An unidentified text, part of a collection of Spiti wedding texts and song texts. The text contains questions and answers, some in the form of riddles, to be addressed during the 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. 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. An untitled, handwritten Tibetan text (pecha). Written in "headless" Tibetan dbu med (Umé) script in black ink with occasional blue ink. A book of folios measuring 16.5 x 7.5 cm when closed, opening up to 16.5 x 15 cm.
Extent: One book consisting of 17 folios.
Size and dimensions of original material: Each folio is 16.5 cm x 7.5 cm.
Condition of original material: Handwritten in black ink with some blue ink. Discoloration and damage to page edges, related to age and usage. Staining and marks on most pages. However the text is mainly 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.
