Visiting Nepal .com

Menstruation, (the biological process of female body) is considered as a part of culture and cultural taboo especially among some of the ethnic group in traditional Nepalese society. The menstruated period is widely known as Nachhuni or Para Sareko or Pancheko in Nepali. Elaboration of some of the instances of perceiving menstruation as a culture and cultural taboo in some of the ethnic groups is quite interesting.

Traditionally subsistence farmers, the Thakalis have cashed in on the trekking boom since the 1960s by establishing many small hotels along the main routes of the Annapurna region. They have had a virtual monopoly on the lucrative trade and have developed a keen business sense.

In a kingdom bordered by countries famed for their food since ancient times, one would expect Nepal to have developed an excellent characteristic cuisine.

“What is Nepali food ?”- Not an unsual question for a first time visitor to Nepal, but, surprisingly. Ofter heard from second or third time visitors as well. For this is a country where more than ninety percent of the people are engaged in agriculture , primarily food production, where food is a focus of nearly every  festival, as offerings to elders or gods. In a kingdom bordered by countries famed for their food since ancient times, one would expect Nepal to have developed an excellent characteristic cuisine.

It has, but to be fair, perhaps the question should be rephrased” “What is Nepali ?” Try it . Ask a Nepali and you will find there in lies the difficulty of defining Nepali food.

Silver Beads
Every traveler to Nepal is captured by shop windows full of silver and gold bangles, earrings, ritual objects, chains and finger rings twinkling in the sunlight . There is so much to admire; the eyes and the senses seem to be o overload. Then one sees little saucers of silver beads. How curious !

The trail of silver beads in Nepal leads through at least three countries – Nepal, Tibet and India – and spans several centuries. Since the 8th or 9th century, Kathmandu was just a crossroads holding a prominent position on the trade routes between India and Tibet. For almost as many years, the Newar gold and silversmiths of Patan (Lalitpur) were the fashioners of much of the Nepalese and Tibetan jewellery and religious objects.

Ihi is one of Newar’s most significant ritual which protects every Newari woman’s right of re-marrying and becoming and becoming possible widow.

Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal is in fact, the dwelling city of Newars, one of the major and ancient ethnic group of Nepal. Most of the country’s culture and architectural heritages are dominated by Newari influence which is matter of pride for all Newars. More then seventy five percent population of Kathmandu is captured by Newars. Newars are the inhabitants of Kathmandu from time immemorial who hae their own language and rich culture.

Janakpur , a city in Nepal’s eastern Terai, is a Hindu pilgrimage site with a legendary history, and is the center of Mithila culture in Nepal. It is an age old culture with its own language and rich literature where women have had a predominant role in the field of painting, as well as handicraft.

The gods are on the one hand, the demons on the other , representing good and evil; they are two radical opposing forces in Hindu mythology who have been fighting ever since the beginning of creation itself. In each drama the gods emerge as victors, the demons get vanquished, and the dancers have worn masks to stage these dramas. Wearing a mask makes a person a god, another a devil, and this is where the drama gets enacted amid the roaring sound of drums and cymbals.