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News: The Rung community opposed the installation of a three-tonne artificial Shivling near Om Parvat, stating that it violated their tradition of nature worship.
About Rung Community
- The Rung (Rang or Shauka) community is an indigenous trans-Himalayan tribal community that follows nature worship and has a distinct Himalayan cultural identity.
- Distribution: The community lives in the India–Nepal–Tibet border region of the Kumaon Himalayas.
- Settlement Area: They inhabit the high-altitude valleys of Vyans, Darma, Chaudans, and Johar in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand.
- Indigenous Identity: The Rung are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group with a distinct Himalayan tribal culture.
- Language: The Rung community speaks Runglo (Rangkas) and other distinct dialects such as Vyansi, Chaudangsi, and Darma.
- Status: The community is legally recognised as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in India.
- Key Aspects:
- Nature Worship: The community worships Lord Shiva through mountains, rivers, forests, and other sacred natural landscapes.
- Traditional Livelihood: They traditionally practised trans-Himalayan trade, pastoralism, agriculture, animal husbandry, seasonal migration, and collected medicinal herbs such as Yartsa Gumbu, Kutki, and Gandrayan.
- Traditional Seed Bank: The community preserves seeds in underground pits before migrating to lower altitudes during winter and retrieves them for the next sowing season.
- Festival: The community celebrates the Kandali Festival once every 12 years during the flowering of the Kandali plant, and the festival is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
- Traditional Governance: Gram Sabhas and traditional tribal institutions regulate community affairs and natural resource use.
