The present day
the Kinnauras do not constitute a homogenous group and display significant territorial and
ethnic diversity. For a better understanding of ethnic and cultural distribution, the
Kinnaur District may be classified into three territorial units.
Lower Kinnaur comprise
area between Chora at the boundary of the Kinnaur District with Rampur Bushahr and Kalpa
including Nichar and Sangla valleys. The people of Lower Kinnaur are primarily of the
Mediterranean physical type. It is difficult to distinguish them from the people residing
in the adjoining Shimla District with whom they have some affinity. The people of lower
Kinnaur are mostly Hindus though the ethno-historical factors have resulted in some
Buddhist influence.
The middle Kinnaur
is the area between Kalpa and Kanam including Moorang tehsil. The people of middle Kinnaur
are of mixed racial strain. Some have marked Mongoloid and others marked Mediterranean
features. In some cases there is an admixture of the above two in varying degrees. The
inhabitants are Buddhist as well as Hindus. Many people have faith in both the religions.
The upper Kinnaur
comprises of remaining north-eastern part of the district i.e. the area between Pooh and
Hangrang valley extending upto international border with Tibet .The predominant physical
type of upper Kinnaur in the Mongoloid though a few persons with Mediterrean features are
also seen in the area around Pooh. Some persons show the blending of Mediterrean and
Mongoloid elements in varying degrees. However the people of Hangrang valley are almost
universally Mongoloids. They mostly follow Mahayana Buddhist religion.
The Kinnaur society
is divided into two broad occupational groups- peasants and the artisans
possibly of diverse ethnic origin. These groups are represented by Kanets
(Rajputs) and Scheduled Castes.
The Kanets
comprise the main cultivating community of the area and use honorific surname Negi. Among
the Kanets there are three grades. In the first grade Kanets there are as many as fifty
sub-castes, in the second grades there are seventeen sub-castes and in the third grade who
work as potter have three sub-castes. Waza Kanets belong to the third grade and are
considered inferior among Kanets.
The Scheduled castes
include Chamangs and Domangs. Chamangs traditionally
make and wove clothes. The Domangs are primarily blacksmiths. There is a third caste
called ores. The main profession of Ores is carpentry. In social status the Ores are equal
to Domangs. Among the Scheduled castes blacksmiths and carpenters i.e. Domangs and Ores
considered themselves superior to Kolis or Chamangs.
The people of
district dress mostly woolen clothes. There clothing is well suited to the climate and is
artistic too in its own distinctive way.
Head dress: of men
and women is a round woolen cap called thepang in the local dialect. It
is generally of light grey or of white colour with a colour velvet band on the outer fold.
Band of green colour is most liked. Crimson blue, yellow etc. may also be worn.
Men wear woolen
shirts called chamn Kurti made of woolen cloth and tailored in the village. Another type
of dress which the men wear is Chhuba. It is long woolen coat somewhat resembling an
Achkan. A sleeveless woolen jacket worn outside the Chhuba. Men wear woolen churidhar
pajama.
Women wrap up a
woolen shawl like garment called dohru. The first wrap of dohru is on the back with
embridered border displayed throughout its length up to the heels. Darker shades of
colours are preferred for dohru. Besides beautiful coloured shawls are also worn by them
over their shoulders. Choli a sort of full sleeves blouse is worn by the women. Some of
them have decorative lining also.
However, now a days wearing
of cotton/synthetic salwar, kammez, pants and shirts have become popular among the young
Kinnauras. The traditional footwear worn by the Kinnauras were made of
wool and goat hair with sole of goat hide. However, with the passage of the time the
indigenous shoes have almost disappeared and wearing of readymade shoes is in
vogue.
The housing
pattern of upper Kinnaur is different from that of lower Kinnaur.
In the lower Kinnaur
the houses are two storeyed and built of stone and wood. These are either slated roofs or
having flat roofs made of layers of bhojpatra (tree bark) covered with earth. The door are
often folding and open inwards.
In upper Kinnaur
the houses are usually built of stone. These are flat roofed and covered with earth. They
are ill-built on account of the scarcity of wood. The houses are two storeyed and doors
are small. The ground floor is used as cattle shed and upper storey for living purposes.
The size and plinth area of the house depends upon the site available for construction.
The houses are white washed in lower as well as upper Kinnaur. Besides these traditional
houses, now RCC houses built in modern designs are also coming up.
Usually the households have some
wooden chest for keeping grain and dried fruits. In addition most of the houses have
separate wooden grain storage structures locally called 'Kathar'.
Khayarcha is a mat used for sitting purposes,
which is made of goats hair. Pakpa which is skin of sheep or goat or some wild animal as
often placed on khayarcha for sitting. Traditionally the people used to use utensils made
of brass, bronze and aluminum. However, now a days with the increased outside contact they
are fast adopting the china crockery and utensils made of stainless steel.
The staple food is wheat, ogla, phafra and barley which are local produce. Besides these kankani, cheena, maize, chollair and bathu are also taken. The principal pulses consumed are peas, black peas, mash and rajmash. The vegetables usually consumed are cabbage, turnips, peas, beans, pumpkin, potato, lady finger and tomato besides some locally available wild green vegetables leaves. They relish rice too which is imported from the plains. Taking a salted tea called cha in the morning and evening is very popular among the Kannauras which is usually taken along with sattu made of parched barley flour. They are non-vegetarian and relish goat and ram's meat. Taking of alcoholic drinks in their day to day life and also on the ceremonial or festive occasions is quite common among them. Alcohol is distilled at the household level. It is made out of fruits like grapes, apple, pear etc. grown locally and of barley. The Kannauras are very fond of music, dance and singing.
As stated above, the
people of lower Kinnaur are mostly Hindus, though some
references of Buddhism is also evident. Their most important gods
and goddess are Durga or Chandi, Bhairon, Usha or Ukha, Narayan, Vishnu,
Badrinath and Bhimakali. The Chamang and Domang in addition have their favourite deities
such as Nag Devta. Besides each village has its presiding deity.
The inhabitants of middle
Kinnaur are Buddhist as well as Hindu. In the northern area
Buddhist influence is stronger. The important deity of middle Kinnaur are Chandi,Gauri
Shankar, Kansa and Narayanjee. There are some monasteries besides the temples. The village
god at Kanam worshipped by people of Buddhist faith is Dabla who has certain features
associated with the earlier Bon religion. The image of Dabla is installed alongwith those
of Buddha and Guru Rinpoche (Padma Sambhava) in one of the monasteries at Kanam.
The religion of upper
Kinnaur is mostly Buddhism, having the institution of Lamaism. They mostly follow
Mahayan Buddhism religion. Almost every village has a monastery with Lamas and jomos, who
are recruited from amongst the Rajput (Kanet) only.
A major part of the district is
inhabited by people professing Lama religion. Though 
venerated by the inhabitants of Nichar and Sangla tehsils, Lama faith does not
have a strong hold in these areas. There are Buddhist temples in many of the villages of
these areas yet the followers of this faith do not form a significant group. In Kalpa,
Moorang and Pooh tehsils Lama are consulted and their services utilised in performance of
many religious ceremonies. In Nichar and Sangla people do not necessarily consult Lamas on
these occasions. In the absence of Brahman priests the people perform ceremonies
themselves.
Kanet boys, who learn the Tibetan scriptures and are well versed in Buddhist doctrines, are called Lamas. Similarly the Kanet girls, who do not marry, but devote their time to the study of Tibetan scriptures are called Zomos or Jomos. They live in nunneries. The two principal nunneries are at Kanam and Sunnam and in these a great numbers of Zomos live. Besides this, almost every village had few Zomos. The Lamas live in the monasteries and are looked upon as very holy. In fact they are the priests of all the Kanets. There are several monasteries of these Lamas in Kanam, Sunnam and other villages. Lamas are either Gyolong or Celibate like the Brahmchari or Dugpu, who marry but never shave. The head Lama is consulted with regard to important undertaking.
A number of
dialects are spoken by the inhabitants of district Kinnaur which came under
'Kinnauri' or 'Kanauri'. According to classification of languages made by the
Linguistic Survey of India, 'Kanauri' comes under Tibet-Chinese Family of Languages. It
has further been classified as language belonging to Western Sub-Group of Pronominalized
Himalayan Group belonging to Tibeto-Himalayan Branch under Tibeto-Burnab Sub-Family
(Census of India 1961, Vol. 1 India, Part II-C(ii). Languages Tables.P.CL.XVI). In Shimla
Hill States Gazetteer, 1910, there is mention of three dialects spoken in Kinnaur. These
are Hindi, Kinnauri and English Also there are as many as nine different
dialects used by various sections in district Kinnaur.
The villagers on the Tibetan Border
speak Tibetan dialects of western Tibet. The extent of spoken Tibetan is
limited to the village of Nesang, Kunu and Charang adjoining Tibet. Jangram dialect is
spoken in Jangi, Lippa and Asrang villages of Moorang tehsil. The Shumceho dialect is
spoken in the villages of Kanam, Labrang, Spilo, Shyaso and Rushkalang of Pooh tehsil. A
Kinnauri-Jangram mixture is the language used in Rakchham and Chhitkul villages of Sangla
tehsil. The Scheduled castes speak a language which is closer to that of certain parts of
the adjoining districts of Kinnaur. Besides these dialects the educated people of Kinnaur
can speak Hindi also. Both men and women, specially in Sangla and Kalpa valley can speak
English in addition to their mother tongue and Hindi.