National parks

A national park is a reserve of natural or semi-natural land, declared or owned by a government, set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, animal and environmental protection and restricted from most development. While ideas for national parks had been suggested previously, what is held to be the first one established was the United States' Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas, has defined National Parks as its category II type of protected areas. The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park, which was established in 1974. According to the IUCN, there are about 7000 national parks worldwide (2010 figure)

info Nepal

Nepal's acronym of Never Ending Peace And Love, does well to characterize this nation of good natured and accommodating people; a land of majestic Himalayan scenery comprising eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Mt Everest: the uppermost place on earth at 29,029ft (8,848m).

Situated between India and Tibet, the Kingdom of Nepal is filled with many different ethnic groups, customs and traditions reflected in a wonderfully diverse geography.

Spread across these varied altitudes are communities of colorful cultures and people (many untouched by modern development), animated cities and towns, and far-flung mountain villages. Life here revolves around an intricate intermingling of ancient Hindu and Buddhist religious rituals. Numerous festivals are celebrated throughout the year colored by a diversity of religious and tribal traditions. The capital of Kathmandu brings an assortment of these different societies together into a vibrant collection of brilliant sights and exotic smells, with modern shops co-existing with street sellers, while pyramidal Buddhist temples, holy Sadhus of the Hindu faith and medieval palace squares fill the urban landscape.

Nepal has many attractions, but the essence of the country is its smiling, friendly people with their heartfelt palm-pressed greetings, and together with its inspiring scenery, this beguiling kingdom is a place where one visit is usually not enough to satisfy the captivated traveller. Find cheap Flights to Nepal with Cheapflights.

Nepal at Glance

LOCATION: It borders with the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China in the North and India in the East, South and West respectively.

AREA: 147,181 sq. kilometers.

ALTITUDE: Varies from 70 meters to 8848 meters.

CAPITAL: Kathmandu.

POPULATION: 1,84,91,097

LANGUAGE: Nepali is the national language of Nepal. Educated people understand and speak English as well.

TIME: Nepal Time is 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT and 15 minutes ahead of Indian standard time.

Tourism

Tourism is a good source of income of lots of countries over the parts of the world. In this 21st century the use of modern facilities and other infrastructure is better to attract more number of tourist. Nepal is also a country good for tourism.

The activities include climbing, mountain flight, trekking, rafting in trepid mountaining rivers, mountain biking, paragliding, jungle safari, hiking, village tour, hot air ballooning etc. Tourism provides the single largest source of foreign exchange for the country’s development plants and the largest source of employment besides agriculture. Nepal collects over $60 million in revenue from tourism each year, which is the largest income of this country.

When to visit

In spring and autumn the weather is generally mild and dry. These are the most popular times for trekking in Nepal. March, April and may are the most colourful months - with wild flowers in full bloom throughout the lower lying areas. September, October and November are also excellent months.

During the winter, December, January and February, there is usually lots of snow, and the ice-cold winds restrict trekking to lower regions and sheltered valleys. But there are fewer trekkers at this time of year - so you feel more like a true explorer!

Summer, June, July and August, is the rainy season. Most of Nepal is drenched by the Monsoon. Visibility can be restricted, and trekking can be difficult. On the plus side - you'll have the place pretty much to yourself!

How to get there

You can fly directly to Kathmandu from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, Amsterdam, Moscow, Osaka, Shanghai, Bangkok, Hongkong, Sharjah, Dubai, Dhaka, Karachi, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Paro, Lhasa, Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Calcutta, and Varanasi .

You will require a visa to enter Nepal. These are usually granted for 60 days and are obtained on arrival at Kathmandu Airport. You can save time by filling in the visa-form during the flight (the flight attendants have them). You will need two additional passport photographs for the visa.

Currency

You will need Nepalese Rupees as soon as you arrive. You are not allowed to bring them with you from abroad, so you will be expected to purchase them at one of the currency exchange kiosks within the airport. You will be given a receipt showing how many Rupees you have bought. You will need the receipt to re-exchange any unspent Rupees when you leave. You can also purchase Nepalese Rupees from banks, hotels and licenced money-changers. You may also be offered the "chance" to buy them (at much better rates) on the streets. This is illegal and should not be considered as an option.

Visitors other than Indian nationals are required to pay for their trekking permits and hotel bills in foreign currency.

Credit debit cards

American Express, MasterCard and Visa are accepted in tourist shops, hotels, restaurants and most of the agencies.

Travellers cheques: Accepted at banks and major hotels. If trekking, it is important to bear in mind that cash is necessary at lodges, restaurants and hotels along your route. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are advised to take travellers cheques in US Dollars or Pounds Sterling.

Health

A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required of travellers arriving from infected areas. Cholera is a serious risk in Nepal and precautions are essential. Up-to-date advice should be sought before deciding whether these precautions should include vaccination, as medical opinion is divided over its effectiveness. Typhoid is common in low lying areas. Malaria is a risk in low lying areas. Neither of these are considered as problem in the high mountains.

All water should be regarded as being potentially contaminated. Water used for drinking, brushing teeth or making ice should have first been boiled or otherwise sterilised.

Milk is unpasteurised and should be boiled. Powdered or tinned milk is available and is advised, but make sure that it is reconstituted with pure water. Avoid dairy products which are likely to have been made from unboiled milk. Only eat well-cooked meat and fish, preferably served hot. Vegetables should be cooked and fruit peeled.

Altitude sickness can be a hazard for trekkers, so it is important to be in good health before travelling.

Mystic Nepal

Nepal, the birthplace of deities, the home of the legendary Gurkhas and hospitable people with exotic culture is known as a federal repulican of Nepal.

The Word Nepal resembles Never Ending Peace and Love. The tiny Himalayan country of Nepal is located between India and China in South East Asia. Nepal is the home of the historic cities, the world's deepest canyon, the most challenging trekking trails and eight of ten highest peaks including Mount Everest along with the world's most endangered species like one-horned Rhinoceros and Royal Bengal tiger. It is also the historical birthplace of Lord Buddha.

It is consider as the country with more temples than houses and more gods and goddesses than the people who live here. We can count more festivals than the number of days in this unique country. There are ten World Heritage Sites, out of which seven cultural sites are located within a distance of 20 km. inside Kathmandu valley namely Boudhanath Stupa, Swyambhunath Stupa, Kathmandu Darbar Square, Bhaktapur Darbar Square, Patan Darbar Square, Changu Narayan Temple and Pashupatinath Temple. The eighth cultural site is Lumbini The birth place of lord Buddha. The rest of the two are natural world heritage sites, which are as Chitwan National Park and Sagarmatha National Park. In addition it is also the home of Living Goddess Kumari.

The culture, traditional arts and heritage dates back to more than thousand years. The wide mosaic of races and ethnic groups have given this country a distinct character and culture of her own, which was hidden from the western world until the mid-19th century.

Culture of Nepal

The rich cultural heritageof the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, has evolved over centuries. This multi-dimensional cultural heritage encompasses within itself the cultural diversities of various ethnic, tribal, andsocial groups inhabiting different altitudes, and it manifests in various forms:music and dance; art andcraft; folklores andfolktales; languages andliterature; philosophy andreligion; festivals andcelebrations; and foodsand drinks.

Dance and music

Legends state that dances in the Indian subcontinent originated in the abode of Lord Shiva - the Himalayas and the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal - where he performed the tandava dance. This indicates that dance traditions of Nepal are of very ancient origin. With altitudes and ethnicity, the dances of Nepal slightly change in style as well as in the dancecostumes. Accompanying music and musical instruments also change in tune with the themes, which revolve around topics like harvesting of crops, marriage rites, war stories, a lonely girl’s yearning for her love, and several other themes and stories from everyday life in the villages.

Languages and literatures

As per 2001 census, at least 92 different living languages are spoken in Nepal, though other studies list 123 living languages. Nepal’s linguistic heritage has evolved from three major language groups, namely,Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, and indigenous. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (49%), Maithili (12%),Bhojpuri (8%), Tharu (6%), Tamang (5%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (4%),Magar (3%), Awadhi (2%), Bantawa (2%), Limbu (1%), and Bajjika (1%). The remaining languages are each spoken as mother tongue by less than one percent of the population, for example Dura. Nepali, written inDevanagari script, is the official, national language and serves as lingua franca among Nepalese of different ethno-linguistic groups. In the southernTerai Region, (5 to 10 mile wide stretch of flat plains, which is a northward continuation of Gangetic plains of India), Hindi is also spoken. Extinct languages of Nepal include Kusunda and Waling. Among notable Nepalese literary writers is Parijat.

Religions and philosophy

The 2001 census identified 80.6% of the population as Hindu and Buddhismwas practiced by about 11% of the population (although many people labelled Hindu or Buddhist often practice a syncretic blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and/or animist traditions). About 4.2% Sherpa(20%)of the population is Muslim and 3.6% of the population follows the indigenous Kirantreligion. Christianity is practiced officially by less than 0.5% of the population.

Hindu and Buddhist traditions in Nepal go back to more than two millennia. InLumbini, Buddha was born, and Pashupatinath temple, Kathamandu, is an old and famous Shiva temple of Hindus. Nepal has several other templesand Buddhist monasteries as well as places of worship of other religious groups. Traditionally, Nepalese philosophical thoughts are ingrained with the Hindu and Buddhist philosophical ethos and traditions, which include elements of Kashmir Shaivism, Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, works of Karmacharyas of Bhaktapur, and a variety of tantric traditions.Tantric traditions are deep rooted in Nepal, including the practice of animal sacrifices. Five types of animals, always male, are considered acceptable for sacrifice: water buffalo, goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks.

With a multiplicity of groups, Nepal has several cults, and gods and goddesses, which co-exist with the major religions. In its long cultural history, Nepal has always remained a land of religious harmony.

Festivals and celebrations

Several of the festivals of Nepal last from one day to several days. Dashainis the longest and the most important festival of Nepal. Generally Dashain falls in late September to mid October, right after the end of the monsoon season in Nepal. It is "a day of Victory over Demons". Tihar is another important festival of Nepal.

Other important festivals include Buddha Jayanti (the celebration of the birth of Buddha); Maha Shivaratri, a festival of Lord Shiva, and during Maha Shivaratri festivities, some people consume excessive drinks and smokecharas. Sherpas, mostly located at higher altitudes and in the Everestregion, celebrate Mani Rimdu, for the good of the world. Most festivals include dancing and music and eating all kinds of local delicacies. A variety of foods is consumed during festivals and on special occasions. If one has to taste Nepali food, Newa cuisine is a must have; a festive meal, like one served during a marriage, is a real treat, and include vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dishes.

Architecture and Archeology

Nepal Sumpada Sangha (Nepal Heritage Society) has compiled an inventory of 1,262 significant architectural and archeological sites in Nepal outside Kathmandu Valley.

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Present situation

There are three major communities in Nepal's caste-oriented society -Khas, Newar and Maithil. Besides, there is a separate community consisting of tribes, the ethnic groups. There is similarity in the social structure of Khas, Newar and Maithil communities. That is to say, they all have four castes: Brahmin, Chhetri, Vaishya and Shudra. There also exists a distinction between Nepali origin and Indian origin in them, which may also be referred to as Bhumiputra community and Yayavar community, respectively. There also exist Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian religious communities in Nepal. Of these communities, Khas, Newar and Maithil have been undergoing increasing complexity of caste discrimination and oppression. The issue in the present Nepalese society lies in the classification of Brahmins, Chhetris and Vaishyas into sub-castes, defiling castes and narrowing.
From another perspective, Nepalese society is clearly split into touchables and untouchables, have no marital relation with them, and do not allow them to enter their house. In the western part of Nepal, they also practise springkling water (act of purification). The low-caste people are deprived of utilizing most of the temples, funeral places, drinking water taps and wells, restaurants, shops and other public places. The tribes of the community, though not within Hindu caste system, also practise untouchability with low-caste people.
The practice of untouchability penetrated down to the untouchables. As a result, it went to the extent of making discrimination between touchable and untouchable castes within the untouchable community itself. For instance, Kami and Sarki communities regard other communities like Damai as untouchable, while there does exist inequality even between Kamis and Sarkis. Damais treat communities like Gaines untouchable. Recently it has been found in vogue in some parts of the Remote Western Region that persons within the same untouchable community have been treated untouchable owing to their miserable economic condition. No doubt there has been launched a campaign at the organizational level by oppressed castes to oppose discrimination. However, open entry into a house and marital relation are still far from being materialized. In the hilly areas of western part of Nepal certain untouchables have their own restaurants and now all untouchable communities enter there.
People from superior castes use the non-honorific form of 'you' ('tan') for lower caste people. Conversely, lower caste people have to use the honorific form of 'you' ('tapain') to higher caste people irrespective of their age. In addition, they also need to address Brahmins as 'Baje' (Grandfather), Chhetris and Magars as 'Mukhiyas' (Head-men) and Rais and Limbus as 'Subba' (landlord/chieftain as opposed to nepali term subba-officer) and other honorific forms.
With the advent of democracy in 1950, social discriminations started breaking down not because of any legal provisions but because of the high caste people's own initiatives. However, even this change could not abolish untouchability. Though public places were opened to low caste people in some places, the situation remained unchanged to a large extent. There has been made a legal sanction in the civil code against untouchability; however, it has turned out to be meaningless since its violation is not liable to any specific penalty. According to Act 11(4) of the new constitution of Nepal (1990), however, untouchability has been made punishable. The civil code has also been amended accordingly. Despite these constitutional and legal provisions, untouchability has been still found in practice. So-called higher caste people do not allow low-caste people to have an access to temples and other public places. (See the description of events for its details).
The situation of caste-based untouchability existing in the country has been presented as follows on region-wise basis:

Caste divisions

Caste categories diverged from the four varnas of the classical Vedic model and instead had three categories to accommodate the tribal peoples between the pure and impure castes. These were further classified into five hierarchies with the following order precedence.(Harka Gurung 2005:3,Occasional Papers in Sociology and Anthropology)

• Thagadhari, (Wearer of holy cord)
• Matwali
• Namasyane Matwali (Non-enslavable alcohol-drinkers)
• Masyane Matwali (Enslavable alcohol drinkers)
• Pani nachalne choichoto halnu naparne, (Impure but touchable castes)
• Pani nachalne chiochoti halnu parne, (Impure and Untouchable castes)
  These categories imply that Thagadhari (Wearer of holy cord) remains in the highest hierarchy in the Nepali caste system followed by Matwali, (Non-enslavable alcohol-drinkers) and enslavable alcohol drinkers, touchable caste and lastly untouchable.