Mother-Creator

Lepcha (Sikkim/Mun religion) supreme creatress, classed as deity. The element 'rum' = god/deity in Lepcha (distinct from 'mun', the shaman/priest). Her name is variously transcribed Itbu-moo, Itbu-rum, It-Bu-Mu, or (in Gorer/colonial sources) Aitbu Deburoom. Some accounts pair her with a male principle (Tashe-tong / Da-mool); in others she creates alone.

Children

• First Shaman
• First Man
• First Woman

Domains

• creation
• earth and heavens

Powers

• fashion the first humans from mountain snow
• create the first Mun/Bongthing to defend humankind

Epithets

• Itbu-moo

Relations

• ancestor of: First Man
• ancestor of: First Woman
• ancestor of: First Shaman

Sources

• 'Lepchas', Encyclopedia.com (Encyclopedia of World Cultures), accessed June 2026
• Siiger, Halfdan. 'The Lepchas: Culture and Religion of a Himalayan People' (Copenhagen: National Museum of Denmark, 1967)
• Gorer, Geoffrey. 'Himalayan Village: An Account of the Lepchas of Sikkim' (London: Michael Joseph, 1938)