INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
Lubra
The Hidden Bon
Village of Lower Mustang
by Michael D. Smith and Yungdung Tsewang Gurung
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
The Annapurna Circuit is one of the most popular trekking
routes in the world. In 2017, a total of 158,000 international
tourists visited the Annapurna Conservation Area, including
a record 27,000 foreign trekkers. However, semi-arid Lubra
village (also called Ludak), deep in the Panda Khola gorge
of Lower Mustang on the south side of the Lubra Pass
(roughly 4000 metres) from Muktinath, has until recently
been seldom visited.
After the motor road was completed on the western bank
of the Kali Gandaki River up to Muktinath in 2007, the
Annapurna Alternative Trekking Trail has been developed,
in conversation with local communities, including Lubra.
The idea behind the new trail was to provide a foot- trekking
route away from the road traffic, to sustain tourism in the
villages along the traditional Annapurna Circuit. Although
most villages above Jomsom have road connectivity,
Lubra still remains mostly unconnected, which allows
visitors to enjoy the quiet sounds of the river and the village
uninterrupted by the noise of motor vehicles.
Inside Bon Temple, Lubra Mustang, Nepal. Photo: Yungdung Tsewang Gurung.
The people of Lubra, who believe the village was founded
in the late 12th century, have preserved their traditional way
of life. This includes practice of the ancient Bon religion.
Lubra, with just fourteen families, is one of the few fully
Bon villages in Nepal. According to local legend, the Bon
Lama Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen came from Tibet via Dolpo
and subdued the unruly local spirits, allowing the area
to become suitable for human settlement. He planted a
walnut tree as a divination to determine whether a village
would flourish there. The ancient, gnarled walnut tree
survives to this day.
Once tamed, the most powerful spirit among them
hollowed out a sunny meditation cave on the hillside
opposite the Panda Khola from modern-day Lubra as an
offering to Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen, so he would have a
suitable place for his practice. The name ‘Lubra’ refers to
uniquely textured cliffs on that side of the Panda Khola,
which look like snake skin, spread out and frozen in time on
the rock face. Serpentine naga spirits are known as lu in the
local Mustangi dialect of Tibetan, and bra (also pronounced
dak), means rock cliffs.
Livelihoods in Lubra are traditionally based on agriculture and livestock rearing, but tourism and hospitality are growing. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.
Recently, the families of Lubra organised a community homestay
project called Mustang Bon Homestay Village, to support the
preservation of the unique culture and traditions of Mustang,
which are slowly being lost due to the pressures of modernisation
and emigration abroad.
Traditionally, people of Lubra built their houses with
combined techniques of stacked foundation stones and
rammed earth walls, topped with earthen roofs. As in other
Baragaon and Thakali villages, they plaster the outer walls
with red and white clay for decoration, and store firewood
on the top edges of their flat roofs. Lubra belongs to one
of the nineteen villages of the Baragaon region of Lower
Mustang, which is commonly misunderstood to mean
the ”twelve villages” that lie above Jomsom and below Lo
Manthang (now referred to as Upper Mustang). Baragaon is
a Nepali mispronunciation of the Mustangi word Bar Gun,
which means “the area in between,” referring to the region
sandwiched between Lo Manthang above and the Thak
Khola Valley below.
Lubra village, Mustang, Nepal. Photo: Yungdung Tsewang Gurung.
Bon women in Lubra make offerings. Photo: Yungdung Tsewang Gurung.
As is the case all over the Himalayas, climate change has
altered the water cycle, and over-grazing on the slopes
above the Panda Khola has reduced the capacity of the
mountainside to retain water, resulting in the loss of top soil
due to erosion and more intense higher-level flooding. In
the past five years or so, glacial runoff has been increasing
rapidly, eating away at agricultural fields along the river
bed. Nowadays, during flash floods, the river violently
Lubra is a 12th century village located on the bank of the Panda Khola river of Lower
Mustang, Nepal. Photo: Jocelyn Powelson.
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