Historical, Cultural, and Linguistic Ties Between Tibet and Nepal’s Himalayan Ethnic Buddhist Communities.

Nepal has a larger number of ethnic Buddhist groups scattered on its northern frontiers with Tibet. Most of the Nepalese settled in its northern Himalayan border regions share a deep cultural, religious, linguistic, and historical ties with Tibet. Major ethnic groups like Sherpa, Gurung, Lepcha, Tamang, Tsumpa, Yolmowas predominantly practice Tibetan Buddhism and infact, large number of monks and nuns in Tibetan monasteries and nunneries in Nepal and India are people from these major ethnic groups in Nepal and their number keep increasing every year. During the recent earthquakes in Nepal, the Himalayan region which has a large number of ethnic Tibetan population have suffered the heaviest damage and causalities. Table Talk invites Jamyang Dorjee, longtime observer of the region to discuss about the historical, cultural relation between Tibet and Nepal’s Himalayan ethnic groups.