ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the Rai Shamans and new religious movements in Eastern Nepal. In Kirat group, the ritual texts, the oral tradition, and the knowledge of the shamans referred to as the muddhum or by similar terms in the respective local languages is generally said to be learned in dreams or visions from the guru. The chapter explains the Om Nanda, new in Kirat, which advocated the ancient, traditional type of Rai shamans and priests. It outlines the religious movements and their protagonists currently active among the Rai and provides us with the background when it later proceed to analyse the fields of conflict that open up, especially in relation to the ancient, traditional religious worldview of the Rai. It also explores the Dumi Rai group, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Influences in Nepal. Traditional shamans and village priests have always followed a very open and tolerant religious practice and tried to attract clients based on the quality of their performance.
