Gai jatra

The festival of Gaijatra the procession of cow (is holy to Hindus) generally celebrated in the Nepalese month of Bhadra (August-September). Cow represents Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and guites the souls of the departed to the gates of the netheworld. This is one of the most popular festival of Nepal. However, the ironic sessions synomous with the Gaijatra festival came into tradition in the medieval period of Nepal during the reign of malla kings.

Lumbini

As the birth place of the lord Buddha the apostle of peace and the light of Asia was born in 623Bc the sacred area of Lumbini is one of the holiest place of one of the worlds great religions and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrims as well as visitors from many different parts of the world and also is regarded as a symbol of peace and under standing in the world community. Lumbini, in the south western tarai of Nepal, evokes a kind of holy sentiment to the million of Buddhist all over the world. Lumbini, like the Buddha, stand peace fully and calm away from the crowds of the cities, on the southern plains of the country, surrounded by forest. Lumbini is one of four Buddhist pilgrimage sites based on major events in the life of Gautama Buddha. Interestingly all of the events occurred under trees. The other three sites are Bodh Gaya (enlightenment), Sarnath ( first discourse), and Kushinagar (death).Lord Buddha believed to have been born in Lumbini as prince Siddhartha, when his mother Queen Mayadevi gave birth to the Buddha on her way to her parents home in Devdaha in the month of may in the year 642 BC. felling the onest of labor pains, she grabbed hold of the branches of a shade trees and gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha. People here also believe that, she chose the place because of its peaceful setting. Although there are no cities or heavy population nearly, there are plans to develop the area, with gardens, trees, canal, accommodation facilities and even a library. The Buddha is said to have announced" This is my final rebirth" as he entered the world. Buddhist tradition also has it that he walked immediately after his birth and took seven steps, under each of which a lotus flower bloomed.

Lumbini is the place where the Buddha, Know as the Tathagat was born. It is the place which souled be visited and seen by a person of devotion and which should cause awareness and apprehension of the nature of impermanence. The site and its surrounding area is endowed with a rice natural setting of domestic able fauna and favourable agriculture environ. It is pointed out by scholars that the temple of Mayadevi was constructed over the foundations of more than one earlier temple or stupa and that this temple was probably built on an Asoka stupa itself. To the south of Maya Devi temple there is the famous sacred bathing pool know as puskarni, it is believed that Maya Devi took a bath in this pool before the delivery. By the side of the Asoka pillar a river which flows south east. If authenticated, the find will put Lumbini even more prominently on the map for million of religions pilgrims.

Ghodejatra

This is the  horse exciting festival and is one of the prominent celebrated in Kathmandu only. Horse races and other sports take place at Tudikhel on this day. According to legend the people of Kathmandu defeated on evil demon by burying it on the site that is now the Tudikhel showgrounds. It is said that unless the ground is trampled on by horses each years, the demon will rise again wreaking a terrible vengeance on the people. The Nepalese Army also celebrate this day as Army day. The horse is taken as symbol of power through most cultures. Power, Grace, Beauty, strength etc. are few symbolic attribution of the horse.

Newari culture

Newars, who used to be almost the entire population of Kathmandu valley before the invasion of the shah dynasty in 1968, are inheritors of the rich history and culture. prior to the Gorkha conquest of the valley, the three neighboring cities of Kathmandu,Patan and Bhaktapur were the capitals of autonomous Newars kingdom and the three cities are mainly natives and traders of Newars society. Despite the small percentage numerically, they contribute significantly in the history, art, architecture and business activities in the country. They have negligible representations in the army and police services. Quite a number also have agriculture as their main occupation.

Newars speak their own language(Nepal Bhasa), which is an independent language with its own script and a rich literature. It belongs to Tibeto Burman family of languages, it seems likely that the earliest stratum of the Newars population may have come from Tibet and then over a long period evolved into its present form through the inter mingling of immigrant people, including into Aryans from the south.
The written history of the Newars is 25000 years old during which they developed their impeccable culture and arts into a great civilization Newars maintained their unique kingdom even during the various reigns of the Gopala, Kirat, Licchavi and Malla dynasties. The shahs finally amalgamated the Newar nation state in their unification drives.

The ancient Newars were predominantly Buddhist but with the political domination of Hindu rulers, the Newar religion has grown complex with new practices and beliefs. Many Newars today practice Vajrayana tradition of Buddhist but they also have strong faith in Hinduism and performs Hindu rituals of feast and fasting as well. There is no line of distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism.

They celebrate numerous feasts and festivals throughout the year. Newars have well defined occupational caste system among them selves. Though some Newars have mongoloid features, they rather represent a community of different elements mixed together. Besides their rich cultural heritage, festivals, the Newars are impeccable artist and architects.

Gorkha the beautiful tourism places in Nepal

Gorkha, situated at 140kilometere west of Kathmandu at an altitude of 1,135 meter, is the ancestral home town of the Nepal's ruling  royal family. Gorkha is only 25 kilometer road off the main highway connecting Pokhara and Kathmandu brings you to an ancient Gorkha the untouched and captivating town of Nepal. A brief visit on the way to or from Pokhara would provide more insights into Nepal than one is likely to get at lakeside in Pokhara.

soldiers

In the middle of eighteenth century there were hundreds of small kingdoms and principalities in what is today's Nepal. The great Prithivi Narayan Shah took the mammoth task of unifying Nepal in the eighteen century. The Gorkha soldiers under his dynamic leadership eventually succeeded in conquering the Kathmandu valley. His Gorkha palace resides on top of hill atan altitude of 3281 feet(about 1000meter). The king would watch-over his people as far as his eyes could see from the tallest palace in the very centre of Nepal. Gorkha offers panoramic view of snow-fed mountain. The capital of greater Nepal was sifted  to Kathmandu since then. but this beautiful township has always remained as the center of attraction for many Nepalese as well as foreign visitors.

Holi (The colourful festival)

Happy holi

The ancient Hindu festival of Holi falls on late February or on march.Allegedly named after the mythical demonises Holika ,it is a day when the feast of colour is celebrated. The festival is of a week.However it's only the last day that is observed by all with colour. Holi is probably the least religious of Hindu holidays. During Holi all people attend a public bonfire, spray friends and family with coloured powders and water, and generally go a bit wild in the streets.

 Holika and Pralhad

The legend commemorated by the festival of Holi involves an evil king named Hiranyakashipu  conspired way to kill his son pralhad because pralhad was an ardent devotee of lord Vishnu. But their attempts always failed for lord Vishnu  protects those who love him. Getting angry with his son, Hiranyakashipu challenged pralhad to sit on a pyre with his wicked aunt Holika who was believed to be immune to fire(in an alternate version, Holika put herself and pralhad on the fire on orders from her brother). Pralhad accepted the challenge and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in amazement's as holika was burnt to death(but Brahma's blessing could only be used for good purposes and so Holika was consumed by the fire). While pralhad survived without  a scar to show for it. Thus, Holi is said to be celebrated to rejoice Holika's externiration and the traditional bonfires are believed to commemorate her death. According to some account, Holika begged pralhad for forgiveness before her demise and he decreed that she would be remembered every year at Holi.
The days prior to the last don't have a lot happening except., the installation of the ceremonial pole called 'chir', on the first day. It's a bamboo pole, fringed with strips of cloth representing good luck charms. It is said to symbolize the tree on which lord Krishna hung the milkmaids. As the pole is put up in the street at Basantapur, the festival and worship commences for the week. At the end of which its taken to a bonfire.

The central ritual of Holi is the throwing and applying of colored water and powders on friends and family, which gives the holiday its common name 'FESTIVAL OF COLURS'. This ritual is said to be based on the above story of Krishna and Radha as well as on Krishna playful splashing of the maids with water, but coming of spring with all its beautiful colours and vibrant life.

Happy holi................holi he........................

Mount Everest

The Mount Everest is know all around the world for its great height. Mount Everest is one of the tallest mountain in the world. It is part of the Himalayan Mountains. They were formed in the last few million years. After the super continent of Laurasia broke up millions of years ago, India moved slowly north towards Asia and then crashed into it. The seabed between the two plates(the earth's crust is divided into large areas of land called plates) was crumbled and pushed up on the northemrim of India to from mountain.

The trust is that from many years many people wondered and tired to figure it out the exactly measurements. These days, we know for sure the exact height of 29,035ft. or 8850m because we have better tools to measure, like the global positioning sate lite technology. But the official altitude of the Mount Everest that was approved by the Nepali government is 29,029ft. But the interesting fact is that it is believed that the height of Mt. Everest will grow in the future for the more.
Mount Everest got its name after the person(Sir George Everest) that first tried to located the exact position of the peak until then, it was named Mount Everest

Everest Facts:-
Name in Nepal: Sagarmatha (means goddess of the sky)
In Tibet: Chomolungma (means mother goddess of the universe)
 Named after: sir George Everest in 1865, the British surveyor-general of India once know as peak 15
First Ascent: May 29-1953 by sir Edmund Hillary,NZ and Tenzing Norgay, NP, via the south col route
First solo Ascent: Aug 20-1980, Reinhold Messner,IT, via the Ridge to north face
First Oxygenless Ascent: May 8,1978, Reinhold Messner ,IT, and peter hableler,AUT, via the south east ridge
Youngest person: Temba T sheri (NP) 15, on may 22, 2001
oldest person: Sherman Bull May 25, 2001-64yrs

most Ascent: Appa Sherpa became the first person to climb Everest 20 times-Ten, Ang Rita sherpa, Babu chhiri sherpa all ascents were oxygen less
Country with most death on mountain: most dangerous area on mountain Khumbu Ice fall -19deaths