Limbu Language - Sirijonga

Sirijonga

Limbu, Lepcha and Newari are the only Sino-Tibetan languages of the Central Himalayas to possess their own scripts tells us that the Kiranti or Limbu script was devised during the period of Buddhist expansion in Sikkim in the early 18th century when Limbuwan still constituted part of Sikkimese territory. The Kiranti script was probably composed at roughly the same time as the Lepcha script which was by the third King of Sikkim, Phyag-dor Nam-gyal (ca. 1700-1717). The Kiranti script is ascribed to the Limbu hero, Te-ongsi Sirijunga (trans: "Re-incarnated Sirijonga" ref to Sirijonga Haang) who was killed by the Tasong monks in conspiracy with the king of Sikkim at the time that Simah Pratap Shah was King of Nepal (i.e. 11 January 1775 to 17 November 1777; ). Both Kiranti and Lepcha were ostensibly devised with the intent of furthering the spread Buddhism. However, Sirijonga was a Limbu Buddhist who had studied under Sikkimese high Lamas. Sirijanga was given the title 'the Dorje Lama of Yangrup'.

The language and script's influential structure are mixture of Tibetan and Devanagari. Unlike most other Brahmic scripts, it does not have separate independent vowel characters, instead using a vowel carrier letter with the appropriate dependent vowel attached.

The Limbu language and literature has been less practiced in Nepal since the last eighteenth century. The cultural identity of any community was taken as a threat to the national unification by ruling elites until the recent years. The use of Limbu alphabets was banned and the possession of Limbu writings outlawed. There were no specific laws about it, but the Security Act was enforced for such cases under the strong directives of Kathmandu.