Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 2 | Page 42
Shamans of Nepal
Shamans
of Nepal
cities like Kathmandu has its fair number of shamans.
Even with its numerous hospitals, there are many
people even in the capital city who prefer to have their
ailments treated by shamans or jyoitishis rather than
by qualified doctors. While jyotishis (astrologers) are
different from shamans, they too claim to deal with
common ailments. A Brahmin priest in the Bhairav
Nath temple in Lagankhel says, “If it’s a small matter,
I can take care of it through some jhar-phuk; but
if it’s a complicated case, then one should go to
Baglamukhi temple in Patan where one will find a
shaman.” One can well imagine, what must be the
By Amar B Shrestha
situation regarding this issue in the villages of the
country. As Adrian Storrs says in his book Jhankris,
“From time immemorial, jhankris have given medical
care to the rural people, Much of the jhankris’ success
is due to the fact that they are well known, respected
and accepted, especially as intermediaries between
man and spirits. Furthermore, the jhankris will go to
patients at any time and treat them in their homes.”
In Nepal, shamans or jhankris can be of any caste;
more of them, however, are found to be of Tamang,
Gurung, Chhetri or Sherpa ethnicity or caste.
Shamans. Photo: RMT.
The common belief is spirits exists either good or
evil. Shamans can communicate with spirits, cure
sickness caused by evil spirits and induce trance-like
states to incite a visionary ecstacy. It is also believed
that they can predict the future.
In Nepal, shamanism is the traditional religion of
many ethnic groups in the eastern and western hills.
Hinduism and Buddhism have been greatly influenced
by shamanistic traditions. Called jhankris or dhamis,
Nepali shamans wear a peacock feather headdress
and carry a double-sided drum. They have been
defined by some as magico-religious specialists,
part herbalists, part priests whose technique is
spiritual rather than biological and whose business
is to determine the nature of the spirit, and then
either to placate it or drive it from the ill person’s
body. As healers, they examine animal entrails for
signs, collect medicinal plants, perform sacrifices,
exorcize demons, and chant magical incantations.
Most jhankris prescribe medicinal herbs, about
which they are very knowledgeable. As soothsayers,
42
they go into trances and act as spokesmen of the
gods, while as spiritual sentries, they ward off evil
spirits and angry ancestors through either greater
strength or trickery. They also officiate during
funerals, hand out amulets and promulgate myths.
A shaman can be either a kul-dhami or just a
dhami-jhankri. The former are believed to be more
quickly possessed by the lineage deities while
similar possession of dhami-jhankris involves much
drumming and the gradual entering of spirits into
their bodies. A typical dhami-jhankri’s paraphernalia
consists of a drum (dhyangro), bells around the waist,
long necklaces (mala) of rudracche and ritho seeds
around the neck and shoulders, a special headdress,
and a jama (a long white skirt like garment). The main
spirit of the dhami-jhankris is the ban-jhankri (a spirit
inhabiting the nearby forest). Jhankris are also said to
counteract the power of witches.
www.royalmt.com.np
May 2014
Photo: RMT
The World Reveals
While it is true that dhami-jhankris are regarded with
more respect in rural areas, it is also true that even
ROYAL
www.royalmt.com.np
43