Nepalese Hadicraft

Nepalese handicraft history can be traced back to the stone age when human beings were inadequate of tools of any kind. The history of artistic handicrafts only began during the 5th century AD, when different religions began to form their bases among the people of Nepal. Hence we see a lot of religious influence on Nepalese handicrafts. Introduced by the Nordic Aryans, mixed with different groups of Mongolians, nurtured by Buddhist and Hindu concepts adapted the taste of market. The historical development of Nepalese handicraft industry is very old although has its rise and falls. According to the reference found in Kautilya's Economics about various productions and exports from Nepal, during the time of Chandra Gupta Mouriya, in fourth century, Nepal was known for quality rainproof woollen blankets. The blankets were made of eight pieces joined together of black colour known as "bhiringisi" as well as "apasaraka". Similarly the good quality blankets are mentioned in the epics of Jain religion "Brihatakalpasutra Vhashya". Various famous Chinese travellers like Wanghunshe and Huansang in 648 AD have appreciated Nepalese arts and crafts and the skills of Nepalese craftsmen and artisans in their travelogues.
From the beginning up to the mid-nineteenth century, the rulers of the country promoted national industries and trade to various measures of production, promotion and encouragement. Saving national industry only imported commodities which were not produced locally. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Nepalese arts and crafts industry and the entire home based industries in general suffered a great deal due to the general liberal import policy of the government. Prior to the establishment of British regime over India and entering a peace treaty with Tibet in 1904 AD, Nepal was interpreted as the main route to Tibet for external trade with other countries. But the treaty of 1904 AD facilitated the British to open a new route between India and Tibet through Chumbic Valley and the trade route treaty of 1923 AD between Nepal and British India, which was not in favour of Nepal and had very unfavourable effects both on industries and on flourishing trade of the country.

Pashupatinath Temple

Pashupatinath Temple (Nepali: पशुपतिनाथको मन्दिर) is one of the biggest Hindu temples of Lord Shiva in the world, located on the banks of the Bagmati River in the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The temple served as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath, until Nepal was secularized The temple is listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.
Believers in Pashupatinath (mainly Hindus) are allowed to enter the temple premises. Anyone not born in Nepal or India is considered a non-Hindu by the temple authorities. Non-Hindu visitors are allowed to have a look at the temple from the other bank of Bagmati river.
It is regarded as the most sacred among the temples of Lord Shiva (Pashupati).


The temple was first established in the 17th century. The priests who perform the services at this temple have been Bhat-Brahmins from South India (Karnataka) origin since last 350 years. The priests of Pashaputinath are called Bhattas and the chief priest is called Mool Bhatt or Raval. The chief priest is answerable only to the King of Nepal and reports to him on temple matters on a periodic basis.
This tradition is supposed to have started by the request of Adi Shankaracharya who sought to unify the different states of Bharatam (Unified India) by encouraging cultural exchange. The unique feature of this temple is that only 4 priests can touch the idol. This tradition is supposed to have started by Sage Shankaracharya in 8th century, ostensibly to stop human sacrifice which was prevalent in that temple. This procedure is also followed in other temples around India which were sanctified by Adi Shankaracharya. Malla kings honoured the request of Adi shankarachaya as latter being one of the greatest ever Hindu acharyas.
However,this tradition was recently changed after the historic revolution in Nepal which demolished the monarchy and established democracy where Nepalese priests supported by the anti- Indian Maoists government.There was widespread protests by most Nepalese as they saw this as an intereference in their religion.

Chitwan National Park

Chitwan National Park is the first national park in Nepal. Formerly called Royal Chitwan National Park it was established in 1973 and granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. It covers an area of 932 km² and is located in the subtropical Inner Terai lowlands of south-central Nepal in the Chitwan district. In altitude it ranges from about 100 metres (330 ft) in the river valleys to 815 metres (2,674 ft) in the Churia Hills.
In the north and west of the protected area the Narayani-Rapti river system forms a natural boundary to human settlements. Adjacent to the east of Chitwan National Park is Parsa Wildlife Reserve, contiguous in the south is the Indian Tiger Reserve Valmiki National Park. The coherent protected area of 2,075 km² represents the Tiger Conservation Unit (TCU) Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki, which covers a 3,549 km² huge block of alluvial grasslands and subtropical moist deciduous forests.

Since the end of the 19th century Chitwan - Heart of the Jungle – used to be a favorite hunting ground for Nepal’s ruling class during the winter seasons. Until the 1950s, the journey from Kathmandu to Nepal’s South was arduous as the area could only be reached by foot. Thus, in an area known as Four Mile Forest (चार कोसे झाडी) comfortable camps were set up for the feudal big game hunters and their entourage, where they stayed for a couple of months shooting hundreds of tigers, rhinocerosses, leopards and sloth bears.

Migration In Nepal

Nepal is a country where industrial growth is limited, making land the most important economic asset. However, obtaining land in Nepal is far from easy. During the period of colonization, land in Nepal was more abundant and people could obtain large amounts of land (Shrestha). As time passed, the frontier land became occupied, which placed a higher price on scarce land (Shrestha).
In recent years, there has been a steady pattern of migration in Nepal from the hill and mountain regions to the Terai. The Terai is a fertile agricultural area along the southern border of Nepal. The 1981 Nepalese census indicated a pronounced shift from a mountain-rural to a plains-urban society (Goldstein; Ross; Schuler). Authors Hrabvoszky and Miyan call this change “The Great Turnabout”.
The population in the mountain regions of Nepal has exceeded the carrying capacity of the land. Therefore, people are moving to the more arable lands of the Terai. It is estimated that 60% of Nepal’s population is concentrated in the hill and mountain regions, while 60% of farmland is in the Terai (Shrestha). The migrants hope to make a better life for themselves by moving to the agricultural hub of the country. However, these migrants are having difficulty finding affordable land.
“The Great Turnabout” is causing a great deal of tension in the Terai. The region is experiencing ethnic tension between the plains and hill people. Furthermore, deforestation in the Terai is drastically reducing the country’s timber resources, and is also increasing soil erosion and flooding (Weiner). Finally, political leaders in Nepal feel the hill and mountain regions represent the cultural heartland of the country and they do not want to see these areas abandoned for the Terai.

Economy In Nepal

An isolated, agrarian society until the mid-20th century, Nepal entered the modern era in 1951 without schools, hospitals, roads, telecommunications, electric power, industry, or civil service. The country has, however, made progress toward sustainable economic growth since the 1950s and is committed to a program of economic liberalization.
Nepal has used a series of five-year plans in an attempt to make progress in economic development. It completed its ninth economic development plan in 2002; its currency has been made convertible, and 17 state enterprises have been privatized. Foreign aid accounts for more than half of the development budget. Government priorities over the years have been the development of transportation and communication facilities, agriculture, and industry. Since 1975, improved government administration and rural development efforts have been emphasized.
Agriculture remains Nepal's principal economic activity, employing 80% of the population and providing 37% of GDP. Only about 20% of the total area is cultivable; another 33% is forested; most of the rest is mountainous. Rice and wheat are the main food crops. The lowland Terai region produces an agricultural surplus, part of which supplies the food-deficient hill areas.

Agriculture in Nepal

In Nepal, the economy is dominated by agriculture. In the late 1980s, it was the livelihood for more than 90 percent of the population, although only approximately 20 percent of the total land area was cultivable, it accounted for, on average, about 60 percent of the GDP and approximately 75 percent of exports. Since the formulation of the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1975–80), agriculture has been the highest priority because economic growth was dependent on both increasing the productivity of existing crops and diversifying the agricultural base for use as industrial inputs.
According to the World Bank, agriculture is the main source of food, income, and employment for the majority.
In trying to increase agricultural production and diversify the agricultural base, the government focused on irrigation, the use of fertilizers and insecticides, the introduction of new implements and new seeds of high-yield varieties, and the provision of credit. The lack of distribution of these inputs, as well as problems in obtaining supplies, however, inhibited progress.Although land reclamation and settlement were occurring in the Tarai Region, environmental degradation and ecological imbalance resulting from deforestation also prevented progress.
Although new agricultural technologies helped increase food production, there still was room for further growth. Past experience indicated bottlenecks, however, in using modern technology to achieve a healthy growth. The conflicting goals of producing cash crops both for food and for industrial inputs also were problematic.

The Polluted River Bagmati

The Bagmati River (Nepal Bhasa:बागमती खुसी, Nepali: बागमती नदी) is a river of Nepal and India. It flows through the Kathmandu valley and is the river separating Kathmandu from Lalitpur. It is considered a holy river both by Hindus and Buddhists. A number of Hindu temples are located on the banks of this river.
The importance of Bagmati also lies in the fact that Hindus are cremated on the banks of this holy river, and Kirants are buried in the hills by its side. According to the Nepalese Hindu tradition, the dead body must be dipped three times into the Bagmati river before cremation. The chief mourner (usually the first son) who lights the funeral pyre must take a holy river-water bath immediately after cremation. Many relatives who join the funeral procession also take a bath in the Bagmati River or sprinkle the holy water on their bodies at the end of cremation. The Bagmati River is considered to purify the people spiritually.

Languages Spoken In Nepal

Languages

Nepal's diverse linguistic heritage evolved from four major language groups: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolian and various indigenous language isolates. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (48.61%), Maithili (12.30%), Bhojpuri (7.53%), Tharu (5.86%), Tamang (5.19%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (3.63%), Magar (3.39%), Awadhi (2.47%), Rai (2.79%), Limbu (1.47%), and Bajjika (1.05%).
Derived from Sanskrit, Nepali has roots in Sanskrit and is written in Devanagari script. Nepali is the official national language and serves as lingua franca among Nepalis of different ethnolinguistic groups. Regional dialects Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Maithili and rarely Hindi are spoken in the southern Terai Region. Many Nepalis in government and business speak English as well. Dialects of Tibetan are spoken in and north of the higher Himalaya where standard literary Tibetan is widely understood by those with religious education. Local dialects in the Terai and hills are mostly unwritten with efforts underway to develop systems for writing many in Devanagari or the Roman alphabet

Nepal's Environment

The dramatic differences in elevation found in Nepal result in a variety of biomes, from tropical savannas along the Indian border, to subtropical broadleaf and coniferous forests in the Hill Region, to temperate broadleaf and coniferous forests on the slopes of the Himalaya, to montane grasslands and shrublands and rock and ice at the highest elevations.
At the lowest elevations is the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion. These form a mosaic with the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, which occur from 500 to 1,000 metres (1,600 to 3,300 ft) and include the Inner Terai Valleys. Himalayan subtropical pine forests occur between 1,000 and 2,000 metres (3,300 and 6,600 ft).
Above these elevations, the biogeography of Nepal is generally divided from east to west by the Gandaki River. Ecoregions to the east tend to receive more precipitation and to be more species-rich. Those to the west are drier with fewer species.
From 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,900 to 9,800 ft), are temperate broadleaf forests: the eastern and western Himalayan broadleaf forests. From 3,000 to 4,000 metres (9,800 to 13,000 ft) are the eastern and western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests. To 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) are the eastern and western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows.

Traffic condition in Nepal

Nepal has seen a speedy growth in vehicles in conjunction with the increase in population and urban mobilization, which has resulted in high traffic volumes.As almost all the people have some kind of vehicle to travel thus there is a problem of traffic jam in Kathmandu couching delay in our work.This is the reason people are unable to reach there destination at time so usually people leave early for work. and also this has increased the number of road accidents.Number of people dying by this road accident.And the most of them are teenage. The Metropolitan Traffic Police Division is constantly striving to achieve safety on the roads. But that can be achieved only through public cooperation and goodwill.