The Dalai Lama’s visit in 1997 is well documented in the albums of the noted Bugun photographer Sang Norbu Sarai. The Buguns made six to seven beautiful Buddhist gates to welcome him…
-
-
Dorjee Glow and his family ran to what is now known as the ‘helipad ground’ above Singchung in 1962. They received a letter that China had retreated, but they feared that…
-
Embedded in this landscape are festivities such as Shaboh which Buguns use to mark the different seasons. When leaves are shed, and animals hibernate in January, the Shaboh Rua puja…
-
Dawa Sarai took us to his attic, kitchen and store room. Many traditional Bugun household items made of bamboo and wood were brought down from his attic. However they have been…
-
The Buguns used to cultivate maize and potatoes around their small hamlets in and around Singchung. It is very rare to find Buguns cultivating their own lands these days. Land is…
-
Across Bugun clans there is symbolism with nature in the wider landscape. The Phiang clan worships the holy mountain Jomou, inside Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. Of the four Bugun clans, Sange…
-
Kaibo Phiang is now at home and aged 85. He recollects his vocations that spanned being a load carrier, dak runner (mail carrier) and a village head priest. In just one…
-
…
-
THEN: At the lowest elevation is Khellong which is on the border of Eaglenest and was a bustling place till the late 1990s. There was a medical hospital, school, office of…
-
Chamu Rai (affectionately known as Saila Baje) was part of the logging workforce for more than a decade. He came to live in Alubari in 1994. Below Alubari they would cut…