Malana Village administration is democratic and is assumed, by locals, to be the oldest republic of the world. The social formation of Malana in fact rests on people’s unbroken faith in their powerful holy being, Jamblu Devta. The whole administration of the Malana Village is controlled by him through a village committee. This committee has eleven members and they are supposed as delegates of Jamblu who rule the village in his name. His decision is final in any dispute and any outsider authority is not at all required. Malana has been also named as Athens of Himalayas.
Malanis (the residents of Malana) admire their traditions, society and religious beliefs. They usually do not like to modify though some traces of upgrading are visible.
People in Malana consider all non-Malani to be lesser and consequently untouchable. Visitors to Malana town must give particular attention to stick to the arranged paths and not to touch any of the walls, houses or citizens there. If this does happen, guests are expected to pay a sacrifice sum, that will cover the sacrificial slaughter of a lamb in order to sanitize the object
that has been made impure. The visitors are also ready to sign a letter of consent stating that whatever thing that happens in the village of Malana shall be sorted by the village administration and no other jurisdiction can interfere in the process. Malani citizens may touch impure people or houses as long as they follow the arranged purification ritual before they enter their house or before they consume. Malanis may never allow food cooked by a non-Malani person, except they are out of the valley (in which case their Devta can't see them). Malanis may offer visitors food but all utensils will have to undergo a severe purification ritual before they can be used yet again. This is also seen as a method used by the people of Malana to protect their vested interest in the hashish manufacture / marijuana fields in the mountains above their village, since Malana Cream and other popular, yet expensive varieties of the drug come from this part of India alone.
Even though being a part of the Kullu valley, there is a myth that the Malanis have very different physical features, and a tongue which is different from the rest of the valley. However, in the valleys of Himachal Pradesh, there are a major number of distinct Pahadi dialects, some of them completely different from each other. Hence the physical and lingual individuality cannot be proven, given the inaccessibility of the Malana people, except for the trade of Marijuana or Hashish in the Parvati valley.
There are different legends about their origin. According to one of them, it is supposed that they are the children of Greek soldiers of Alexander's army. As the legend goes, some soldiers took shelter in this remote land after Alexander left the country and later settled there permanently. This myth is however uncertain because there are those who say that it is the valley of Kalash, in Pakistan that is in fact the area in which Alexander the Great's soldiers took shelter.
According to reliable sources, the legend of the Greek starting point comes from the Malanese people having a lower house and upper house system. This scheme was observed by someone who co-related this system with the system of authority followed in Greece, and hence created the legend. Their language is called Hamskad and is the native tongue of Kinnore.
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| Malana Village |
People in Malana consider all non-Malani to be lesser and consequently untouchable. Visitors to Malana town must give particular attention to stick to the arranged paths and not to touch any of the walls, houses or citizens there. If this does happen, guests are expected to pay a sacrifice sum, that will cover the sacrificial slaughter of a lamb in order to sanitize the object
that has been made impure. The visitors are also ready to sign a letter of consent stating that whatever thing that happens in the village of Malana shall be sorted by the village administration and no other jurisdiction can interfere in the process. Malani citizens may touch impure people or houses as long as they follow the arranged purification ritual before they enter their house or before they consume. Malanis may never allow food cooked by a non-Malani person, except they are out of the valley (in which case their Devta can't see them). Malanis may offer visitors food but all utensils will have to undergo a severe purification ritual before they can be used yet again. This is also seen as a method used by the people of Malana to protect their vested interest in the hashish manufacture / marijuana fields in the mountains above their village, since Malana Cream and other popular, yet expensive varieties of the drug come from this part of India alone.
Even though being a part of the Kullu valley, there is a myth that the Malanis have very different physical features, and a tongue which is different from the rest of the valley. However, in the valleys of Himachal Pradesh, there are a major number of distinct Pahadi dialects, some of them completely different from each other. Hence the physical and lingual individuality cannot be proven, given the inaccessibility of the Malana people, except for the trade of Marijuana or Hashish in the Parvati valley.
There are different legends about their origin. According to one of them, it is supposed that they are the children of Greek soldiers of Alexander's army. As the legend goes, some soldiers took shelter in this remote land after Alexander left the country and later settled there permanently. This myth is however uncertain because there are those who say that it is the valley of Kalash, in Pakistan that is in fact the area in which Alexander the Great's soldiers took shelter.
According to reliable sources, the legend of the Greek starting point comes from the Malanese people having a lower house and upper house system. This scheme was observed by someone who co-related this system with the system of authority followed in Greece, and hence created the legend. Their language is called Hamskad and is the native tongue of Kinnore.
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