Hanumandhoka

Hanuman Dhoka is the urban, social and religious central point of Kathamandu, Nepal. It is the former Royal Fortress of the Malla Kings and successively of the Shah Dynasty in Katmandu, Nepal. The palace has numerous complexes linked together taking up about five acres of land. Nevertheless, the eastern portion of the fortress was constructed in the middle of the sixteenth century and also it is the oldest wing of the fort and has ten courtyards.

In the seventeenth century King Pratap Malla expanded the original building, and added various place of worship. The north wing of the palace is also one of the oldest parts of the Fort which is called as the Sunadri Chowk and Mohan Chowk, which are now both closed.

The fortress was last resided in by the regal family until 1886, when the regal residence was moved to the Narayan Hitti Palace, which is in the northern part of Kathamandu. The old ancient fortress still has its ceremonial and ritual significance and the King of Nepal is crowned and various other ceremonies are enacted here.

Nevertheless, when you enter the fortress through the Hanuman Dhoka- Hanuman gate to the left of the fortress is a seventeenth century idol of Lord Hanuman. Hanuman service to lord Rama as illustrated in the holy book Ramayan has led to Hanuman standing at the entrance of the fortress guarding it. The idol of Lord Hanuman dates from 1672 and is wrapped by a red color cloth and has an umbrella over his head. Although the face of Lord Hanuman is further coated by a red paste put on by the visitors.

At the left is a fascinating statue of Lord Narsimha, the half man and the half lion incarnation of the Lord Vishnu, ripping apart devil Hiranyakasyap.

Basantapur Durbar Square

The Kathmandu Durbar Square holds the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city. Along with these palaces, the square also surrounds quadrangles revealing courtyards and temples. The square is presently known as Hanuman Dhoka, a name derived from the statue of Hanuman, the monkey devotee of Lord Ram, near the entrance of the palace. The preference for the construction of royal palaces at this site dates back to as early as the Licchavi period in the third century. Even though the present palaces and temples have undergone repeated and extensive renovations and nothing physical remains from that period, names like Gunapo and Gupo, which are the names referred to the palaces in the square in early scriptures, imply that the palaces were built by Gunakamadev, a king ruling late in the tenth century. When Kathmandu City became independent under the rule of King Ratna Malla (1484–1520) the palaces in the square became the royal palaces for its Malla kings. When Prithvi Narayan Shah invaded the Kathmandu Valley in 1769, he also favored the Kathmandu Durbar Square for his palace. Other subsequent Shah kings continued to rule from the square until 1896 when they moved to the Narayan Hiti Palace. However, the square is still the center of important royal events like the coronation of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1975 and King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah in 2001.

Though there are not any written archives stating the history of the Kathmandu Durbar Square, the construction of the palace in the square is credited to Sankharadev (1069–1083). As the first king of the independent Kathmandu City, Ratna Malla is said to have built a Taleju temple at the Northern side of the palace in 1501. For this to be true then the temple would have had to have been built in the vihara style as part of the palace premise surrounding the Mul Chok courtyard for no evidence of a separate structure that would match this temple can be found within the square.

The construction of the Karnel Chok is also not clearly stated in any historical inscriptions although it is probably the oldest among all the courtyards in the square. A Bhagavati Temple, originally known as a Narayan Temple, rises above the mansions surrounding it and was added during the time of Jagajaya Malla in the early eighteenth century. The Narayan idol within the temple was stolen so Prithvi Narayan Shah replaced it with an image of Bhagavati, completely transforming the name of the temple.

The oldest temples in the square are those built by Mahendra Malla (1560–1574). They are the temples of Jagannath, Kotilingeswara Mahadev, Mahendreswara, and the Taleju Temple. This three-roofed Taleju Temple was established in 1564, in a typical Newari architectural style and is elevated on platforms that form a pyramid-like structure. It is said that Mahendra Malla, when he was residing in Bhaktapur, was highly devoted to the Taleju Temple there; the Goddess being pleased with his devotion gave him a vision asking him to build a temple for her in the Kathmandu Durbar Square. Then with a help of a hermit, he designed the temple to give it its present form and the Goddess entered the temple in the form of a bee.

His successors Sadasiva (1575–1581), his son, Shiva Simha (1578–1619), and his grandson, Laxmi Narsingha (1619–1641), do not seem to have made any major additions to the square. During this period of three generations the only constructions to have occurred were the establishment of Degutale Temple dedicated to Goddess Mother Taleju by Shiva Simha and some enhancement in the royal palace by Laksminar Simha.

It was in the time of Pratap Malla, son of Laksminar Simha, that the square was extensively developed. He was an intellectual, a pious devotee, and he was especially interested in arts. He called himself a Kavindra, king of poets, and boasted that he was learned in fifteen different languages. A passionate builder, following his coronation as a king, he immediately began enlargements to his royal palace, and rebuilt some old temples and constructed new temples, shrines and stupas around his kingdom. there also took the massacre called Kot Parva where the queen, prime minister, head of the states,and other people with guards died. this massacre took place in the court yard inside the palace.

Hilly Region

Situated south of the Mountain Region, the Hill Region (Pahar in Nepali) is mostly between 700 and 4,000 metres (2,297 and 13,123 ft) altitude. This region begins at theMahabharat Range (Lesser Himalaya) where a fault system called the Main Boundary Thrust creates an escarpment 1,000 to 1,500 metres (3,281 to 4,921 ft) high, to a crest between 1,500 and 2,700 metres (4,921 and 8,858 ft). These steep southern slopes are nearly uninhabited, thus an effective buffer between languages and culture in the Terai and Hill regions. Northern slopes are gentler and moderately well populated.

North of this range, Nepali-speaking Hindus and Newar merchants who also speak Newari densely populate valleys suited to rice cultivation as high as 2,000 metres (6,562 ft). The increasingly urbanized Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys fall within this region. Indigenous janajati ethnic groups—natively speaking highly localized Tibeto-Burman languages and dialects—populate hillsides up to about 3,000 metres (9,843 ft). This group includes Magar and Kham Magar west of Pokhara, Gurung south of the Annapurnas, Tamang around the periphery of Kathmandu Valley and Rai and Limbu further east. Beyond microclimates suited to rice cultivation and proximity to water for irrigation, these cultivate maize, millet,barley and potatoes as staple crops. Temperate and subtropical fruits are grown as cash crops. Marijuana is grown and processed into Charas (hashish), but less than was produced before international pressure persuaded the government to outlaw it in 1976. There is increasing reliance on animal husbandry with elevation, using land above 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) for summer grazing and moving herds to lower elevations in winter. Outside the rice-growing lower valleys, hill populations suffer chronic food deficits. Many menfolk find employment in the Terai, in India or overseas to earn cash for imported grain. The Hill region ends dramatically where the main Himalayan Range abruptly rises thousands of meters. The Hil region of Nepals Mountains are importes grain.

Terai Region

The Terai or Madhesh region begins at the Indian border and includes the southernmost part of the flat, intensively farmed Gangetic Plain called the Outer Terai. This is culturally close to northern India with the people speaking Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Tharu, and Maithili along with Nepali.

The Outer Terai ends at the first range of foothills called the Siwaliks or Churia. This range has a densely forested skirt of coarse alluvium called the bhabhar along its base. Below the bhabhar, finer, less permeable sediments force groundwater to the surface in a zone of springs and marshes. In Persian, terai refers to wet or marshy ground. Before the use ofDDT it was dangerously infested with malaria. Nepal's rulers used it as a defensive frontier called the char kose jhadi (twelve kilometer forest)

Above the bhabhar belt, the Siwaliks rise to about 700 metres (2,297 ft) with peaks as high as 1,000 metres (3,281 ft), steeper on their southern flanks because of faults known as the Main Frontal Thrust. This range is composed of poorly consolidated, coarse sediments that do not retain water or support soil development so there is virtually no agricultural potential. Hillside vegetation is limited to scrub forest and the area functions as a deserted buffer zone allowing the development of distinctive cultures in valleys and hills further north.

In several places beyond the Siwaliks there are dun valleys called Inner Terai (Bhitri Madesh) with productive soil. Among these are Dang and Deukhuri in western Nepal and theRapti Valley (Chitwan) in central Nepal. Population in these valleys was historically limited by malaria and mainly of the Tharu ethnic group that has genetic resistance. Around 1960DDT came into use to suppress mosquitos and the way was open to settlement from the land-poor hills to the detriment of Tharus.

The Terai ends and the Hills begin at a higher range of foothills called the Mahabharat Range.

The Mountain Region

The Mountain Region or Parbat abruptly rises into the zone of perpetual snow along the Main Central Thrust fault zone. South of this fault system, "hills" do not greatly exceed treeline at about 3,500 metres (11,483 ft). North of it the Himalayas rise as a virtual wall beyond the snowline at 5,000 to 5,500 metres (16,404 to 18,045 ft) to some 90 peaks over 7,000 metres (22,966 ft) and eight exceeding 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) including Mount Everest at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) and Kanchenjunga at 8,598 metres (28,209 ft). Unlike the Mahabharats, the Himalaya are not continuous across Nepal. Instead there are about 25 subranges including the Kanchenjunga massif, Kumbuaround Mt. Everest. Langtang north of Kathmandu, Annapurna north of Pokhara and Dhaulagiri further west, thenKanjiroba north of Jumla.

The main watershed between the Brahmaputra (called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet) and the Ganges system (including all of Nepal) actually lies north of the highest ranges. Alpine, often semi-arid valleys—including Humla,Jumla, Dolpo, Mustang, Manang and Khumbu—cut between Himalayan subranges or lie north of them. Some of these valleys historically were more accessible from Tibet than Nepal and are populated by people with Tibetanaffinities called Bhotiya or Bhutia including the famous Sherpas in Kumbu valley near Mount Everest. With Chinese cultural hegemony in Tibet itself, these valleys have become repositories of traditional ways. Valleys with better access from the hill regions to the south are culturally linked to Nepal as well as Tibet, notably the Kali Gandaki Gorge where Thakali culture shows influences in both directions.

Permanent villages in the mountain region stand as high as 4,500 metres (14,764 ft) with summer encampments even higher. These peoples traditionally grazed yaks, grew cold-tolerant crops such as potatoes, barley, buckwheat and millet, and traded across the mountains, e.g., Tibetan salt for rice from lowlands in Nepal and India. Since trade was restricted in the 1950s they have found work as high altitude porters, guides, cooks and other accessories to tourism and alpinism.

Sagarmatha

Including the highest point on the Earth’s Surface, Mount Sagarmatha (Everest; 8,848 m) and an elevation range of 6,000 m Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) covers an area of 124,400 hectares in the Solu-Khumbu district of Nepal. An exceptional area with dramatic mountains, glaciers, deep valleys and seven peaks other than Mount Sagarmatha over 7,000 m the park is home to several rare species such as the snow leopard and the red panda. A well-known destination for mountain tourism SNP was gazetted in 1976 and with over 2,500 Sherpa people living within the park has combined nature and culture since its inception. 

Encompassing the infinitely majestic snow capped peaks of the Great Himalayan Range, the chain of mountains including the world’s highest Mt. Sagarmatha (Everest) and extensive Sherpa settlements that embody the openness of SNP to the rest of the world. The carefully preserved natural heritage and the dramatic beauty of the high, geologically young mountains and glaciers were recognized by UNESCO with the inscription of the park as a world heritage site in 1979. The property hosts over 20 villages with over 6000 Sherpas who have inhabited the region for the last four centuries. Continuing their traditional practice of cultural and religion including the restriction of animal hunting and slaughtering, and reverence of all living beings. These practices combined with indigenous natural resource management practices, have been major contributing factors to the successful conservation of the SNP. 

The constantly increasing numbers of tourists visiting the property, 3,600 visitors in 1979 to over 25000 in 2010, has immensely boosted the local economy and standard of living with better health, education, and infrastructure facilities. One initiative of SNP has been to implement a buffer zone (BZ) program to enhance protection and management of the property and was motivated by a desire to enhance conservation in combination with improved socio-economic status of the local communities through a revenue plough back system. The SNP area is also the major source of glaciers, providing freshwater-based benefits for the people downstream. In addition to conservation of the values of the property a priority of the park is to monitor the impacts of global warming and climate change on flora, fauna and Sherpa communities. 

· ARATI DANCE In Villages

The meaning of Arati is a kind of special presented pray which shown by oil lamp before start the program that called "Arati" in Hinduism. Once upon a time of golden age, this dance is dedicated to "Nataraj". According to the Hindu's Philosophy [Shiva Puraaon], the meaning of Nataraj is period of dancing by Lord God "SHIVA"; [the internment period of Lord God SHIVA]. Therefore in Hindu's Culture Society, people want to present first Ariti with the dance of Natraj before start the program. In this dance light will be put off and dancer will come with candle light in their hand.

Nepali Culture Program

The folk dances of Nepal are the visible rhythmic expressions of joys and beliefs of Nepalese rural folks. Most Nepali folk dance has the wonderful themes of love and courtship, everyday life, happiness and sadness, and often a lot of good-natured teasing.

Dancers, both men and women, wear traditional Himalayan costumes that are colorful and have elaborate jewelry and hair ornaments. And such folk dance gets even more pleasing when dancer are children.

In Kathmandu, the devout light oil lamps at Boudhanath, a stupa patterned on a mandala design. Buddhists walk around the sacred monuments clockwise, the same direction a prayer wheel spins.

The Krishna temple on the west side of Patan's Darbar square was built in 1637. Legend says that it was built because of a dream. One night, King Siddhi Narasigh Malla dreamt that the gods Krishna and Radha were standing in front of the palace. The King ordered a temple built on the same spot. During a war with a neighboring kingdom a decade lator, the King emerged victorious after calling on Krishna to vanquish his enemies. In gratitude, the King built a replica of the temple inside the Sundari Chauk courtyard.

The Krishna temple is built in the Shikhara style, imported from India. Beneath its 21 golden pinnacles are three floors. The first floor enshrines Krishna, the second Shiva, and the third Lokeshwor. Scenes from the Ramayana narrated in Newari script decorate the interior of the temple.

The temple is managed by local Brahmins and is still used.

The surface of Rara Lake is around 8 square kilometer and the perimeter 9 kilometer. The length of the lake is 5 kilometers and it is 2 kilometers wide, the altitude around 3060 meter and the max. depth is 167 meter.

Rara is an unique spot in Nepal. The lake is situated in the Rara National Park and because of its remote location and the violence/threat of the Maoists the lake has been visited by only few tourist in the last couple of years. Only in the second half of 2006 the situation improved and foreign visitors do not need to pay the high fee of around $100 per person to the Maoist anymore.
Rara was declared a National Park in 1975 following the order to protect the lake by King Mahendra after his 1964 visit.

About NEPAL

                                                          

                                                          INTRODUCTION

A landlocked country in South Asia, Nepal stands bordered by China in the north and India in the south, east and west. The country, which was initially a monarchy, is now a Federal Democratic Republic, through an Interim Parliamentary bill passed by on 28^th December 2007. A multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-religious country, Nepal boasts of a varied landscape, ranging from Terai plains in the south to mountainous Himalayas in the north.

The official language is Nepali. Apart from that, English and a number of other languages are also spoken. Nepali is constitutionally recognized as the official language. Hindus (80 per cent) and Buddhist (10 per cent) are the two predominant religious groups, followed by Muslims, Jains and Christians

Nepal is among the least developed countries in the world, with almost one-quarter of its population living below the poverty line but interestingly, the only country in world whose national flag is not quadrilateral in shape. Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, is located in Nepal and tourism is key in earning foreign income. Eight of the highest peaks of the world are situated in Nepal. Mount Everest (8,848 meters), the highest peak in the world, forms the highest point in Nepal.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for three-quarters of the Nepali people and accounting for about 1/3 of GDP. Nepal has a considerable scope for exploiting its potentials for hydropower, with an estimated 42, ooo MW of feasible capacity, but political instability hampers foreign investment. Additional challenges to the country’s growth include technological challenges, landlocked geographical location, civil strife and unrest and its susceptibility to natural disasters. Poverty is rampant especially in rural areas, gender disparities; unemployment, HIV/AIDS, child mortality and health related changes are key development constraints.