The remote and tranquil village of Lupra (also transcibes "Lubra" in Latin charcters) belongs to one of the nineteen communities of the Baragaon region of Nepal's Lower Mustang region. Though not located directly at the classic route of the Annapurna Circuit Trek (which runs via Kagbeni), Lupra is highly recommendable as a detour, because it's an ancient village that has remained intact, offering impressions of authentic traditions in remote landscapes of the trans-hamalyan region of Nepal.
Location
Lupra Village, situated in a side canyon of the Kali Gandaki valley, can be reached on a one-day hike from the famous Hindu pilgrimage site of Muktinath and also by jeep via a side road branching off from the Jomson-Muktinath road between Jomson and Kagbeni. The branch-off is in 7 km (4 miles) distance from Jomsom airport and 5 km (3 miles) south of Kagbeni. From that junction, the bumpy gravel road takes another 2.7 km (1.7 miles) to the village, which is hidden deep in the Panda Khola gorge.
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Lupra - Traditional Village of Thakali People
Lupra Village, inhabited by 14 families with 60 to 90 individuals, is situated at an elevation of around 3,000 m (10,000 feet) above sea level. It is picturesquely nestled in the Panda Khola valley formed by a tributary of Kali Gandaki. The village is made of tightly packed traditional houses. The walls are mainly made of adobe and cobble collected form the river bed. The buildings combine techniques of stacked foundation stones and rammed earth walls. As in other ancient architecture of Lower Mustang, the houses are plastered with red and white clay and covered with earthen roofs. The decorative red ad white coatings are composed of pigmented soil from cliffs further uphill.
Like in the case of most other villages in Lower Mustang, the population of Lupra mainly consists of Thakali people, which are indigenous in Lower Mustang. The Thakali ethnic group, speaking a Sino-Tibetan language, is known for their distinct culture, combining Nepali and Tibetan traditions. Thakali cuisine, in particular, is popular with Annapurna Circuit trekkers. The villagers of Lupra engage mostly in farming and animal husbandry to sustain their livelihoods. The main crops are barly, buckwheat, barley, an millet. Potatos and vegetables such as kidney beans are also cultivated. Mustang is famous for orchards in river beds in particular. So not surprisingly fruit trees are also cultivated around Lupra, mainly apples and apricots. Walnuts grow well in this climate, too. The main farmland area of Lupra is not directly in the Panda Khola valley below the village but further south, on terraces on the southern slopes of the hill just behind the village.
Lupra's exemplary form of Community-Based Tourism in Nepal
But the families of Lupra also generate some additional income from trekking guests and particularly those Mustang travelers who like to stay for more than one night in an attractive village. For those culturally interested guests, the villagers of Lubra organized a community project called "Mustang Bon Homestay Village". Guests can participate not only in dancing and folklore and ceremonies, but also learn and take part in traditional agricultural practices. An intended side effect of this kind of cultural village tourism is, that the young generation in Lupra will be better motivated to preserve traditions when not only finding an additional income at home, but also being therefore motivated to remain accustomed with traditional techniques in order to be able to teach them to foreign guests.
Traditional Bon-Religion Village Life
As the well-chosen name "Mustang Bon Homestay Village" already indicates, the small community of Lupra is particularly known for its association with the genuine Bon religion, which is said to predate Buddhism Tibet and the Himalayas.
Apart from its setting and cityskape and culture, the main attraction in the village is the Lupra Monastery, also known as Yungdung Phuntsok Ling, which plays a crucial role in preserving Bon teachings and practices. In particular, Lupra Monastery is renowned for an exorcism ritual called "Lu Jins". A five-day mask-dancing festival is celebrated annually in September or October. The interior of this Bonpa (Bon sect) temple of Lupra is richly decorated with ancient murals and intricate woodwork. The Lupra monastery does not have a permanent monastic presence, it's only occasionally visited by priests. Rather, it's maintained by the villagers themselves in a traditional Bon way of succession that, however, is unique in Mustang today. Lupra has the only Bon monastery in Lower Mustang that has the original kind of hereditary shared priesthood, a lineage of non-celibate householder priests that continues today (Ramble 1984). Part of this very specific kind of communal hereditary priesthood is the rule that the eldest son of every family must perform rituals on set days. When travelers arrive in Lupra, the doors of the Bon monastery are usually locked, but a villager can provide a key allowing visitors to enter the ancient building. A donation for the monastery and a separate tip for the keyholder should be contributed by guests for maintenance and service respectively.
Apart from its setting and cityskape and culture, the main attraction in the village is the Lupra Monastery, also known as Yungdung Phuntsok Ling, which plays a crucial role in preserving Bon teachings and practices. In particular, Lupra Monastery is renowned for an exorcism ritual called "Lu Jins". A five-day mask-dancing festival is celebrated annually in September or October. The interior of this Bonpa (Bon sect) temple of Lupra is richly decorated with ancient murals and intricate woodwork. The Lupra monastery does not have a permanent monastic presence, it's only occasionally visited by priests. Rather, it's maintained by the villagers themselves in a traditional Bon way of succession that, however, is unique in Mustang today. Lupra has the only Bon monastery in Lower Mustang that has the original kind of hereditary shared priesthood, a lineage of non-celibate householder priests that continues today (Ramble 1984). Part of this very specific kind of communal hereditary priesthood is the rule that the eldest son of every family must perform rituals on set days. When travelers arrive in Lupra, the doors of the Bon monastery are usually locked, but a villager can provide a key allowing visitors to enter the ancient building. A donation for the monastery and a separate tip for the keyholder should be contributed by guests for maintenance and service respectively.
Excursus Box: for basic informaton about Bon in general click here...
Tibetan Bon Religion
The Bon religion, also known as "Bön Pa" or "Yungdrung Bon", was only recently acknowledged as the fifth branch of Tibetan Buddhism by the exiled 14th Dalai Lama. Even more than the four classic schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Nyingmapa, Kagyupa, Sakyapa, and Gelugpa), Bonpa retains elements from pre-Buddhist, genuinely Tibetan religious traditions. In particular, creation myths of the Bon religion diverge significantly from Buddhist teachings in terms of primary deities and origin stories. Bon followers believe that their religion was intruduced by an otherwise unknown Buddha called Shenrab Miwoa, in a kingdom called Zhangzhung near Mount Kailash more than 18,000 years ago and was then brought from there to Tibet, where it became the predominant religion prior to the introduction of Buddhism by Padmasambhava. The Buddha Shenrab Miwoa, also known as Sherab Miwo or Tönpa Shenrap Miwoche, is believed to have been reborn much later as the historically known Buddha Shakyamuni. Western scholars of Tibetan Buddhism consider Bon as a variant of Buddhism that in its current form developed around the 11th century only after the first introduction of Buddhism in Tibet (8th century AD), partly embracing Buddhist Nyingma traditions, but partly turning away from this orthodox Tibetan Buddhist school in favour of more pre-Buddhist animistic believes and practices. Bon followers turn the prayer wheels counterclockwise. They also circumambulate Chhorten and the Holy Mountain of Kailash counterclockwise. This opposite direction may serve as an example of a distinct feature of Bon not found in other Buddhist traditions (except in funeral ceremonies of Buddhists). Bon sculptures are often blue and Bon scripts and prayer books are mostly covered in blue, too. In Nepal, Bon traditions are mainly practiced in Dolpo, which lies to the west of Mustang. In the district of Mustang, there are other Bon monasteries, too, for example in Naurikot in the Kali Gandaki Valley, but Lupra has the most traditional one, retaining the originally established system of priesthood, and is the only entirely Bon village. |
History of Lupra - its Name - Hermit Caves
Lupra village and its Bon monastery are believed to have been founded in the late 12th century, just like Bon monasteries in Dolpo. According to local legends, the Bon Lama Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen, born in 1077, arrived from Tibet via Dolpo to subdue the aversive local spirits in the valley, thereby making it suitable for human settlement. The villagers of Lupra consider themselves to be descendants of Lama Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen, who was not a celibate. The founding father of this Bon village also planted a walnut tree as a divination to determine whether a village could thrive here. The ancient walnut tree has survived till the present day, ensuring that village life and Bon traditons are still flourishing.
However, regarding the agro-economical basis of the village, the positive effects of the walnut tree were overwhelmed by forces of nature recently. During the summer monsoon of 2017, a large proportion of Lubra's farmland was washed away. A flash flood had devastating effects in the 2021 monsoon again. Houses on lower levels of the village were heavily damaged,leaving two families of Lupra homeless for several months. Cultivated area in the valley lost soil cover to a large extent permanently. As all over the Himalayas, climate change has increased the frequency and magnitutes of flash floods. Additionally, and overgrazing on the slopes above the Panda Khola has reduced the capacity of the mountainside to retain water, which contributes to the loss of top soil at the slopes, too. So some of the demons tamed by Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen might have come back violently.
However, regarding the agro-economical basis of the village, the positive effects of the walnut tree were overwhelmed by forces of nature recently. During the summer monsoon of 2017, a large proportion of Lubra's farmland was washed away. A flash flood had devastating effects in the 2021 monsoon again. Houses on lower levels of the village were heavily damaged,leaving two families of Lupra homeless for several months. Cultivated area in the valley lost soil cover to a large extent permanently. As all over the Himalayas, climate change has increased the frequency and magnitutes of flash floods. Additionally, and overgrazing on the slopes above the Panda Khola has reduced the capacity of the mountainside to retain water, which contributes to the loss of top soil at the slopes, too. So some of the demons tamed by Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen might have come back violently.
Let's return to the more distant past: The founder of Lubra village, Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen, used to spend many months at a place above the village, which later was converted into a small temple. The place is known as "Gon Phuk", which translates to "winter cave". More former meditation retreats can be found further uphill. After having been converted to the newly introduced religion by Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen, the most powerful spirit of the valley carved out a meditation cave on the mountain opposite the river Panda Khola and donated it to the missionary Yangton Tashi Gyaltsen, so that the monk would have a suitable place for his meditation. Actually, the toponym "Lupra" refers to the appearance of the rock surfaces on that side of the Panda Khola river, because they look like the skin left by a serpent. "Lu" means the spirit of a snake and "pra" simply translates to "cliffs". The ancient artifical cave is therefore simply known as "Lupra Cave". It's one of the literally thousands of man-made caves in Mustang and served as a meditation site of reclusive monks for several centuries. Such monks practicing austerity techniques usually lived as hermits, but they joined ceremonies in the nearby monasteries. They were supported by the village communities, who provided food and daily needs. The Lubra cave has a shrine room completely carved out the rock and in front of it a loggia-like antechamber lighted by the sun, including basic kitchen facilities. The living and meditation rooms are reached via a tunnel.