Forschungsdatenbank der Universität Zürich

Philosophische Fakultät > Völkerkundemuseum > Prof. Dr. Mareile Flitsch

The Bon Landscape of Dolpo, Nepal

Summary / Zusammenfassung
The study is a continuation of an earlier research in Dolpo on different aspects of rituals of Bon
religion and their revitalisation that resulted in an MA thesis (Lizentiatsarbeit an der Universität
Zürich) called "Mendrub – a Ritual for the Benefit of all Living Beings and the Empowerment of
Medicine, performed in Tsho, Dolpo 1996”. The research project started with an ethnographic
study in the remote district of Dolpo in northwest Nepal and continued with with text studies of
local texts in Tibetan language. Dolpo - an enclave in which the Tibetan Bon religion survived
various persecutions and still exists in an interesting mélange with the local unnamed religious
practices is the main focus of the research. The central question concentrates on the mountain
landscape that is inhabited by deities and carries traces of saints, who have been meditating at
various sites of the area. The deities as well as the history of the saints have a strong influence on
numerous aspects of life of the local community. The mythical stories of the sacred places and the
biographies of the saints, which are inscribed into the landscape, reflect the history of immigration
and settlement and can give some explanations of social patterns. In addition a study of the local
lineages connected in one way or the other with the sacred sites will shed some light on the local
history. The study shall provide an insight into the history and legends connected with the
biographies of local lamas, the foundation of monasteries, the opening of pilgrimages and the
Emergence of Bon in Dolpo.
Since the oral traditions of Dolpo are coupled with a written tradition ethnographic research is
combined with text studies of the local written sources. For this reason translation work was
carried out in Nepal, in Oxford with Charles Ramble and Tenpa Yungdrung and in Switzerland
with a few specialists.
The research was finished in 2008 with the PhD thesis completed and the defence in autumn 2008.
Result: 'summa cum laude'. The title of the thesis is: "Bon Landscape of Dolpo - Pilgrimages,
Monasteries, Biographies and the Emergence of Bon". Referent: Prof. Michael Oppitz,
Ethnographic Museum Zuerich, Co-Referent: Senior Lecturer Dr. Charles Ramble, Oriental
Institute Oxford. It shall be published by 2011.

Publications / Publikationen
KIND, Marietta. 2007 »'Jag 'dul – A Bon Mountain Pilgrimage in Dolpo, Nepal« in Discoveries in
Western Tibet and the Western Himalayas. A. Heller and G. Orofino, eds. PIATS 2003: Tibetan
studies proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies,
Oxford, 2003. Leiden: Brill.
RAMBLE, Charles and Marietta KIND. 2003a. »Bonpo Monasteries and Temples of the
Himalayan Region«, in A Survey of Bon Monasteries and Temples in Tibet and the Himalaya. S.
Karmay & Y. Nagano (eds.) Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology
KIND, Marietta. 2003b. »Bericht von Begegnungen mit den maoistischen Rebellen - Die
Maobadis sind auch in der Dolpo-Region aktiv« in Tibet Aktuell, Nr. 79. Zürich: Gesellschaft
Schweizerisch-Tibetische Freundschaft (GSTF).
KIND, Marietta. 2003c. »Die Entführung der Berggöttin - Beseelte Landschaft, Heirat und
Identität in Phoksumdo, Dolpo« in Nepal Information Nr. 91:33-36.
KIND, Marietta. 2003d. »Tapriza Lobtra - A Community Based Culture School and its history« in
International Conference on Development Assistance to Ethnic Tibetan Communities, Taipei,
2003, pp. 24-38. Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.

Project 2621 Seite 1

KIND Marietta. 2002a. »The Abduction of the Divine Bride - Territory and Identity among the
Bonpo Community in Phoksumdo, Dolpo«, in Territory and Identity in Tibet and the Himalayas.
PIATS 2000: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 9th Seminar of the International Association of
Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000. K. Buffetrille and H. Diemberger (eds.) Leiden: Brill.
KIND Marietta. 2002b. Mendrub - A Bonpo Ritual for the Benefit of all Living Beings and the
Empowerment of Medicine Performed in Tsho, Dolpo. Kathmandu: WWF Nepal.

Keywords / Suchbegriffe
Nepal, Dolpo, Phoksumdo, pilgrimage, sacred landscape, sacred mountains, Anthropology of
landscape, Bonpo, Bon religion, Bön Religion, religious masters, biographies, genealogies,
Ringmo, Pungmo, Samling, Do-Tarap, Shey Riwo Drukta, Hurikot, Kaigaun, genealogies, Tibetan
studies, local histories, Himalaya

Project Leadership and Contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte

Marietta Kind (Project Leader) marietta.kind@relwi.unibe.ch

Other Links to external Webpages / Andere Links zu externen Webseiten

www.musethno.uzh.ch
www.tapriza.org
www.relwi.unibe.ch/homeMarietta.html

Funding Source(s) / Unterstützt durch

Universität Zürich (position pursuing an academic career), Forschungskredit der Universität
Zürich, Others
Forschungskredit der Universität ZürichKreditnummer der Fondsverwaltung: 560040Projekt bzw.
Gesuchsnummer: Spuren in der Landschaft

In Collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit

Völkerkundemuseum Zürich Switzerland
Prof. Michael Oppitz
Oriental Institute, Oxford United Kingdom
Aris Trust Centre for Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, Oxford
Dr. Charles Ramble

Duration of Project / Projektdauer

Feb 2002 to Mar 2008

Project 2621 Seite 2