The Limbu Community: A Cultural and Socio-Economic Analysis

The Limbu community belongs to the Mongoloid race who are known as the nature worshippers and followers of the Yuma religion. They are the followers of supreme goddess Tagera Ningwaɂphuma who is the symbol of a feministic figure and is also regarded as the symbol of nature. According to the belief of the Limbu community, she is the creator of the universe, earth, celestial beings, and sentient and non-sentient beings. The Limbu community is rich in culture, customs, traditions, and language. They have their own mythology, legends, folklore, and oral and written literature. The community belongs to the egalitarian and agrarian society. Samjik mundhum is their philosophy of Limbu life. It contains holy narratives, a classical language used during the performance of social rites and rituals. The main purpose of the study is to keep the culture related subjects at one place to understand them in effortless way. Another purpose of this study is to protect and preserve the cultural heritage of Limbus through the academic work. In the past, many Limbu cultural heritage, folklore have been already lost by the community due to the cultural invasion and ignorance. These are the means of identity of Limbus which defines the ethnicity of Limbus. This study may be a good source for the academic society and the concerned community to seek the knowledge on the particular subject.