The Gurungs are famous for its culture. Various studies today have, however, shown that this division is an imposition from outside, and the Gurungs are divided into various subgroups (gi) and thar not conforming to the caste system. In Gurung society, the main responsibility for managing the village administration is with the leader of the village, Chima, who, among other things, settles disputes in the village. Rodhighar is among the major identity of the social system of Gurung. Some have called the Rodhighar a house to thread wool (Gurung, 2000), while others have called it a place to settle for the night (Tamu, 1999). Whatever it means, the Rodhighar is a good example of assistance, cooperation, good relations and collective spirit among the Gurungs.
The Gurungs are mainly animists or followers of the Bon religion. Their oral text is called Pye (Uthan) and their traditional religion is known as Pye-ta Lhu-ta. The Gurungs later came to adopt Buddhism. Some Gurungs of eastern Nepal have also been influenced by the Hindu religion. However, the Gurungs celebrate their feasts and festivals and carry out the ceremonies and practices related to worship, birth, death and marriage in accordance with the Bon and Buddhist religions. Lhosar is the main and the biggest festival of Gurung. It is also said that the Gurungs in the past used to practice human sacrifice in a ceremony known as Pade held every three years (Tamu, 1999).
The traditional occupation of Gurungs is animal husbandry, including the raising of sheep and hunting. However, after settling in the lap of the Annapurna and Machhapuchhre mountains, they began to farm and cultivate land hundreds of years ago. The Gurungs raise sheep by moving the sheep to higher altitudes during summer and to lower altitudes during winter. They have shepherds to look after the sheep collectively. Nowadays, another major occupation of Gurungs is employment in foreign army, and the earnings from foreign military service have become the basis of the economic system of Gurungs. The traditional occupation of Gurungs is also engaging in trade to Tibet and to India.
Religious Beliefs.
The Gurungs practice a form of Tibetan Buddhism strongly influenced by the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet, and they also observe major Hindu festivals, such as Dasain. They believe in some tenets of Buddhism and Hinduism, such as karma, yet they have a set of beliefs about an afterlife in the Land of the Ancestors and in local deities that are peculiarly Gurung. Gurungs believe their locale to be inhabited by supernatural forest creatures and by a variety of formless wraiths and spirits. Some of these exist in and of themselves, while others are believed to be the spirits of humans who have died violent deaths. Gurungs believe in the major Hindu deities and in the Buddha and bodhisattvas. Particular villages have their own deities, which are felt to be especially powerful in their immediate surroundings.
Practitioners of the pre-Buddhist Gurung religion, called panju and klihbri, are active in the performance of exorcisms and mortuary rites. Buddhist lamas are also important in funerary rituals, as well as performing purification rites for infants and some seasonal agricultural rituals. Wealthier Gurungs occasionally call lamas in to perform house-blessing ceremonies. Brahman priests are summoned to cast horoscopes and perform divinations at times of misfortune. Dammis from the local service castes are believed to be particularly potent exorcists and are often called in cases of illness.
Arts.
Gurungs make nothing that they would identify as art. The goods that they produce, such as baskets and blankets, are useful and tend to be of a conventional plain design. The artistry of Gurungs is expressed in their folk music and dance and especially in the evanescent form of song exchanges between young men and women.
Death and Afterlife.
Death is of central symbolic importance for Gurungs. The funerary ritual (pae) is the main ceremonial occasion in Gurung society, involving two nights and three days of ritual activity. It is attended by kin, villagers, and a large number of people who come for the conviviality and spectacle. Buddhist lamas and the panju and klihbri priests of the pre-Buddhist religion may officiate at the pae. Death is believed to involve the dissolution of elements that make up the body, so that the earth element returns to earth, air to air, fire to fire, and water to water. This process leaves the plah or souls (nine for men and seven for women), which must be sent through the performance of the pae to the Land of the Ancestors. There life continues much as it does in the present world, and from there the spirit can take other rebirths.
Domestic Unit.
Among Gurungs, the domestic unit changes over time. A household will begin as a nuclear family, and, as sons reach adulthood and marry, their brides come into the parental home and remain there while their first one or two children are small. The domestic unit is then an extended family for a period of five to ten years. As the son’s children grow, he will build a separate residence, usually next to that of his parents.
Religious Practitioners.
Inheritance.
Resources are distributed equally among sons in Gurung society. If there is no son, a daughter can inherit, and the son-in-law will come to reside in the household of his parents-in-law. The patrimony may be divided prior to the death of the father. In that case, the father can reserve a small portion. Although it runs contrary to Gurung custom, Nepalese law specifies that unmarried adult daughters should inherit a share of family property.
Socialization.
Children are taught to be obedient and respectful of elders. They learn by imitation and the active encouragement of the older children, who often care for smaller ones. Corporal punishment is occasionally used, and unruly children may be isolated briefly. More often children are coaxed toward good behavior and instructed through stories about possible social and supernatural consequences of bad behavior.