Jomos are nuns, celibate women devoted to the practice of Buddhism. Kinnaur is a Himalayan tribal district on the Tibet border in Himachal Pradesh, India. This ground-breaking book tells the story of Kinnauri Jomos in their own voices through their two Song genres-Kinnauri and Tibetan-and their self-narrated lives.
After hearing a Kinnauri Jomo singing at a hermitage in North India, the author sets out to trace the Jomos back to their villages in Kinnaur. Journeying into the mountainous land of the Kinnauras-said to be descendants of legendary celestial musicians-staying in isolated villages, and participating in the jomos' daily Lives and rituals, she begins to understand who these women are, what Buddhism means to them, and why they sing.
The book, based on interviews and recordings of 50 jomos over a 15-month period, contains the texts of 23 songs and 7 life stories.
Songs and Lives of the Jomo: Nuns of Kinnaur Northwest India, Women's Religious Expression in Tibetan Buddhism, Linda LaMacchia, Sri Satguru Publications, Hardcover, 336 pages, $29.95
Linda LaMacchia was a folklorist and ethnographer who documented the music and lives of Tibetan Buddhist nuns, or jomos, in the Kinnaur district of northwestern India between 1985 and 2017. LaMacchia conducted fieldwork in Kinnaur for a period of fifteen months in 1995 and 1996 for her dissertation, while pursuing a PhD in South Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
During this period, she recorded the life stories, songs, and local religious practices of the jomos living in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh near the Tibetan border. These life stories represent three Buddhist sects: Drukpa Kagyu, Gelug, and Nyingma.
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