Socio-Cultural Environment - Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT)

Bahuns, Chhetris, Thakuris, almost all the service castes, most of the
Newars, Rais, Gurungs and even Tsongs profess Hinduism.
A section of Lepchas, Rais and some of the Nepalese castes of
the district have adopted Christianity. For obvious political reasons,
Christianity could not proliferate much during the reign of Bhutia rulers,
yet some of the Sikkimese including a few Bhutias became Christians
under the influence of Missionary school education they received from
outside the state. South district has the unique distinction of having a
village where majority of the people are Christians. The Lepcha village
of Wak in Namchi subdivision is a Christian enclave surrounded by
predominantly Buddhist (Bhutia) and Hindu (Nepalese) communities.
Bon is a religion that was prevalent in Tibet before the advent of
Buddhism. A few of the early settlers in Sikkim are still found to practice
Bon religion. They have their lone monastery at Kewzing. Though the
number of Bon followers is not much, they preserved a very old
traditional form of religion.
The indigenous Lepchas and Limbus, in spite of their allegiance
to the greater traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism, still follow the little
traditions of nature worship. The religious festivals of these two
communities are usually based on obeisance paid to supernatural
powers that they perceive to be associated with certain objects of
nature. Both the communities practice Shamanism (Practice of religious
faith healers). But Risley was of opinion that the word ‘Shamanism’ does
not fit their religion. According to him, their religion is closely akin to the
‘Pon’ (Bon) religion of Tibet. According to Campbell, their religion is
22
CISMHE