ABSTRACT
In the Helambu and Langtang area, and elsewhere, wherever Hyolmo and Tamang people live, these ritual specialists are called bombo. While the term seems to reconnect them to the Tibetan Bon, their practices are undoubtedly different from the various monastic Bön traditions. Benjamin Bogin, in his study on the Yolmo Tulku Tenzin Norbu, found an interesting piece of writing in defence of the matted hair of the tantric priests. This hairstyle, contrasting sharply with the shaved head of the ordained monk, is an important sign and symbol of the ngakpa: “The unaltered hair – dread-locks – and undyed cloth of white are the signs of not being contrived and therefore are the marks of the ngakpa or yogin”. The symbol of the matted hair is consistent with the ideas of spiritual powers and liminality, traits that ascetics, tantric adepts and shamans certainly share to a certain degree in relation to social norms and conventions, styles of life, and ritual practices.
