The Household Archives of Texts Belonging to the Culturally-Tibetan Doctors (amchi), Astrologers (chowa), Singers (nyawon) and Speechmakers (molawa) of Spiti (EAP1221)

View of Spiti. Image © Patrick Sutherland
View of Spiti. Image © Patrick Sutherland
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Aims and objectives

This project will locate, survey, and digitise the archives of texts to be found in households belonging to the culturally-Tibetan doctors (amchi); astrologers and tantric ritual practitioners (chowa); wedding singers (nyawon); and speechmakers (molawa) of the Spiti Valley in north India. The material consists primarily of unbound texts (pecha) written in Tibetan scripts: medical, botanical and religious texts belonging to amchi lineages; astrological and ritual texts belonging to chowa lineages; and books of songs and formal speeches belonging to nyawon and molawa lineages.

Outcomes

The records copied by this project have been catalogued as:

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Project details

DOI:
https://dx.doi.org/10.15130/EAP993
Grant holder(s):
Professor Patrick Sutherland
Host Institution:
Independent researcher
Archival partners:
Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, Dharamsala
Award year:
2019
Project duration:
6 months
Location(s) of archival material:
India
Award:
£12,000
Type:
Pilot
Legal:
Access for research purposes only.

32.2461353, 78.0174064

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