(2), 164–172. https://doi.org/10.54536/ajahs.v4i2.4684
Durkheim, E. (1995). The elementary forms of religious life (K. E. Fields, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1912)
Eppele, J. (2003). Bantawa: A sociolinguistic survey. Nepali National Languages Preservation I nstitute.
Eppele, J. (2011). Language use among the Bantawa: Homogeneity, education, access, and relative prestige. Himalayan Linguistics, 10(1), 1–31.https://doi.org/10.5070/H910123567
Gaenszle, M. (2000). Origins and migrations: Kinship, mythology and ethnic identity among the Mewahang Rai of East Nepal. Mandala Book Point & The Mountain Institute.
Gaenszle, M. (2002). Ancestral voices: Oral ritual texts and their social contexts among the Mewahang Rai of East Nepal. LIT Verlag.
Gaenszle, M. (2011). Ritual speech and the politics of identity among the Rai of eastern Nepal. In J. Assayag & C. Fuller (Eds.), Ritual and politics in South Asia (pp. 127–150). Oxford University Press.
Gumelar, N. A., Sumarwati, & Saddhono, K. (2024). The oral tradition of Syahadat Kures: Core and initial foundations of Surakarta Kasunanan palace rule, Central Java, Indonesia. Multidisciplinary Reviews. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2024169
Halbwachs, M. (1992). On collective memory. University of Chicago Press.
Hardman, C. E. (2000). Other worlds: Notions of self and emotion among the Lohorung Rai. Berg.
Jones, S. (1997). The archaeology of ethnicity: Constructing identities in the past and present. Routledge.
Kaila, B. (1996). Tansin Takma Mundum: Akhyan ra Anusthan, Mulapatha, Anuvad, Tippani ra Sabdartha. Nepal Rajkiya Pragya-Pratishthan.
Kellas, J. G. (1991). The politics of nationalism and ethnicity. Macmillan Press.
Levi, S. (2007). Nepal: The history of Hindu kingdom (Nepal: Hindu Adhirajyako Itihas) (Vol. 2; D. Upreti, Trans.). Himal Books. (Original work published 1905)
Lilomaiava-Doktor, S. (2020). Oral traditions, cultural significance of storytelling, and Samoan understandings of place or fanua. Native American and Indigenous Studies, 7(1), 121151.https://doi.org/10.5749/natiindistudj.7.1.0121
Limbu, R. K. (2010). Performance in Limbu Mundhum: A study of cultural representation [Master’s thesis, Tribhuvan University]. Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University.
Mechidekhi Mahakali. (1974). Eastern development region: Part I. Department of Information.
Mukarung, R. (2004). Kirat Sanskar. Makarbahadur & Bishnudevi Bantawa.
Nicoletti, M. (2006). The ancestral forest: Memory, space and ritual among the Kulunge Rai of Eastern Nepal. Vajra Publications.
Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. Methuen.
Ortner, S. B. (1984). Theory in anthropology since the sixties. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 26(1), 126–166.
Ortner, S. B. (2006). Anthropology and social theory: Culture, power, and the acting subject. Duke University Press.
Puma, P. (2015). Budhahong Mundum: Parichaya, path ra bisleshan. National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities.
Puma, P. (2017). Parusewa Mundum: Parichaya, path ra bisleshan. National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities.
Rai, B. K. (2023). Kirat Bayung Rai Tumloyalo. Buddhi Kumar Bayung Rai.
Rai, C. K. (2002). Hatuwali Bantawa Rai jati: Janma, bibah ra mritu sanskar. In H. Chamling (Ed.), Naulo muskan (pp. 21–23). Hima Chamling.
Rai, C. K. (2007). Sakenwa: Kirat Rai haruko mahan chad. Bantawa Anusandhan Pratisthan.
Rai, C. K. (2009). Kirat Rai jatika kehi bises sanskritiharu. Bantawa Anusandhan Pratisthan.
Rai, C. K. (2023). Mundum ra manab adhikar. In D. Karki (Ed.), Sambahak, 8(21), 49–60. National Human Rights Commission.
Rai, C. K. (2024). Kirat Rai samudayama Mundumi prathajanit kanunko abhyas. In K. Lama (Ed.), Indigenous nationalities studies, 3(3), 143–154. Indigenous Nationalities Commission.
Rai, H. (1992). Kiratbare tin kura. Yangkongma Prakashan.
Rai, I. P., Bickel, B., Gaenszle, M., Lieven, E., Paudyal, N. P., Rai, M. K., Rai, N. K., & Stoll, S. (2009). Mundum: A case study of Chintang ritual language. University of Zurich. https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-48965
Rai, N. (2010). Kirat Sangpang Rai Muddum. Kirat Sangpang Rai Jumlekha Nepal.
Rai, R. B. (2014). Ridum-Hadum. Kirat Koyu/Koyi Rai Samaj.
Rai, R. K. (2017). Continuity and change of Sangchep among the Bantawa Rai in Eastern Nepal. Sociology of Nepal: Social Structure and Transformation, 1(1), 108–121. Central Department of Sociology.
Rai, R. K. (2018). Bantawa Rai: Community and culture. Academic Book Center.
Rai, R. K. (2022). Mundum, Suptulung ra samaj. In K. K. Rai (Ed.), Nipsung (Issue 39, pp. 14–18). Kirat Rai
Yayokkha.
Rai, R. K. (2025). Constructing ethnicity and identity of Bantawa Rai in Eastern Nepal. American Journal of Society and Law, 4(1), 67–72. https://doi.org/10.54536/ajsl.v4i1.4698
Rai, T., Rai, P., & Khambu, B. (2012). Mundum: Kirat Rai jatiko maulik darshan. In Kirat Rai International Conference and Kirat Festival-2011 (pp. 62–86). Kirat Rai Yayokkha Central Executive Committee.
Rai, S., Rai, K.K., & Thulung, J. (2020). Thulung Mundum: Life, ritual and culture. Bam Thulung Smriti Foundation.
Regmi, D. R. (2007). Ancient Nepal. Rupa Publications. (Original work published 1965)
Shiwahang, J. (2011). Kirat Mundhum bhitrako bigyan. Krishna Kumari Rai.
Sommer, B. W., & Quinlan, M. K. (2018). The oral history manual (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
Subba, C. (1995). The culture and religion of Limbus. K. B. Subba.
Sueyoshi, T. (1992). Rites of passage: An aspect of Rai culture. Royal Nepal Academy.
Sunuwar, I. K. (2020). Sunuwar Mukdumko serophero. Sunuwar Samaj Hongkong.
Swartz, D. (1997). Culture and power: The sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. University of Chicago Press.
Van Gennep, A. (1960). The rites of passage (M. B. Vizedom & G. L. Caffee, Trans.). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1909)
Vansina, J. (1960). Recording the oral history of the Bakuba—I: Methods. The Journal of African History, 1, 43–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700001481
Vansina, J. (1985). Oral tradition as history. University of Wisconsin Press.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (G. Roth & C. Wittich, Eds.). University of California Press.
Yamphu, H. (2014). Mindum: Account of Yamphu origin and indigeneity [MPhil thesis, Tribhuvan University]. Central Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Tribhuvan University.
Yamphu, H. (2016). Pellam: A cultural way of making Yamphu themselves self-sovereign people. In B. Pokharel, J. Rai, & M. S. L. Tamang (Eds.), Nepali anthropology: New directions and contributions (pp. 205–230). Central Department of Anthropology, Tribhuvan University.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Raju Kumar Rai
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
