Worshiping the King God : a Preliminary Analysis of Chintang Ritual Language in the Invocation of Rajdeu

Abstract

The deity Rājdeu (or Rājdeo < N. rājā ‘king’ + deva ‘god’) or Haŋ (C. haŋ ‘king, chief’) is of great importance among the Chintang (Chintaŋ) speakers of Chintang VDC in east Nepal. Before major rituals, especially Nuwagi, this god is worshiped (together with Pomnari) with offerings in front of the house. The ritual is short and simple, yet what makes it particularly interesting is the fact that a distinct ritual language is used, chanted in high speed invocation. A good deal of the lexical material of this language (or register) consists of Nepali words and morphemes, and there is continuous code-switching between ritual and ordinary language. The language as a whole displays the unique features of the mundum oral tradition of the Kiranti, which is marked by a combination of ritual nouns and ordinary language verbal forms (Allen 1978, Gaenszle 2002). The present article is a preliminary exploration of ritual language among the Chintang, and Rajdeu’s rite seems to be a suitable starting point. In spite of its shortness, it gives an insight into the functioning and structure of ritual speech — and tells us a few things about the enigmatic figure of the “King God”. The Chintang are a group of Kiranti usually regarded as a Rai subtribe. They number about 6.000 speakers but are found only in one village district, Chintang VDC in Dhankuta District, Koshi Zone. Their language, which is still widely spoken, belongs to the eastern group of the Kiranti language. The area where they are settled is known as Khalsa (the ridge west of Basantapur, including Hile and Dhankuta down to the confluence of Arun and Tamur River). This area lies close to the southern plains and it is likely that there has long been contact with the kingdoms and settlers there. Yet, as the case of Rajdeu and his “father” Budhahang shows, there is a strong memory of Kiranti kings who ruled over the ridge.