Malana, Himachal Pradesh

Village in India

According to local legends, Jamlu rishi (sage) inhabited this place and made rules and regulations. The locals claim it was one of the oldest democracies of the world, with a well organized parliamentary system, guided by their devta (deity) Jamlu rishi. Although Jamlu is currently identified with a sage from the Puranas, this is a relatively recent development. Jamlu is believed to have been worshipped in pre Aryan times. Penelope Chetwood recounts a tale about an orthodox Brahmin priest, who visited Malana, and tried to educate the locals about the pedigree of their god, and what subsequently befell the hapless priest. Malana has been called ‘one of the oldest democracies’ in the world. The villagers believe that they are descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great who got stranded here on account of injuries. A dam project, the Malana Hydro Power Station, has brought Malana much closer to the rest of the world and provides revenue for the region. A new road has shortened the walking time from several days to just 4 hours. The Hydro Malana Project has also ruined the beauty of the valley. On 5 January 2008, a raging fire in the village, which burnt for more than 5 hours, destroyed cultural structures and parts of ancient temples located in the village. In 2017, the village ordered the closure of approximately a dozen guest houses and restaurants, ostensibly on the orders of the deity Jamlu. which is understood only by the villagers. "Kanashi, the language of Malana, does not resemble any of the dialects spoken in its neighbourhood but seems to be a mixture of Sanskrit and several Tibetan dialects." Ethnologue classifies Malana as a Tibetan Burmese language, rather than as a member of the Indo European languages, and notes that Kanashi has no intelligibility with any Tibeto Burman language of Kinnaur" Beginning in the 1980s, Malana became a destination for recreational drug tourism. Despite being a part of the Kullu valley, there is a myth that the Malanis have very distinct physical features, and a dialect which is different from the rest of the valley. However, in the valleys of Himachal, there are a significant number of distinct Pahadi dialects, some of them totally different from each other. Hence the physical/lingual uniqueness cannot be proven, given the inaccessibility of the Malana people, except for the trade of Marijuana / Hashish in the Parvati valley.

The social structure of Malana in fact rests on villagers' unshaken faith in their powerful deity, Jamblu Devta. The entire administration of the village is controlled by him through a village council. This council has eleven members and they are believed to be delegates of Jamblu who govern the village in his name. His decision is ultimate in any dispute and any outsider authority is never required. Thus Malana has been named the Athens of the Himalayas. Jamlu is invoked through a villager serving as an oracle. The deity Jamalu is known as Rishi Jamdagni.

There are various legends about their origin. According to one of them, it is believed that they are the descendants of Greek soldiers of Alexander's army. As the legend goes, some soldiers took refuge in this remote land after Alexander left the country and later settled there permanently. This myth is however disputed because there are those who claim that it is the valley of Kalash, in Pakistan that is actually the area in which Alexander the Great's soldiers took refuge. This legend is also inconsistent with the legendary descent of the local people from Indo Aryans who would pre date Alexander the Great's soldiers by approximately a thousand years. Recent genetic typing of the Malani population is much more consistent with an Indo Aryan origin with a large proportion of Y DNA haplotypes J2 and R1a which are the haplotypes of majority of Indians, North or South in South Asia rather than with a Greek origin which would have a different characteristic mix of Y DNA haplotypes such as R2b. In order to make Malana Cream the live cannabis flower is rubbed between the hands repeatedly, pulling out the resin to generate a layer of sticky hashish across the palm.