Deval

Devals or memorials to the dead are constructed by the close kins around the village. However, not every family builds a deval. While constructing a deval is an optional part of death rite among the Gurungs, there are others rituals which are religiously followed and is central to the Gurung identity. Within a year after the body has either been buried or cremated, a rite called 'pae lava' is held in which the spirit of the deceased is summoned and is treated to a feast and then guided away from the land of the living to the land of the dead. While the Gurungs traditionally have used their shamanistic priest (poju/klebri/jhakri) during the rite, Buddhist lamas are also being used these days.