Malana - a village outside world, but not time
The village is located in the Himalayas and more specifically in the Parvati Valley. It has about 2,500 souls, and is believed to have existed for 1,500 years. In popular belief, the villagers are said to be descendants of Alexander the Great's soldiers. It is forbidden to touch them because of their caste and their beliefs, they make hash for the whole world, have their own god, their own language and their own democratic system.
The organizational system and democracy of the village is ancestral and can easily be considered primitive. It consists of a total freedom of the individual. If a conflict emerges in the village, the board members - selected earlier unanimously by the villagers - get together, get closer to their god and decide the outcome of the situation. This is the democracy of supreme confidence and because here a word is a word, the population has never felt the need for a formal education till recently.
Sexual practices and marital traditions are also unique. Polygamy - for men - is a practice tolerated and still very common today. Some men in the village have three or four women at the same time. Remarriages are also quite common. A man still alive was married 15 times throughout his life, and another young fellow, who is now 23 years old, was married three times and is now single. But everyone is free to live his life as he feels, and when some experience countless partners, others will marry only once, and will remain alone until the end of their lives, after the death of their soul mate.
It is unique in that it has had no contact with the rest of the world until forty years ago when the first white foot set there. Marijuana grows here like weeds and has always been used by these people as a psychotropic, but also as a medicine or clothing substance. Before the arrival of this westerner who told villagers how to make Jaras (hashish) - clean and appropriate to the international market - it was never a question of making trade. Gradually the Indian government realized traffic and thus for the first time the village was connected to the country's administration.
These quick and abrupt changes put Malana village in a wobbly environment, between traditions and modernization. Since then, it's a new era for the village, the arrival of money, a totally new concept, and gradually television, satellite, mobile phones, and 10 years ago, the road. Whereas before the arrival of this road, young men (and only men) had never had any contact with civilization, they now regularly descend into the valley and even go well beyond, mostly for fun.
Boris Le Montagner
Read MoreThe organizational system and democracy of the village is ancestral and can easily be considered primitive. It consists of a total freedom of the individual. If a conflict emerges in the village, the board members - selected earlier unanimously by the villagers - get together, get closer to their god and decide the outcome of the situation. This is the democracy of supreme confidence and because here a word is a word, the population has never felt the need for a formal education till recently.
Sexual practices and marital traditions are also unique. Polygamy - for men - is a practice tolerated and still very common today. Some men in the village have three or four women at the same time. Remarriages are also quite common. A man still alive was married 15 times throughout his life, and another young fellow, who is now 23 years old, was married three times and is now single. But everyone is free to live his life as he feels, and when some experience countless partners, others will marry only once, and will remain alone until the end of their lives, after the death of their soul mate.
It is unique in that it has had no contact with the rest of the world until forty years ago when the first white foot set there. Marijuana grows here like weeds and has always been used by these people as a psychotropic, but also as a medicine or clothing substance. Before the arrival of this westerner who told villagers how to make Jaras (hashish) - clean and appropriate to the international market - it was never a question of making trade. Gradually the Indian government realized traffic and thus for the first time the village was connected to the country's administration.
These quick and abrupt changes put Malana village in a wobbly environment, between traditions and modernization. Since then, it's a new era for the village, the arrival of money, a totally new concept, and gradually television, satellite, mobile phones, and 10 years ago, the road. Whereas before the arrival of this road, young men (and only men) had never had any contact with civilization, they now regularly descend into the valley and even go well beyond, mostly for fun.
Boris Le Montagner
