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Writer's pictureZed Tells

Hina Tondup and Larchi Tserzom - A Kinnauri Folk Tale

Updated: Mar 17


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Narrated by Kamla Devi of Village Lambar, Translated by Pramiti Negi.


There lived a King and a queen. The King was known as Raja Lekey and the Queen as Rani Legjuma. They didn’t have any children. The Raja decided to go meditate in seclusion. And in his seclusion, he had a dream. He rushed to his Rani and told her “Rani, I had a lovely dream. You take good care. Reduce going outside for a while and don’t talk too much to people” Nine months passed since then and in the tenth month, the queen gave birth to a baby girl. They named her Larchi Tserzom. After three years the King again went to secluded meditation. He had a good dream this time too. He went and told his Rani “Rani, I had a lovely dream. You take good care. Reduce going outside for a while and don’t talk too much to people.” And this time a boy was born. They named him Hina Tondup.

Larchi Tserzom and Hina Tondup, the brother and sister lived comfortably for a while. But tragedy struck and their mother fell ill. The children cried over their mother’s poor health. Rani instructed the two “Go to the Garden and look at the tree there. If the tree is dying from the bottom up then my time to go is near. If the tree is dying from top to bottom, I will recover soon”. Sadly, the tree was dying bottom up. And Rani soon succumbed to her illness. Time passed and their lives continued.

The Raja used to regularly go to the riverside to bathe. There he encountered a very beautiful woman. She said to the king “I am Lai Pomo Chandama[1]. My name is Lai Pomo Chandama.” But she was no woman, she was a Raksanik [2] who had acquired human form. But the oblivious king could not tell the difference. She looked splendid in her human form with beautiful clothes and shiny jewels. She kept filling her shoe with water and splashing it at the Raja saying “If you aren’t charmed then you deserve this water”[3]. The king was captivated and he started chasing after the Raksanik “Tell me who are you and where did you come from?” She took the King towards a cave. Outside the cave, there were scattered skulls of men, horses and other animals. The king was appalled and said to her “You say you are Lai Pomo Chandama but what all have you collected here?” She replied “I have many precious items here. If not for the threatening things scattered here, my valuables will be stolen in my absence.” The silly King believed and started courting her.


Lai Pomo Chandama asked the King “Will you listen to all that I ask of you?”[4] “Yes”, the King replied resolutely and brought the Raksanik to his home. But Larchi Tserzom and Hina Tondup were quick to notice. “Father, what have you brought home? There are nails coming out of her heel. This is no person.” The father rebuked the two “What do you two know? I have brought you Mother. Who else is there to look after you two?”

Time passed for a while. Raksanik would go out at night and feed on the people of the kingdom. After a while, she pretended to fall sick. She said to the king “experts have said that unless I eat the heart and kidney of your two kids I will not recover.” Now Hina Tondup and Larchi Tserzom were being taken to be killed. Four Shanbas [5] were assigned the task to take them away and bring back their heart and kidneys after killing them. They took them to a bridge and were preparing to kill the children. And that is when they saw that the nape of the boy had a birthmark shaped like a Chorten (Buddhist Stupa) [6]


 

The Shanbas decided to kill the girl. But before they could make an attempt, the boy started pleading “Don’t kill my sister, kill me instead. My meat is medicinal my sister’s meat is poisonous.” But when the Shanbas agreed to kill the boy, the girl went “Don’t kill my brother, kill me instead. My meat is medicinal my brother’s meat is poisonous”. And this continued for a while. “My meat is medicinal her meat is poisonous”. “My meat is medicinal his meat is poisonous”. Suddenly a Lama(Buddhist monk) emerged out of the water. The Lama rebuked the four Shanbas “What will you get by killing such lovely children. Kill a dog and take its heart and liver instead.” So the Shanbas did as instructed by the revered one and left with the Heart and kidney of the dog. The two kids wept in front of the Lama for a long time, till their heads became dizzy. Once they cooled down the Lama said to them “It’s not possible for you two to come with me and I can’t go with you either”[7]. You two stay at your Mapo (home of mother's side of the family) and don’t go out”


 

The four Shanbas delivered to Lai Pomo Chandama the heart and kidney of the dog. She became well again. The brother and sister went to live in their Mapo as instructed by the monk. For 6-7 days they stayed inside the house and things went well. But after 8 days or so the Raksanik saw them. (The children were playing in their garden when Lai Pomo Chandama chanced a look at the two.) “What rubbish did you feed me? I feel unwell again. I think I am going to die today”, she said to the Raja. Raja upon knowing of the children’s whereabouts again arranged for their execution. Four Shanbas came and took the children away. They went to the same bridge to conduct the execution [8]. The events similar to the previous encounter unfolded again. Both the brother and sister implored to be the ones to be killed. “My meat is medicinal my brother’s meat is poisonous.” “My meat is medicinal my sister’s meat is poisonous.”

Suddenly, out of the water emerged their mother at the bridge. Her upper body was that of a lady and her lower body was of a serpent. “That sinner, that immoral man”, Rani cursed the Raja. She instructed the Shanbas to kill the first animal they see and give it to the king. The Shanbas did as told by the fearsome one. The two Kids sat with their mother and again cried their eyes out. They cried so much that they fainted. When they woke up, their mother was nowhere to be seen. With nowhere to go, they again went to stay at their Mapo. This time Raksanik was more vigilant and the children’s whereabouts were soon discovered.

Now, when the Four Shanbas were ordered to kill, they decided to not go to a bridge. They instead went to a plain field. The kids made a lot of pleas. The two older Shanbas out of the four were moved by the children’s pleas and the events that had unfolded whenever they attempted to kill them. They told the other two, we don’t want any part in this murder. We don’t want any jewels or property as a reward from the Raksanik. So the two wise Shanbas stayed behind. The other two took the children a little further and tied them, their limbs all stretched out like meat hung for drying. Suddenly, it started pouring. But as nature would have it, it was one of those rain that fell while the sun still shined. The halo of the shining sun that was directly behind Hina Tondup’s head made him look divine. It had a deep impact on the remaining two Shanbas. No one knows what the two Shanbas had in mind but they set the children free and left.

“Let’s not go back again”.Larchi Tserzom and Hina Tondup started walking in a different direction this time. After a while, the brother said “I am thirsty”.

There lived a woman who specialised in weaving on her handloom. Maybe she was a distant relative of Lai Pomo Chandama. “Can you please let my brother stay with you for a while?”, said Larchi Tserzom. “Am I his servant?”, replied the weaver. “Please”. “Okay leave him be”.

“Can you also lend me a utensil to fetch water?” said the sister to the lady. And she was given a sieve to fetch water. While the sister had gone to bring water, a visitor came to the weaver. He was Tsangpo Dewa Zangpo. “This Child of yours, give him to me”, said the man to the weaver. The weaver gladly sold the little boy to him.



 

Meanwhile, Larchi Tserzom was struggling to bring water. How would a sieve hold any water? It was then that Larchi Tserzom heard a bird twittering “Chang Chim Chang chim”(Bird's tweeter that sounds like "put weed, put weed", to block the pores of the sieve). So she used the bird’s hint and placed aquatic weed to fill the holes of her sieve. She returned with the little water that the sieve could hold. But when she got back she saw her brother was nowhere to be found. She went away crying. If she saw human bones she would wear them around her neck, thinking if they belonged to her brother. She kept walking and crying constantly she’d say “ My father’s name is Raja Lekey. My mother’s name is Rani Legjuma. My name is Larchi Tserzom. My brother’s name is Hina Tondup. Om Mane Padme Hun.”

Tsangpo Dewa Zangpo took Hina Tondup to a Kingdom. The Kingdom was in the process of selecting a new King. In those times, an elephant was decorated and given the task of finding a King. The elephant would be given a mixture of Saffron and the person down whose head the elephant will pour the mixture will be the new King. And this was the custom then. Tsangpo Dewa Zangpo had hidden the boy in a cavity inside of rotten wood in the jungle. And the elephant with his saffron mixture came to the jungle and poured the mixture on top of the wood. “The elephant has gone mad. The elephant has gone mad”, said the people of the kingdom. But they were surprised to discover that inside the hollow wood a beautiful little boy was hidden. And so Hina Tondup was appointed the King and he ruled for many years with benevolence. Somewhere deep in his heart, he always thought about the whereabouts of his sister. He had instructed his guards no matter what kind of person comes, never send anyone back empty-handed. Larchi Tserzom after travelling for many years reached the Kingdom. Hina Tondup would enquire the guards from time to time if they were treating people in need generously. “We have never turned away anyone in need. But an odd girl has come. She isn’t even properly dressed. But she refuses to take anything and keeps uttering the same words from her mouth. She refuses to eat too”, said the guards. Hina Tondup went to see the girl himself. And there she was. Upon meeting the brother and sister hugged and cried. Tsangpo Dawa Zangpo advised the two to stay in the Kingdom. So the brother and sister reigned the Kingdom together. Later on, assigning the crown to the sister for a while, Hina Tondup went to his own Kingdom. He carried a bow and arrows with him.

While going back he encountered the two elderly Shanbas who were against killing them when they were little children. They stayed behind at the same spot and survived cooking and eating Byur[9]. Hina Tondup reached his Kingdom. Lai Pomo Chandama had taken the form of a beautiful girl and she was grinding Khol [10] in the Kaning (traditional mortar and pestle). “Shupi Shupi” she said as she pounded hard. She was prepared to court Hina Tondup with her tactics. But Hina Tondup knew better. He invited the Raksanik to a game of archery. Hina Tondup kept flirting with the Raksanik and aimed badly with his arrows. The Raksanik let her guard down. He asked her about the people of the kingdom. The Kingdom had no men left. Everyone became prey to Lai Pomo Chandama. Nothing but crows and carcasses remained. When he got to know this, he shot an arrow through her chest and killed her.

He went to his old house. “Father, father” he called out in vain. A half-dead father lay there. Whenever Lai Pomo Chandama couldn’t find human flesh to feast on she would drink her husband’s blood. Hina Tondup told the half-dead Raja that I am your son. When Raja Lekey heard that he came to life for a moment but his overjoyed heart burst out and he died immediately.

And so the story ends. Hina Tondup and Larchi Tserzom made efforts to get the old kingdom rehabilitated. They continued a prosperous rule over both Kingdoms for many years.


 

[1] By referring to herself as Lai Pomo Chandama she is making it rather obvious that she is not a Human being. ‘Pomo’ means girl. And would you not find it odd if a girl say Rita introduced herself as “I am girl Rita”.

[2] Non-human beings that live in a different world but occasionally come in contact with people.

[3] I’ll be damned if it was a wooing technique anywhere in the world, let alone in Kinnaur. It is rather a reflection of the absurdity of the situation. The literal translation would mean “If you don’t marry me then here drink water in my shoe.”

[4] Lai Pomo Chandama gave “Dharam” to the King which is a sacred vow in any relationship.

[5] Shanbas are hunters. They are known for their meat-eating habits. Myths of Shanbas practising cannibalism are also prevalent.

[6] Chorten or stupa is a sacred structure in Buddhism that carries a certain symbolic meaning.

[7] Out here the Lama actually says “If you two come with me It will not suffice me. ('It' being the resources). If I come with you two, it will not suffice you.”

[8] In the Kinnauri myth, it is believed that it is in the flowing water that all spirits and demonic powers reside. The spirits need appeasing. Hence the significance of carrying the execution at a bridge.

[9] Byur is a wild green vegetable.

[10] Khol is the remnant of dry fruits such as apricot kernels or walnuts after the oil is extracted from them.


 




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1 Comment


Kamaljeet .
Kamaljeet .
Nov 21, 2022

It brings the memory back from childhood. Awesome !!

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