On the first day of Christmas, I watched a Sikkimese Bhutia film
By Bhuchung K. Tsering
I spent Christmas Day 2019 watching a movie from Sikkim called “Bya-Kay, birth ceremony”which is slated to be the “first ever Sikkimese Bhutia feature film”. The Bhutias are a community in Sikkim of Tibetan ancestry and considered one of the two indigenous people of Sikkim along with the Lepchas.
The film, released in 2017, is produced and directed by Bhaichung Tsichudarpa (who also is listed as the singer). The actors are students and lecturers in the Bhutia Department of Sikkim University. Although the cast is listed at the beginning of the film their characters are not identified and thus one is not sure who played what role.
The film is in the Bhutia language and also has subtitles in English. I title “Bya-Kay” is from a Sikkimese custom of naming a child after the third day of its birth. Its title literally means “Hen Offering” and the director uses this as a peg to draw attention to some of his community’s customs and tradition following the birth of a child.
In fact, it is less of a feature film and more of a documentary about Sikkimese customs. In a written message at the beginning of the film, the director talks about our “most prized possession which our ancestors have left for us i.e. our rich culture, traditions, rituals that sums up our heritage, our identity is eroding and is considered futile amidst the great technological strides humans have started living in.”
He says, “By showcasing the tradition of celebrating the birth of a child and the child’s naming ceremony after three days of the child’s birth …is our sincere endeavor to bring back those rich essences of our heritage which defines us all.”
The film highlights the following customs: family attitude towards the pregnant mother and tradition to be followed immediately after birth of the child, including how to preserve the “birth remains” in a bamboo piece tied to a tree for future use. As the father is heard telling the son who is taking care of this, “if the child suffers from some sort of unexplained illness during earthquakes, solar or lunar eclipses and other natural phenomenon that cannot be cured by anyone, at that time the smoke and the ashes of these very remains will save him during such difficult times.”
The father is also heard telling the woman who is cutting the umbilical cord, “without this talisman till the time the child grows up to his full senses the child is going to search for this navel and will poke around the cooking furnace and this increases risks of him meeting accidents with fire, boiling water and such mishaps.”
A purification ritual (since the process of child birth is considered a defilement) called Bhangsang that includes incense burning and spread of holy water, is performed on the third day by a priest and this is followed by the “Bya-kay’ ceremony. After the priest has performed the purification ceremony, women of the community come to offer Khata to the newborn child and the eldest among them is invited to name it. These women bring offering of chicken when they come to the house and hence the name of the ceremony.
It is a feature film in the sense that the director tries to construct a story around these messages that includes a flashback to the Bollywood style romancing between the man and the woman. The film is presented by Arithang Gyaltsen Tshogpo and the following are some of the names of the casts that appear at the beginning of the film and they and others deserve commendation for this laudable effort.
Bhaichung Tsichudarpa
Sonam Lhamu Shengna (also listed as a singer)
Dr. Hishey Wangchuk Bhutia
Lama Neydup Bhutia
Ugen Bhutia
Pempa Doma Bhutia
Gyaltsen Bhutia
Tenzing Youden Lepcha
Pema Ongyal Bhutia
Tshering Palmu Lepcha
Dawa Doma Bhutia
You can watch the film here.
Olobhisa 