Syaisyai as an Institution for Creating Solidarity: Death Rite Passage and Kin Roles in the Gurung Community Dr. Prakash Upadhyay* Abstract The funerary ritual is the main ceremonial occasion of the Gurungs attended by kin for Syaisyai sociability and interaction meant for expressing support to bereaved family. The key argument of this paper is that this system of kin interaction is discrete entity with distinct needs and impulses contributing to demands of social cohesion and recognition of identity within kin network and the community. Embedded with three major theoretical paradigms--French sociological and anthropological school, British functionalism and Parsonian structural-functionalism, the objective of this paper is to examine multiple aspects of the Gurung death rite and kin roles in Syaisyai for creating social cohesion. Methodologically, the study adopted a qualitative descriptive study design with 60 migrant Gurung households as study universe. Data collection methods were observation, key-informant and household head interviews. Death rite has been a means of creating reciprocal relationship between the living and dead through Syaisyai which stands as an institution for uniting the kin through different exchanges, wishes and forms of assistance. The bond between giver and gift, and the act of exchanges between kin creating a social bond crystallized by patterns of behavior and attitudes amid economic conflicts affirm that any institutional system may never be fully homogeneous. The ritual praxis of Syaisyai fulfils restorative function against crisis of death, dilutes chaos and returns to the primordial scene of hominization reaffirming the unity of ‘I’ with the ‘We’. Such praxis of Syaisyai exchanges build systemic patterns and construct it as an institution based on Durkheimian mechanical solidarity for creating sensitivity to Parsonian ‘societal needs’, and constructing new collectivities of kin network and behavioral patterns directed to the upholding of community goals of solidarity and stability in a changed urban context. Keywords: anglicisation, death pollution, institutionalization, primordial, inalienable, cultural apocalypses Prelude Gurung also called Tamu-mae, an ethnic group of Nepal, is a part of multi ethnic and multilingual Nepal. It is one of major ethnic groups of Nepal with a total population of 3,25,622, of which 1.1 Million speak Gurung language (CBS, 2011) . Historically, they have their traditional homeland in southern hill slopes of the Annapurna Himalayan range of central Nepal mainly in Gandaki region of western Nepal. Macfarlane (1976) has claimed that almost certainly many thousand years ago their ancestors lived in the high mountain of western China and their language is still variation of Chinese and Tibetan. Pignede (1966) state that Gurungs have their language, cultures, rites and dresses with Rodi as a major social institution. Messerschmidt (1976) has considered Gurungs for their internal social cohesion and unity and for ability to work well together in a variety of chores despite of having differences in the economic and political conditions between persons. They have a fabulous military career in Nepal, Indian and British armies and hence possess a unique Lahure Culture (career in foreign army). There is a long history of Gurungs explained in their traditional religious text called Pye-Tan Lhu-Tan, on which different customs, traditions and rites are based on. According to Pye-Tan Lhu- Tan, Gurung (Tamu) refers to the very beginning of civilization, more than eight or nine thousand years ago. It acquaints with different types of rites of passage which Gurungs need to tag along. * Prakash Upadhyay holds PhD. in Anthropology from Tribhuvan University. He is an associate professor in Anthropology at the Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara, TU.