Description

According to Nepal's 2001 census, there are 635,751 Rai in Nepal representing 2.79% of the total population. Of this number, 70.89% declared themselves as practicing the traditional Kiranti religion and 25% declared themselves as Hindu. Yakkha were measured as a separate ethnic group of which 81.43% were Kirant and 14.17% were Hindu.^[1]
The Rai are divided into many different sub-groups - Bantawa, Chamling, Sampang, Dumi, Jerung, Kulung, Khaling, Lohorung, Mewahang, Rakhali, Thulung, Tamla, Tilung, Wambule, Yakkha, Yamphu, Jero (Jerung). Some groups number only a few hundred members. The languages together with the traditional religion of the Rai is known as Kirant.
More than 32 different Kiranti languages and dialects are recognized within the Tibeto-Burman languages family.Their languages are Pronominalised Tibeto-Burman languages, indicating their antiquity. The oral language is rich and ancient, as is Kiranti history, but the written script remains yet to be properly organised as nearly all traces of it were destroyed by the next rulers of Nepal, the Lichhavis and almost eradicated by the Shah dynasty.
The traditional Kiranti religion, predating Hinduism and Buddhism, is based on ancestor-worship and the placation of ancestor spirits through elaborate rituals governed by rules called Mundhum. Sumnima-Paruhang are worshipped as primordial parents. A major Rai holiday is the harvest festival, Nwogi, when fresh harvested foods are shared by all. The Bijuwa and Nakchhung (Dhami) or Priest plays an important role in Rai communities.
They do not truly belong to the caste system. The majority of Rai have never accepted casteism and never adopted a caste. The Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and the Nepal government have recognised this fact.
Because of the fiercely independent nature of the Rai community and its location at the eastern end of the consolidated Nepalese nation-state, they were given exceptional rights of Kipat autonomy and land ownership in their homeland of Majh (middle) Kirant.
Subsistence agriculture of rice, millet, wheat, corn and cotton is the main occupation of the Rai although many Rai have been recruited into military service with the Nepali army and police, and the Indian and British Gurkha regiments and Singapore Police Force.
Rai women decorate themselves lavishly with silver and gold coin jewelery. Marriage unions are usually monogamous and arranged by parents, although "love marriage", bride capture in the past and elopement are alternative methods. Music with traditional drums and string instruments such as yele, binayo, murchunga, dhol and jhyamta, dance such as Sakela or Sakewa dance, and distilled spirits (alcohol) called aaraakha, ngashi, or waasim are central to Rai culture.
Sakela or Sakewa dance is the greatest religious festival of Kirant Rai people in Nepal.