People of Darjeeling - 1870s
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 Photograph of Buddhist Monastery in Darjeeling, from an Album of Miscellaneous views in India, taken by John H.Doyle in the 1870s. This photograph is one a series of views and ethnographical studies taken at Darjeeling by John H. Doyle. This view shows several Llamas at worship and some masked Llamas in attendance at the Bhutia Busty monastery. The monastery was built in 1879 and many Buddhist scriptures were found here, including the cult book 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead'. The temple also has beautiful murals.   Photograph of Lepchas at Darjeeling, from an Album of Miscellaneous views in India, taken by John H.Doyle in the 1870s. The Lepcha people are the aboriginal inhabitants of Sikkim (which was the Kingdom of Sikkim till 1975, when it became a part of India), situated in between Nepal and Bhutan. The Lepchas have become a minority in their own homeland. Their shamanist religion and lifestyle has been a source of fascination to anthropologists. Their language is unmistakably a member of the Tibeto-Burman language family, but its exact position within the group is uncertain. This is a group portrait of Lepcha people gathered in an open-sided hut at Darjiling.  Photograph of Tibetan and Bhutia coolie labourers, from an album of Miscellaneous views in India, taken John H. Doyle in the 1870s. Coolies were hired labourers or burden carriers. Bhutias were Himalayan people who are believed to have emigrated southward from Tibet in the 9th century or later. The Bhutia constitute a majority of the population of Bhutan and form minorities in Nepal and India, particularly in Sikkim and Darjeeling. | ||
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