Manepa in Ladakh: The Revival of a Religious Tradition

Pascale Dollfus (1)

1 CEH - Centre d'Études Himalayennes

In this essay, I frst introduce the historical context of the manipa tradition in the wider Tibetan and Himalayan cultural arena, before focusing in more detail on its history in Ladakh. The Masters of the mani mantra are tantrists, who regard the fourteenth-century Tibetan yogi Thangtong Gyalpo as their founding preceptor. Among other skills, they perpetuate a fascinating exorcism known as pho ba rdo gcog, ‘breaking a stone [placed] on the stomach’, which is believed to have been performed for the frst time by their guru to ward of evil and to avert misfortune. Though the manipa/ manepa tradition is still alive in Spiti, it died out a few decades ago in Ladakh when the last representative of the two existing manepa lineages passed away without an heir to carry on the family tradition. Recently, however, his grandson Tsewang Dorje decided to revive the tradition. In the second part of the essay, I trace his life story, and discuss the steps that he has taken to acquire the specialist knowledge and religious practices needed to atain the status of a fully qualifed manepa. The essay therefore makes a contribution to the study of contemporary Ladakh. At the same time, it raises the question of whether and how it is possible to revive the transmission of lineage- based religious practices from an earlier era in a period of rapid social change.

Mots clés: Ladakh; Spiti; religion; storytelling; manipa.

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Art et histoire de l'art; Héritage culturel et muséologie; Religions; Environnement et Société

Pascale Dollfus. Manepa in Ladakh: The Revival of a Religious Tradition. Himalaya : the journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan studies, 2020, 39 (2), pp.92-103. ⟨hal-03023330⟩