LIMBUS: AN OUTLINE OF THEIR MUSIC AND CULTURE

The Limbus are a small but historically important ethnic race of the Nepalese and Indian Himalayan regions. The etymological origin of the word ‘LImbu’ is to be traced in various literature and popular traditions of the Tibeto-Indian Himalayas. Reference to these ethnic people is also to be found in Indian traditional literature including the great epics. The present article deals with the Limbu demography and patterns of settlement, their physical features, language and script, means of subsistence, religious practices, social customs including those of dress and garments. However what makes the Limbus an especially interesting people to study is their culture wherein traditional Limbu music and folk songs feature as the most remarkable.