Kumauni people

Kumaoni/Kumauni/Kumain people
कुमाऊँनी लोग/कुमाइँ मानिस
Regions with significant populations
Uttarakhand, Nepal
Languages
Kumaoni, Hindi, Khas dialects (Dotyali language)
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Khas people, Other Indo-Aryan peoples, Garhwali people

Kumauni or Kumaoni (Devanagari: कुमाऊँनी) or Kumai(as said in Nepal) are people from Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India. In colloquial language, people of Kumaon are also referred to as "Pahari". Kumain (Nepali: कुमाइँँ) is addressed to person having origin in Kumaon region. The word Kumain is a direct derivative of Kumaoni.[1]

They include all those who speak the Kumaoni language or any of its numerous dialects, living in the Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Pithoragarh, Nainital, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, districts of Uttarakhand, India and Doti, Khaptad, Bajang region of Nepal.

History

British Raj

Almora Bazaar, c1860

The Kumaon Regiment, established at Ranikhet in 1917, still gets its recruits from the Kumaonis of the Kumaon division and the Ahir from the plains.[2]

There were widespread opposition to British rule in various parts of Kumaon. The Kumauni people, especially the Champawat District, rose in rebellion against the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 under the leadership of Kalu Singh Mahara.[3]

Language

UNESCO designated Kumaoni as language in the unsafe category which requires consistent conservation efforts.[4]

Culture

Festivals

After harvesting season people mostly relax, rejoice, dance and sing, and thus a festival is generated. At the transition of the sun from one constellation to another Sankranti is observed. Each Sankranti has a fair or festival connected to it somewhere in Kumaon. Fooldeyi, Bikhauti, Harela, Ghee Sankranti, Khatarua, Uttaraini and Ghughutiya are the most-observed Sankranties throughout the region. Other festivals have the bearings in the moon and thus the dates change frequently in the Gregorian Calendar. Basant Panchami, Shiv Ratri, Holi, Samvatsar Parwa, Ram Navami, Dashra, Batsavitri, Rakshabandhan, Janmastmi, Nandastmi, and Deepawali are some of the auspicious occasions.[5]

Dasshera or Bijaydashmi

Dasshera festival starts in Kumaon with the performance of Ramlila, which is itself unique as it is based on the musical rendering of the katha or story of Lord Ram based on the theatrical traditions set by Uday Shankar while on his stay in Almora. These traditions were further enriched by Mohan Upreti and Brijendra Lal Sah. Known as the Almora or Kumaon style, Ramlila has been recognised by UNESCO as one of the representative styles of Ramlila in India.[6]

Theatre

Kumaoni theatre, which developed through its 'Ramleela' plays,[7] later evolved into a modern theatre form through the efforts of theatre stalwarts like Mohan Upreti and Dinesh Pandey and groups like 'Parvatiya Kala Kendra' (started by Mohan Upreti) and 'Parvatiya Lok Kala Manch'. Besides this the famous Hindi poet,Sumitranandan Pant also hailed from Kausani , district Bageshwar.

Radio

  • Trans World Radio (USA) – 7320 Hz (Shortwave)[8]

Cuisine

Kumaoni food is simple and comprises largely of vegetables and pulses. It is highly nutritious to enable survival in the hard environment of the hills and cold climate.

Vegetables like potato (aaloo), radish (mooli), colocacia leaves (arbi ke patte, papad), pumpkin (kaddoo), spinach (palak) and many others are grown locally by the largely agrarian populace and consumed in various forms.

List of Kumaoni/Kumai people

  • Bharat Ratna Govind Ballabh Pant, Union Home Minister (10 January 1955 – 7 March 1961), Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (26 January 1950 – 27 December 1954), Premier of United Provinces ( 17 July 1937 – 2 November 1939) and (1 April 1946 – 25 January 1950)
  • B. D. Pande (ICS), Union Cabinet Secretary, Governor of Punjab, Governor of Bengal, Administrator of Chandigarh

See also

References

  1. ↑ Subba, Tanka Bahadur (1989). Dynamics of a hill society: Nepalis in Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas. Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788173041143.
  2. ↑ Brief History of the Kumaon Regiment from official site of INDIAN Army
  3. ↑ The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Dehradun Edition. Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-27.
  4. ↑ "UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". UNESCO. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Uttaranchal Fairs and Festivals of Uttarakhand – Kumbh mela, Uttarayani, Nandadevi Raj Jat Yatra. Euttaranchal.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-27.
  6. ↑ Ramlila – the Traditional Performance of the Ramayana UNESCO.
  7. ↑ Indian Traditions Theatre at iloveindia.
  8. ↑ Shortwave Language lists KUM Kumaoni/Kumauni.

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