Posted on January 24th, 2021
Ashley de Vos
Stemming from the advice given by Arahat
Mahinda to King Devanampiya Tissa (3 C.BCE), that all beings including the
animals in the forest and the birds in the air have a right to live, tradition
dictated that all precious resources, are always protected. The thick forest
covered hills and mountains, referred to, by Ferguson (1815) as black, leach
infested and full of animals”, were dedicated to the Gods or Devas, and as a
royal decree ensured its continuous protection, very few went in to desecrate
it.
The central highlands were mostly uninhabited;
the few villages that existed were limited to the edges of the fertile valleys.
Language, Landscape and Our World of Many Worlds 27/12/2020
A view of Svalbard from Earth orbit. Photo: Google Earth.
“In our faith there is no heaven or hell,” spoke Mayalmit Lepcha in the Janata Parliament – an Indian people’s parliament which happened online this year, on account of COVID-19. Her network is spotty. She’s in the mountains. I listen hard and try to piece together what she’s saying. Mayalmit is from the Lepcha tribe in North Sikkim, and she is among the people on the ground fighting the Teesta dam project in her state. In the virtual parliament she explains how the successive damming of her community’s waterways has displaced her people and decimated her forests.
The Coming of Spring in Kashmir
Every year, spring started with expedite and hope since winter had exhausted existing stocks. The slogan
Yus karih gongul, Sui karih krao (meaning “He who ploughs shall reap”) echoed everywhere in order to catch convince peasants to initiate agricultural tasks early with zeal and zest. On the eve of
gongul (meaning “tilling land”), sweets, nuts and almonds were distributed among the children to build confidence among the ploughmen and convey the message to every household that
Alan chhuh phal, Tah nendan chhuh danih (translated as “ There is fruit to the plough and rice to the weeding”).