Sherpa Culture and the Monasteries of the Khumbu

Sherpa means people from the east in their own language, from shar, east, and pa, people. Their ancestors lived in Kham, in eastern Tibet, and migrated west and then south across the Himalaya about five hundred years ago, according to Sherpa clan histories. The route they remember is the Nangpa La, a glacier pass at the head of the Bhote Koshi valley above Thame. They settled first in the Khumbu, the high valleys below Everest, and in Solu, the greener hills to the south, which Sherpas call Shorong.

For centuries the Khumbu Sherpas lived by herding yaks, growing barley, buckwheat and, from the nineteenth century, potatoes, which changed the high valleys by letting families farm at altitude. They also traded across the Nangpa La, carrying grain and goods north and bringing salt, wool and Tibetan items south. Namche Bazaar grew as a trading village on that route long before it became a trekking town.

From the 1920s Sherpas from Solukhumbu who had moved to Darjeeling found work as porters on British expeditions to Everest from the Tibetan side. Their skill and strength made them famous, and Tenzing Norgay, who grew up in Thame, reached the summit with Edmund Hillary on 29 May 1953. Today Sherpa is both an ethnic name and, loosely, a job title for high-altitude workers, though many high-altitude workers are not ethnic Sherpas, and many Sherpas have nothing to do with climbing.

Many Sherpa first names come from the day of the week on which a person was born, a custom shared with Tibetans. So if you meet three men called Pasang on the trail, they were all born on a Friday. A second name, often given by a lama, follows. Sherpa as a surname is a modern addition used on documents; within the community, a person's clan, ru in Sherpa, and home village carry more meaning, and people from the same clan traditionally do not marry. Learning a guide's name and asking which day it stands for is a good way to start a conversation.

Sherpas follow the Nyingma school, the oldest of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, which traces itself to Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. Every village has a gompa, a temple, and the larger ones have communities of monks or nuns.

Tengboche, on a saddle at 3,867 m facing Everest and Ama Dablam, is the best known. It was founded in 1916 by Lama Gulu, with links to Rongbuk Monastery on the Tibetan side of Everest. An earthquake destroyed it in 1934, and a fire in 1989 burned it again; each time it was rebuilt, the second time with help from donors in Nepal and abroad. It holds the Mani Rimdu festival each autumn and an afternoon puja most days.

Pangboche gompa, above the village at about 3,985 m, is said to be the oldest in the Khumbu. Local tradition credits Lama Sangwa Dorje, a revered figure in Sherpa history, with founding it in the seventeenth century. Thame gompa, built against a cliff above Thame, also dates back several centuries and holds its own Mani Rimdu in spring. Khumjung gompa is famous for a relic villagers call the yeti scalp, kept in a glass case; scientific tests in 1960 suggested it was made from the skin of a serow, a Himalayan goat-antelope.

In Solu, Chiwong monastery near Phaplu, founded in 1923, and the large community of Thupten Chholing near Junbesi, founded by Trulshik Rinpoche after he left Tibet in 1959, are worth the walk.

For Sherpas the mountains are not empty rock. Khumbila, the dark peak of about 5,761 m above Khumjung and Namche, is the home of Khumbu Yul Lha, the protector deity of the region, often painted riding a white horse. Out of respect it has never been climbed. Everest, Chomolungma, is linked to Miyolangsangma, a goddess of generosity, one of the five sisters of long life. Before every expedition, Sherpa climbers hold a puja at base camp to ask her permission and protection, building a stone altar, burning juniper and hanging prayer flags.

You will also see the practice of everyday faith: mani walls carved with om mani padme hum, prayer wheels turned by hand, water and wind, chortens holding relics, and prayer flags printed with the wind horse, lungta, which carries prayers on the wind. Juniper, shukpa, is burned in the morning as an offering. Walk to the left of mani walls and chortens so that they stay on your right, the way a Sherpa walks.

The biggest celebration is Losar, the Tibetan new year, in February or March, when families clean their houses, cook special foods and visit monasteries. In summer, Dumji is held in the main Khumbu villages, with masked dances, feasts and the whole village gathering in the gompa courtyard; sponsorship rotates among families. Mani Rimdu, the best-known festival for visitors, is held at Tengboche in October or November, at Thame in spring and at Chiwong in Solu in autumn. Dates follow the lunar calendar and change every year.

Visitors are welcome at most festival days. Dress warmly, sit where your guide suggests, keep your voice low during rituals and do not use flash photography.

Lodge menus are full of pancakes and pizza, but ask for Sherpa food and the kitchen will often cook it. Shyakpa is a thick stew of hand-torn noodles, potato, radish and sometimes yak meat, ideal on a cold evening. Riki kur are potato pancakes, grated and fried on a griddle, eaten with yak butter or a sour cheese called somar. Tsampa, roasted barley flour, is mixed with butter tea into a dough. Butter tea, solja, is salty, rich and very warming; Sherpa hosts refill your cup again and again. Chhang, a home-brewed barley or millet beer, is offered at festivals and weddings.

Meals in a Sherpa kitchen centre on the hearth, where the senior woman of the house usually cooks and serves. Guests sit on benches along the wall; the place nearest the hearth and altar is for honoured guests and elders, so wait to be shown where to sit.

Sherpa families are used to visitors, generous and good-humoured. A few habits make a real difference to how you are received.

• Greet people with tashi delek; say thuche che for thank you.
• Walk clockwise around chortens and gompas, and keep mani walls on your right.
• Remove shoes and hat before entering a prayer hall, and do not point your feet at the altar or at people.
• Ask before photographing monks, rituals or people; inside prayer halls, photography is usually not allowed.
• Leave a small donation in the box at monasteries you visit; NPR 100–500 is usual.
• Accept tea or food with both hands or with your right hand, not your left.
• Do not touch religious objects or sit on mani stones and prayer walls.
• Dress modestly in villages and monasteries, with shoulders and knees covered.