30/04/2025
Random Ramblings - IV #
CHYABRUNG, KE LANG, THE FIRST DWELLING HOUSE AND THE SCIENCE OF ACOUSTICS
There is so much more to the 'chyak brum brum-च्याक ब्रम ब्रम' rhythmic beats and the footwork of Ke Lang dance, than being just a mere Indigenous Limbu Tribe dance, reduced to cultural performance to entertain a public gathering or welcoming gesture for diginitaries of any public function. There is more to it than the eyes can see.
I pen this article to change the way we view Chyabrung- as just a musical instrument and Ke Lang as just a dance for entertainment. It goes beyond that and more.
The Indigenous Limbu Tribe of the Eastern Himalayas relate the origin of Ke or Chyabrung to the first dwelling house in the Ancient Past. Chyabrung/Ke/Kay and Ke/Kay Lang or Chyabrung dance is a group dance. It is the imitation or reactualisation of the dance ritual of the deities known as Laden Mang and Phungden Mang in the mythical period.
According to the Mundhum, when a Khambongsa Lungbongsa (the immortal dwarf beings who were created spontaneously from the stone and the soil) named Saonge Ongeangba noticed that all the birds and animals including insects used to run and hide in their sheltered places, he also decided to build a shelter for himself.
He approached the Supreme great grandmother Goddess Tagera Ningwaphuma for instructions. The Supreme Being advised him to follow the birds, but when they refused to teach him; he yet again appealed to great grandmother Goddess Tagera Ningwaphuma. She advised him to learn the technique by disguising himself. Thus, he learnt the tricks of building a shelter through careful observation of how the birds built their nests and how the animals build their shelter.
He was assisted in building the first dwelling house by his sister named Khappura Mellongmangma. She was a beautiful lady with lustrous long hair, which she loved to plait and decorate with flowers and she often stuck her hair comb in her hair plaits.
After much experiments for choosing the right tree for erecting the Murumsitlang or the main pillar , he finally found that the tree-Sabensing Yakpellising (Tooni or Cedrela tooni) was the most suitable one. He dug a hole on the earth and tried to put the log in the hole with the support of Khappura Mellongmangma. During the process, the hair comb of Khappura Mellongmangma fell into the hole. She bend down into the hole to retrieve it, Saonge Ongeangba also known as Lokpha Temba Mangpa Temba ( the disguised name when he was learning the tricks to build a nest from the birds) lost balance of the log. The log fell into the hole and it hit the head of Khappura Mellongmangma, who died on the spot.
The death of Khappura Mellongmangma is the first unnatural death by accident when Khambongsa Lungbongsa were just learning the art of constructing the first dwelling house. Soon the house got infested with termites, wood boring insects and fungi caused by the Idhuklung Sam Sogha (evil spirit) of Khappura Mellongmangma.
Stricken with grief, Lokpha Temba Mangpa Temba once again sought the help of great grandmother Goddess Tagera Ningwaphuma, who in turn told him to approach Sodhung Lepmuhang alias Sutchhuru Suhangpheba (the son of Susuwengba lalawenga (son of the first female Mujina Kheyona and the Wind Deity) who is considered to be the first Peli-Phangsam or Limbu Shaman).
With the instructions of Sodhung Lepmuhang, two deities named Loden Mang and Phungden Mang came down with their long cylindrical hollow log drums made of Sangsing and Hongsing. They danced beating the drums round and round the Murumsitlang (the main pillar) in the new dwelling house and the wood boring insects all fell on the floor. They then summoned the Temlana Lakhrek Pu (mythical bird like woodpecker that feeds on wood boring insects) who ate the insects.
Now one might question, how can the beating of the drums and dancing along with the rhythm of the beats can get rid of the numerous insect infestation?
To put it in the term of modern terminology, which today is called the science of Acoustics Technology, it is all about sound wave, vibration, energy and frequency. The rhythmic beats of the drums and synchronised feet movements might have generated specific frequency of sound waves and vibrations, creating an uncomfortable environment for the wood boring insects, making them lose their gravitational equilibrium and fall on the ground.
Now, one might again wonder, is the chyabrung beat and feet movement of the dancer that powerful?
Well! I can still see, play, and replay in my mind like it was only yesterday, the way my cousins danced in their youth. My generation would definitely remember Mr Chandan Singh Tamling (SDM Yuksom), Mr PK Tamling (recently retired Limbu language teacher) and Mr Bhakta Bahadur Yonghang (former VLW) perform Ke Lang. When they picked up the ke and entered the courtyard, all the bystanders would be requested to maintain a safe distance.
They would dance with wild abandon, as if in a trance, with so much vigour and there would come a time when one could only hear the ke beats, their feet movement sounds, clouds of dust everywhere, and spellbound audience. Over the years, decades down the line, I have witnessed dozens of Ke Lang, I am yet to come across one that can outdo the vivid memory of my childhood. Unfortunately, we did not have the means to capture those moments in the 1980s, like today.
Another important significance of Ke or Chyabrung in the Mundhum is described in the metaphoical soul journey to a Sacred Place called Sawa Yethang Chotlung in the Ancestral Realm of Samyukna Den.
The Limbu Tribe has to annually perform the ritual of soul purification when the Peli-Phangsam ( Phedangma, Samba, Yeba, Yemani) or Limbu Shamans guide the soul of the living through the Ancestral Lands to the Sawa Yethang Chotlung where the soul has to refill the Lake of Life, sow, w**d, and grow the Flower of Life, and make sure that Phoktanglungma or Mount Jannu or K2 is pure and white..
On the soul descend back to the living realm-Iksading Khambek Den i.e., earth - the Peli-Phangsam perform the Ke Lang to confuse the deceased souls and also the evil spirits from following the living back to earth. They create the confusion by mimicking the movements and sounds of various animals, birds, fish, reptiles, etc. Once they cross the bridge over the river, Sangdhunge Thungwama Ahang, that connects the Sacred and the Profane Realms, the bridge is destroyed.
Yes, it is a proven fact that in the field of bioacoustics, animal steps and sounds do play a very significant role. Bioacoustics is the study of animal sounds and how animals produce, detect, and use them for various purposes like communication, navigation, and predator detection. Animal steps are more than just a physical movement. They are a source of information, impacting communication, behavior, and even ecological studies.
Chyabrung is cylindrical shaped hollow log with two openings on both sides; bull/buffalo skin and goat skin are tightly stretched to cover these openings. It is made up of a kind of special tree called khamari (Gmelia Arborea).
One side is played by the palm of hand and is called Huksagay (played by right hand) and another side is played with the help of a stick and is called Singsagay or ke or kay chari (stick used to play the left side of Chyabrung).
Chyabrung is a revered symbol of the Limbu community's history, Mundhum, and cultural heritage, integral to their traditions. No ritual is complete without Chyabrung; hence, its presence is indispensable.
1 Chyabrung, not only takes the existence of Indigenous Limbu Tribe to the primordial time when human kind transitioned from being cave dwellers to permanent house dwellers during the Neolithic Period.
2 Chyabrung dance or Ke/Kay Lang also takes the Limbu kind to that period when human learnt to dance by imitating steps and movement of the aquatic, terrestrial, and arboreal animals.
Thereby, Chyabrung/Ke/Kay and Ke/Kay Lang or Chyabrung dance has immeasurable significance in Symbolic Anthropology and Musical Anthropology or Ethnomusicology of the Limbu Tribe of the Himalayas.
The uploaded video with this article are video clippings of Chyabrung/Ke/Kay and Ke/Kay Lang or Chyabrung dance that I have curated over the years.
Tamling Sarojini S***a Wednesday_30th Day of April 2025
sikkim
