Story · Limbu
Mundhum recitation
Oral scripture of the Kirat nations, performed by phedangma priests.
Province
Koshi Province
कोशी प्रदेश
The eastern hills and plains: Limbu Kirat country with the Sirijanga script, Rai language clusters, Sherpa highlands and Rajbanshi lowlands.
- Languages
- 9
- Districts
- 14
- Capital
- Biratnagar
Districts of Koshi — click one for its languages
Languages spoken here
9 languages, each with its own archive
Limbu
Vulnerableᤛᤡᤖᤡᤈᤞᤠ᤺ᤴ / याक्थुङ पान्
Limbu, self-named Yakthung Pan, is a Kiranti language of far-eastern Nepal written in the Sirijanga script, revived in the 18th ce…
Sino-Tibetan › Kiranti · Sirijanga (Limbu)
AI preparedness index: 0.49%
Open profileBantawa Rai
Vulnerableबान्तावा
Bantawa is the most widely spoken of some two dozen Kiranti Rai languages, each valley holding its own tongue. It is a language of…
Sino-Tibetan › Kiranti · Devanagari, Kirat Rai (Khambu)
AI preparedness index: 0.15%
Open profileMaithili
Vital𑒧𑒻𑒟𑒱𑒪𑒲 / मैथिली
Maithili is the language of Mithila, with a literary line from Jyotirishwar's Varna Ratnakara and Vidyapati's 14th-century padaval…
Indo-European › Eastern Indo-Aryan · Tirhuta (Mithilakshar), Devanagari
AI preparedness index: 1.19%
Open profileTamang
Vulnerableतामाङ / ཏའ་མང་
Tamang is spoken in a ring of hills around the Kathmandu Valley. Its ritual life is kept by three specialists — the Buddhist lama,…
Sino-Tibetan › Tamangic · Devanagari, Tibetan (Sambhota)
AI preparedness index: 0.36%
Open profileSherpa
Vulnerableཤར་པ་སྐད། / शेर्पा
Sherpa is a Tibetic language of the high valleys below Everest, carried from Kham some five centuries ago. Its speech is layered w…
Sino-Tibetan › Tibetic · Tibetan (Uchen)
AI preparedness index: 0.23%
Open profileTharu
Vulnerableथारू
Tharu is less one language than a chain of them, stretching the whole length of the Tarai — Rana in the far west, Dangaura in the …
Indo-European › Indo-Aryan (cluster) · Devanagari
AI preparedness index: 0.16%
Open profileNepali
Vitalनेपाली / खस कुरा
Nepali grew out of the Khas speech of the Karnali basin, spread with the Gorkha state, and is now the lingua franca linking every …
Indo-European › Indo-Aryan · Devanagari
AI preparedness index: 1.70%
Open profileYakkha
Severely endangeredयाक्खा
Yakkha is a Kiranti language of the Arun valley with very few child speakers left. Documentation projects have recorded its ritual…
Sino-Tibetan › Kiranti · Devanagari, Kirat
AI preparedness index: 0.15%
Open profileSunuwar
Endangeredकोँइच / Koids
Sunuwar, self-named Koinch, has its own script — Jenticha, devised in 1942 by Karna Bahadur Jenticha — and a Mundhum tradition tie…
Sino-Tibetan › Kiranti · Jenticha (Koinch Brese), Devanagari
AI preparedness index: 0.33%
Open profileDistrict by district
Open a district for the languages spoken there
Bhojpur4 languagesDhankuta6 languagesIlam2 languagesJhapa12 languagesKhotang6 languagesMorang11 languagesOkhaldhunga5 languagesPanchthar3 languagesSankhuwasabha8 languagesSolukhumbu5 languagesSunsari6 languagesTaplejung4 languagesTehrathum0 languagesUdayapur2 languages
Where each language sits
| Language | Districts in this province |
|---|---|
| Limbu | Panchthar, Taplejung, Ilam, Dhankuta, Terhathum, Sankhuwasabha |
| Bantawa Rai | Bhojpur, Khotang, Dhankuta, Udayapur, Sunsari |
| Maithili | Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha, Saptari, Sarlahi, Morang |
| Tamang | Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchok, Makwanpur, Dhading, Kavrepalanchok |
| Sherpa | Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasabha, Dolakha, Sindhupalchok, Taplejung |
| Tharu | Dang, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Chitwan, Saptari |
| Nepali | Nationwide |
| Yakkha | Sankhuwasabha, Dhankuta, Panchthar, Ilam |
| Sunuwar | Okhaldhunga, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Sindhuli |
Cultural highlights
Living heritage of Koshi
Chyabrung drum danceSakela UbhauliMundhum recitation
Song · Limbu
Chyabrung drum dance
Barrel-drum dance of Limbuwan weddings and harvests.
Festival · Sherpa
Mani Rimdu
Masked monastery dance at Tengboche.
Festival · Bantawa Rai
Sakela Ubhauli
Spring dance calling ancestors uphill.
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