On-site Jomo Propitiation in Chug valley: overview file

Both participants in this ritual are bon-po, practitioners of the traditional religious system in the Chug valley. Jomo Gamdong is the place on the west bank of the Chug river which is considered the pho-braṅ ‘palace’ of jo-mo u-siṅ bu-khrid, one of the nine daughters of the female deity jo-mo a-ni u-ñiṅ, located on the Bhutan-Arunachal border in Jomotsangkha block of Samdrup Jongkhar district in Bhutan. The peak of jo-mo u-siṅ bu-khrid is the westernmost peak in the north of the Chug valley (see figure1). Propitiation of the Jomo takes place on monthly basis at home. Only on rare occasions does the bon-po go to the Jomo Gamdong for the propitiation, typically once in a few years. The phobrang is located in a grove of oak trees starting from the large trees in figure5. The area is a collection of large rocks (see photographs). Each rock has a significance, of which little could be recorded (exceptions are the white female naga in figure2 and the servant of the Jomo in figure3). As the marking on the tree in figure4 shows, at the time of the visit many trees were about to be felled. Although the land is owned by individual households from Jagarbasti village in the Chug valley, the trees were felled by people from the neighbouring village of Lish Gonpatse (whether this is a case of illegal felling and encroachment as a result of the on-going land dispute between the two communities, or whether the owners from Jagarbasti sold the standing trees (with the land?) to the Lish Gonpatse people is not clear. This degradation of the site, in combination with the 2016 death of bon-po Kesang, means that propitiation of the Jomo here has ceased completely. The relevant stanza from the Jomo propitiation ritual (see file), in which the very first offerings are always made to the Jomo, are as follows: Phonetic: [ʨʰɔtɔː {ŋa} ʨʰɔtɔː, ʨʰɔtɔː {ŋa} ʨʰɔtɔː, kʰamzaŋ {ŋa} ama ʥɔmɔː, jap {la} gawɔː ʑɔkpɔː, makpøn {na} meme ʨʰøjɕi, lúmɔː karmɔː {ŋa}, lúmɔː jáŋzɔm {ma}, lúmɔː manɖɛn {na} ʦʰeriŋ zaŋmɔː, ʦʰɛnla sɛrgi ʥɔːmɔː {ŋa} sagaŋ, ɬabraŋ {ŋa} laʨʰɛn, lúbraŋ {ŋa} lúʨʰuŋ, pʰygɔː {ŋa} gile. ʦʰekjɛt náŋla, jáŋkjɛt náŋla, ʨʰamneː kakɲeː, rimneː kakɲeː, natʥa kakɲeː, rimʥa kakɲeː, siwɔː neːdak, kɔrda ɬa lú ʦɛn sum kakɲeː, ʦʰɛnla sɛrgi ʥɔːmɔː, sɛrkjɛm karpɔː, pʰyjgɔː gile. jaski kɔːra, yønla gonʨʰa, náŋna gile. lemʨʰaŋ karpɔː, pʰyjgo gile. ʨʰɔːto {ŋa} ʨʰɔːtɔː.] Tibetan: ḥbyo ldog ḥbyo ldog, ḥbyo ldog ḥbyo ldog! kham-zaṅ a-ma jo-mo, yab dgaḥ-bo źog-po (<TM ʑokpo), dmag-dpon mes-mes chos-śi (?), klu-mo dkar-mo, klu-mo dbyaṅ-ḥdzoms, klu-mo sman-dran (?) tshe-riṅ bzaṅ-mo, mtshan ser-gi jo-mo sa-gaṅ (?), lha-braṅ lha-chen, klu-braṅ klu-chuṅ, phul-dgos gi-le (< TSD gi-la-aj)! tshe-skyed gnaṅ-la, g.yaṅ-skyed gnaṅ-la, cham-nad bkag-ñe (