An untitled, handwritten Tibetan text (pecha) in "headless" Tibetan dbu med (Umé) script. A book of separate folios of handmade paper 22 x 10 cm, though some pages are much smaller than this due to wear. The subject matter of this text are Zum Lu (tib. འཛོམས་གླུ། ...wylie.་'dzoms glu ) which are gathering songs and Dong Shak Lu ( tib. གདོང་ཤགས་གླུ། ...wylie. gdong shags glu). which are competition songs, questions and answers, forming part of the traditional large Spiti wedding. Spiti weddings are complex social events taking place over two or three days in which music and other sounds, singing and performance are major elements. A large wedding may have several hundred guests. Gathering songs are sung at several points during the wedding.The groom's party form a symbolic raiding party that visits the bride's village to take her away to her new home with her husband's family. A competitive struggle to defend the bride against the intruders is performed in song. The competition takes place between a party of singers representing the bride (the nang nyawa or inside singers) and party of singers representing the groom (the chi nyawa or outside singers) Each party is led by a nyahon. With a system of primogeniture still in operation, this kind of large wedding is primarily for the first son / first daughter.
Extent: One book consisting of 11 folios.
Size and dimensions of original material: Each folio is 22 cm x 10 cm though wear has considerably reduced the size of some folios.
Condition of original material: Handwritten in black ink . Discoloration of edges and substantial wear and tear, related to age and usage. Staining and marks on many pages. However the text is perfectly legible throughout.
Custodial history: Phuntsog Namgyal from Kibber is the current owner of the material. His father Nawang Dorje was a famous nyahon (singer of traditional Spiti songs, especially weddings songs) in Kibber as was his grandfather Sonam Tseten. The material is no longer in use, the lineage has died out.
Arrangement: The Collection of Spiti song texts was held in a plastic carrier bag. There was no order to the separate texts or system of classification. The precise country of origin is unknown. However it is almost certain that the original text was created in Tibet, though the specific material in question may have been copied locally in Spiti (India) at a later date.
