On the footsteps of Khakcilik

"Fiat Lux". From the living breath of Genesis to the Kikuyu’s sacred seed, from the Greek cosmic egg to the Sulawesi tale of the earth-shaking boar scratching its itch — across countless traditions, humankind has always sought to explain the origins of the cosmos. Perhaps fewer people are aware that humanity has also tried to explain the origins of technological life, with ‘technology’ here meaning the discovery of activities that enabled progress: agriculture, the construction of more complex structures, brewing, and the domestication of animals. The myths, or stories, that describe how humankind, often with the help of divine or supernatural beings, came to acquire such knowledge are known as "civilisation myths".

Western scholars (ethnographers, anthropologists, linguists, and archaeologists alike) were often fascinated by the collection of such stories from remote or so-called ‘exotic’ places. These narratives were variously published in richly illustrated children’s books or in dense and rather austere academic volumes. Among those who ventured into this field was Nicholas J. Allen, who explored both physical and conceptual terrains that were ‘new’ only to Western audiences - for those who lived there, they were part of everyday life and cultural heritage.

During his fieldwork in the Solukhumbu District (Nepali: सोलुखुम्बु जिल्ला [solukʰumbu]; Sherpa: ཤར་ཁུམ་བུ་རྫོང་།; Wylie: shar khum bu dzong), Allen studied the Rai, a division of the Kiranti peoples inhabiting the middle hills of eastern Nepal, and in particular the Thulung, one of more than a dozen Rai subtribes, each with its own distinct language. His attention was drawn to the peculiarities of the Thulung, which set them apart from other Rai groups. Through comparative linguistic and
mythological analysis, Allen hypothesised that, although the Thulung had been influenced by Hindu immigrants, they showed virtually no trace of Tibetan or Buddhist influence and were hence the result of very ancient cultural heritage pre- dating Buddhism in Nepal. Yet, this observation was only the starting point of our own exploration, not its goal.

In our work, we turned to the Jaw-Khliw cycle, a civilisation myth that culminates in a wedding. We sought to express this story through sound, following Khakcilik on his journey as he learns to build a house, prepare a swidden, and brew beer thanks to a woman called Wayelungma. His path is accompanied by the sounds of animals known to inhabit elevations between 1,400 and 2,000 m near Mukli, where the original soundscape was recorded in 1970. These include the dark-sided flycatcher, ultramarine flycatcher, Nepal fulvetta, and wild boar (the latter also mentioned in another of Allen’s myths).

The soundscape does not mirror the narrative point by point; instead, it employs evocative sounds to express key moments in the story, such as the Nepali gong introducing the three siblings, or the shimmering textures that evoke the magic of Wayelungma. We did not introduce one sad moment, as our intention was not to recount loss, but to dwell on the wonder of knowledge and of learning, with the aim of nourishing soul and intellect. The journey of Khakcilik and Wayelungma culminates in a marriage, for which Nicholas’s 1970 recording was used. The names and lives of those who married and celebrated their love and were recorded by Nicholas may now be lost to history, but, in a romantic (and perhaps slightly naïve) gesture, we wished to honour love as one of the possible driving forces of civilisation itself — a celebration of the journey of Khakcilik and Wayelungma. 

Jaw and Khliw, the greater and lesser hornbill, try to kill their younger brother Khakcilik. Destroying an effigy of him, they fly off. After a quarrel the younger is eaten by an owl, then resuscitated. Meanwhile, Khakcilik, who lives by fishing, repeatedly catches a stone which he eventually deposits in his house. The stone, really a woman called Wayelungma or Nagimo, sweeps and cooks for him while he is out until one day, following advice, he hides behind a winnowing fan and captures her as his wife. Wayelungma instructs him how to build a house but in the process their first child is crushed under the central pillar. Also under her instruction and with her help he prepares a swidden, brews beer from its grain and invites, and when this fails, entices, his sisters to return home for the wedding. One comes from the north, one from the south and they contribute copper vessels as wedding gifts.

Reference: TIBET AND THE THULUNG RAI: TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY OF THE BODIC SPEAKERS Nicholas J. Allen (1980) in Tibetan Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson ed. By Michael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi.
Proceedings of the International Seminar on Tibetan Studies. Oxford 1979. Aris & Phillips LTD Warminster, England

Ceremonial (wedding) music from the Himalayas reimagined by Soundscapes Of Antiquity.

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Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds