Darjeeling, March 30.TT: A group of young storytellers and collectors has started a campaign here to document oral histories, myths and legends on yeti or the “Abominable Snowman” that many believe lives in the Himalayas in Nepal and Tibet.
The group under the banner of Acoustic Traditional started a Big Foot campaign here today to popularise the legend of yeti.
The “big foot” is a symbol of the animal’s feet and size.
Acoustic Traditional was formed in 1999 and the members, mostly young tribals, are working with various communities across the country to record their myths and legends.
It is a voluntary organisation based in Bangalore that works to promote oral storytelling and tribal folklore, especially of the mountain and forest-based communities, according to the website of the group.
The campaign that started here today will end with a Big Foot March on May 15 during which participants will walk through the town wearing specially designed slippers that resemble the yeti’s feet.
“We have started putting together the world’s biggest water colour painting based on the legends of yeti and ban jhankri (an imaginary animal in Nepali stories). The painting will measure 100X200 feet and it will be completed by May 15. We plan to put up the display at the Lebong ground here,” said Salil Mukhia, the founding member of Acoustic Traditional.
He added that artist Anurag Pradhan was helping him with the painting titled Feri Yeti (yeti again).
During the campaign the group will hold story-telling sessions in public places at various locations in town.
“We have called professional story tellers and all the stories told during the campaign will be documented,” said Mukhia.
He added that the documented stories would be published later.
Mukhia said similar campaigns would be held in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi and the events would end with the Big Foot March in each city.
“We have spoken to people of various communities and we believe that yeti, ban jhankri and sokpa (another imaginary animal in Nepali literature) are the same animal. Unlike people from the West who paint yeti as an abominable creature, local communities believe that it is a guide to the spiritual world on which shamanism is based,” said Mukhia.
Acoustic Traditional has already published Lost Stories, a book on oral storytelling about a year back.
“We are working with the Meyeti tribe from Manipur, Nayakapodu from Andhra Pradesh, Lambani tribe from Karnataka and Paniyar and Kuruba from the Nilgiri region along with various communities from Darjeeling and Sikkim to know about their oral histories,” said Mukhia.
He added that the group has plans to set up a centre for the Study of Indigenous Story telling Traditions in Darjeeling. “It will be the first centre in the country that will study, document, preserve and promote the tradition of oral storytelling and oral history of mountain and forest-based communities,” said Mukhia.
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