Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS)
Volume-2 | Issue-10 | 886-891
Review Article
The Tibetan Buddhist Tradition of Sacrifice and Religious Ritual Using Instrument Made of Animal and Human Body Parts Among the Memba Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh
Chera Tamak
Published : Oct. 30, 2017
Abstract
This article explores the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of sacrifice and
religious ritual using instrument made of animal and human body parts among the
Memba tribe of Menchuka Valley. The Memba is a name given to a collection of
group of Buddhist people who migrated from various parts of Bhutan, present
Tawang district and Tibet (China) respectively and settled in Menchuka Circle of
West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India during the early 17th Century A.D.
The paper tries to present the ritual tradition of Memba tribe of Menchuka who
follow Tibetan form of Buddhism and belong to Nying-ma-pa sect. It is interesting
to know that Memba are still following and preserving most of the age-old ritualistic
tradition of their ancestor. They followed extensive tantric ritual and comes under
third vessel Vajrayana form of Buddhism introduced by Guru Padmasambhava in
Eight century A.D. in Tibet. The article tries to provide brief information regarding
the types of sacrificial ritual and use of animal and human body parts that are still
prevalent among the Memba tribe. The paper also traces the belief and myth
associate with it. In order to do so, varieties of sources in the form of secondary,
primary, field study and folk narration are briefly examined to provide glimpse of
their ritualistic practice.