Peculiar Customs And Rites Of The Himalayan People

Peculiar Customs and Rites of the Himalayan People is an outcome of the more than 20 years personal acquaintance with he socio-cultural life style of the Himalayan peoples, inhabiting from Ladakh in the West to Bhutan in the east. Besides, some off the studies relating to the people of various Himalayan regions have also have supplemented to the data already collected from the fields by the author during his linguistic survey of these regions from the year 1975 to 1995. Although peculiarities and variations of the socio-cultural patterns of the Himalayan people are inexhabistible, yet, the author has, for this study, selected only a few of them which may be of greater interest to the readers of the world at large. As such prominence has been given to customs and rites pertaining to birth, marriage and death which are, in more or less degree, observed by every social group in the world over. It is hoped that volume will provide a deep insight to the readers interested in having intimate knowledge of socio-cultural patterns of the people of the Himalayan regions of the Indian sub-continent, better known as wonderland for its peculiar socio-cultural Customs and rites.

Prof. D.D. Sharma (b. 1928) is a renowned scholar of Sanskrit and Linguistics. He has served as a professor and head of the department of Sanskrit in the Panjab University, Chandigarh. His academic achievements are many. Besides triple doctorates in the above mentioned subjects, he has obtained highest oriental titles and diplomas in many Indian and foreign languages, and is well acquainted with nearly two dozen Indian and foreign languages. He has to his credit more than 30 research volumes and scores of research papers on language, culture and literature, published in the journals of national and international repute. On Himalayan languages and culture alone his publications are more than 20. Prof. Sharma, particularly in Linguistics, has made substantial contributions. It was in recognition of his sterling contributions in Linguistics that he was awarded the most prestigious academic fellowship of the Indian government. Viz. Jawaharlal Nehru fellowship and U.G.C. Emeritus fellowship in 1984 and 1989 to undertake the linguistic survey of the Himalayan languages right from Ladakh in the west of Bhutan in the east, which he pursued for many years and of which 10 volumes have already been published so far. He has received many national and international awards and recognitions for his distinguishing achievements in these fields. In the year 1999-2000 alone he has received 3 national awards, viz., Millennium Honours (Sahasrabdi Sammans) from Sanskrit University Varanasi, Ministry of Education & Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Govt. of India, and Certificare of Honour from the President of India.