446 Report on the Valley of Spiti. [No. 6. 



population, there being nearly 200 distributed in the five Kotis. 

 They consist of a Head Gelong, who is their guru or high priest : 

 under him again are five other Gelongs, and all the rest are " Chun- 

 bas" and " Chelahs." The two last or inferior orders can be made 

 here, but a priest must go to Lahassa to be made a Gelong, by the 

 Teshii Lambii. The "Chelahs" are made indiscriminately from 

 the peasantry. In Spiti there are five Gumpas or Thakiirdewarahs, 

 each having its Gelong. All these are under the orders of the Teshu 

 Lambii at Lahassa. The priests must either be clothed in red, or 

 yellow, and on no account wear white ; their head dresses are very 

 various. They are strictly prohibited from exercising any other func- 

 tions but those of religion. They are entirely supported by the people, 

 and they collect grain for their support at harvest time from the people ; 

 they have a store room to each Gumpa. The Chinese families settled 

 in Spiti are called " Chuji," and they present annually, 200 lacs of 

 grain to the head Gumpa. The priests are prohibited from marry- 

 ing ; if they do, or are known to have connexion with a woman, they 

 are beaten and dismissed from the order. There are however two sects 

 of Lambas ; one called "Neingma" answering to the Byragis of Hin- 

 dustan ; who though not allowed to marry, are allowed to keep women ; 

 there are only 13 of this sect in Spiti. 



The other sect is the " Gilopa" who represent the Sannyasies : 

 they consider themselves defiled if they touch a woman. The " Neing- 

 ma" sect generally wear long hair, and the other short. They dispute 

 with one another as to their superiority of learning. 



The priest attend at births, marriages, and deaths : at a birth, several 

 priests are called, who go through a ceremony of astrology predict- 

 ing the fortune of the child, and receive presents. 



Parties are married by a guru in the open air, when prayers are 

 read ; the tilak is then marked on their foreheads, they have " Kha- 

 taks" (white silk scarfs) given to them by the guru, when they get 

 to their house, and he departs with presents. At a funeral a Lamba 

 attends whilst the body is burnt. The guru and other priests then 

 attend, and presents are distributed. The ashes are thrown into a 

 river, and the place where they were burnt, heaped over with cow dung 

 and clay ; and, if the friends of the deceased can afford it, a monument 

 is erected in the shape of an urn. There are no nunneries or nuns in Spiti. 



