Trekking in Nepal

Culture in Nepal

The population of Nepal was recorded to be about 25 million as of July 2002. Eighty-six percent of Nepalis follow Hinduism; while eight percent follow Buddhism and three percent follow Islam. The population comprises various groups of different races which are further divided into different castes. The distinction in caste and ethnicity is understood more easily with a view of customary layout of the population.

Some of the main groups are such: Gurungs and Magars who live mainly in the western region; Rais, Limbus and Sunwars who live in the eastern mid hills; Sherpas, Manangpas and Lopas who live near the mountains of Everest, Annapurna and Mustang respectively; Newars who live in and around the capital valley of Kathmandu; Tharus, Yadavas, Satar, Rajvanshis and Dhimals who live in the Terai region; and Brahmins, Chhetris and Thakuris generally spread over all parts of the country.

Nepali is the official language of the state, spoken and understood by 100 percent of the population. Multiple ethnic groups speak more than a dozen other languages in about 93 different dialects. English is spoken by many in government and business offices. It is the mode of education in most private schools of Kathmandu and some other cities.

ETHNIC DISTRIBUTION
The Northern Himalayan People
In the northern region of the Himalayas are the Tibetan-speaking groups namely Sherpas, Dolpas, Lopas, Baragaonlis, Manangis. The Sherpas are mainly found in the east in the Solu and Khumbu region; the Baragaonlis and Lopas live in the semi-deserted areas of Upper and Lower Mustang in the Tibetan rain-shadow area; the Managis live in Manang district area; while the Dolpas live in Dolpa district of West Nepal, one of the highest settlements on earth at 4,000 meters.

The Middle Hills and Valley People
Several ethnic groups live together in harmony in the middle hills and valleys. Among them are the Magars, Gurungs, Tamangs, Sunuwars, Newars, Thakalis, Chepangs and majority of Brahmans and Chhetris. The Brahmans and Chhetris have long dominance in all pervading social, religious and political realms. There are also some occupational castes namely: Damai (tailor), Sarki (cobbler), Kami (blacksmith) and Sunar (goldsmiths). Though, there exist numerous dialects, the language of unification is the national language, Nepali.

The Middle Hills and Valley People
Several ethnic groups live together in harmony in the middle hills and valleys. Among them are the Magars, Gurungs, Tamangs, Sunuwars, Newars, Thakalis, Chepangs and majority of Brahmans and Chhetris. The Brahmans and Chhetris have long dominance in all pervading social, religious and political realms. There are also some occupational castes namely: Damai (tailor), Sarki (cobbler), Kami (blacksmith) and Sunar (goldsmiths). Though, there exist numerous dialects, the language of unification is the national language, Nepali.

Ethnic Diversity in the Kathmandu Valley
Kathmandu Valley represents a cultural cauldron of the country, where, people from varied backgrounds have come together to present a melting pot. The natives of the Kathmandu Valley are the Newars. Newari culture is an integration of both Hinduism and Buddhism. The Newars of Kathmandu Valley were traders or farmers by occupation in the old days.

The Terai People
The main ethnic groups in Terai are Tharus, Darai, Kumhal, Majhi and other groups that have roots in India. They speak north Indian dialects like Maithili, Bhojpuri. Owing to the fertile plains of Terai, most inhabitants live on agriculture. There are, however, some occupational castes like Majhi (fisherman), Kumhal (potter) and Danuwar (cart driver).

THE MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS

Tamang

Their traditional area is the hilly region between the Budhigandaki river and the Likhu river. At present, they live in

large numbers in the districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Makawanpur, Sindhuli, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Lalitpur, Sindhupalchok and Kavrepalanchok in the Central Development Region. They are also scattered all over the country, and outside Nepal they are found in large numbers in Darjeling, Sikkim, Asam and Nagaland of India and in Burma and Bhutan. The total population of Tamang in Nepal, according to the census of 2001, is 1,282,304, ie 5.6 per cent of the total population of the country. The Tamang language occupies fifth place in the country in terms of the number of speakers speaking any one language and first place among the Tibeto-Burman languages. More...

Gurung

In the middle hills and valleys along the southern slope of the Annapurna Himalaya in the mid-western Nepal; the Gurungs live together with other ethnic groups like Magars, Brahmins and Chettris. These sturdy, hardworking people are Mongoloid physionomically. They extend their living territories from Gorkha in the east through Lamjung, Manang and Kaski to Syangja district.

The Gurungs are very colorful, happy and flirtatious people. A caste hierarchy divides the Gurung community into 'char jat' and 'sor jat', group of four and sixteen clans respectively. They are distinctly endogamous groups. Traditionally they prefer cross-cousins marriage. The parallel cousins marriage is, however, strictly prohibited. They also have a tradition of 'Rodi', a club of boys and girls of similar age group where dancing and singing is performed. This institution gives them ample opportunities to know, understand each other and develop love and affection. The environment in the Rodi is very flirtatious.

The Gurungs have very interesting dance tradition. They perform Sorathi, Ghado, Ghatu and others on one or many occasions. The dancing season generally starts on Shri Panchami day (On the fifth day of bright lunar fortnight some day in January or February) till the day of Chandi purnima (some day in May or April).

Chepang & Kusunda

These backward ethnic communities belong to a well defined traditional area in the south of Dhading, the west of Makawanpur and east of Chitwan along the steeper slopes of Mahabharat range of the mid- Nepal. Very few of these hunting tribal people started deriving subsistence from agriculture. Otherwise, hunting, wood collection etc. have been their foremost living subsistence. Though , they are economically backward, they have a rich and unique cultural tradition. With the increasing encroachment of the forest ( their main living recourse) by themselves and other communities alike, these people lately started working in the development projects in the areas as hard labors.

Physionomically Mongoloid featured Chepangs (& Kusundas) resemble the Kirantis ( the Rais and Limbus) but their lineage to them is yet to be confirmed. Their totems are dog ( ' Che' is dog in their dialect) and arrow ( 'Pang' is arrow). Their dialect belong to the Tibeto - Burman group of languages. It, however, differs significantly to the Tamang dialect. The Tamangs live higher in the mountains than the Chepangs and the Brahmins and Chhetris live in the lower dales.

They call themselves Sunpraja and Praja. They consider themselves as progeny of Lava ( ' Lohari' in Chepang dialect) the son of lord Rama in the great Hindu epic Ramayana. According to the Legends, the goddess Sita, the consort of Lord Rama gave birth to a son Lava while she was in exile in a hermitage of sage Balmiki near Narayani river in Nepal. One day , she went with her son to take a bath in the Narayani river. The sage saw the cradle empty and created another living likeness of the baby out of Kusha grass, fearing that Sita would be shocked at not finding her son and blame the sage for not watching the baby properly. On her return from bath, Sita was startled to find another baby in the cradle. The sage, later on , explained her the details and advised her to raise both of them as her own sons. The other was brought up as Kusha.

Chepangs believe themselves as the progeny of Lava and Kusundas as the descendants of Kusha. ( or Kushari in Chepang dialect). Chepangs and Kusundas are natural enemies. Chepangs fear that Kusundas kill them on sight. Kusundas are still in the primitive stage and live in the forests and caves in the forests of southern part of Gorkha. It is believed that only few dozens of Kusundas exist in the forest. Chyuri ( an indigenous fruit) is their favorite fruit. A Chepang family not owning a Chyuri tree is considered poor and generally looked down upon.Chepang form an strict exogamous clan. Offspring from a Chepang woman and a non- Chepang man becomes a Chepang as they are not accepted by other orthodox castes.

They observe all the Hindu festivals of Dashain, Tihar and Sakrantis besides their own tribal festival Nwagi, which is performed on a Tuesday during third week of Bhadra ( some day in August and September). Chepangs do not possess other artistic skills of any kind except weaving of baskets and leaf umbrellas which they use for protection against rain. Very few Chepangs are literate. There still persists a tendency among the Chepangs to avoid schooling even if the government and other organization are trying to uplift their living standard.

Sherpas

The most famous among the Himalayan people are the Sherpas because of their impeccable mountaineering skills which has made them an indispensable part of mountain expeditions as leaders, guides and porters. As an individual or in groups, they have set records of many 'firsts' in the mountaineering world. They live in the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal, in the vicinity of Mt. Everest, along the Arun Valley, the Dudh Koshi river and its tributary areas.

Fraternal polyandry is found among the Sherpas, that is two brothers may marry one common wife. However, if there are three brothers in a Sherpa family, the middle brother has to serve the monastery as a monk and for a family with four brothers, the group of two may marry two common wives.

Sherpas observe a number of festivals during the year. The important ones are losar and dumze. Losar is the new year's celebration according to the Tibetan calendar. It occurs sometimes in the end of February. This singing, dancing, feasting time is rejoiced by all families. Dumze is interesting festival observed in the village 'gomba' or the monastery for seven days, sometimes during the month of July. The village lama conducts the rituals by worshipping Guru Rimpoche, Phawa Cheresi, Tsanba and other deities.

There are many of Sherpas who have set records in the mountaineering world. Tenzing Norgay Sherpa with Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first to climb the highest mountain of the world in 1953.

Rai

The Rais come from surrounding hills in the North- Eastern Nepal ; mainly near Dhankuta, Terhathum , Bhojpur and

Arun and Dudh valleys. Likewise , the Limbus come from the extreme east of Nepal; mainly from the region of Taplejung, Khotang and Arun Valley.

The Rais are neither purely Hindu nor Buddhist. They have their own tutelary deities and beliefs. Tibetan lamaism has, however, great influence in their rites and rituals. The Limbus whereas follow a mixture of Shivaism, Buddhism and Animism.

Economy and trade
The Rais mainly derive their subsistence from agriculture. They cultivate paddy, millet, wheat, corn and even cotton. They also form a strong group in the Gorkha regiment, Royal Army of Nepal , and police. The Limbus whereas are mostly farmers. An ancient strange tradition prohibits them from working in the fields on the full moon and new moon days. There is no apparent and logical reason for the tradition.

Newars

The natives of Kathmandu, the Newars, are mainly traders. With a purpose to trade, they are scattered across the

country; with greater concentration in the Kathmandu Valley, Banepa, Dulikhel, Bhojpur, Bandipur and Tansen . In Kathmandu valley ,they make 44% of total population. Nationally, however, they make about 5.6% of total population. Despite the small percentage numerically, they contribute significantly in the history, art , architecture and business activities in the country. They are in to the business and government services; business being their main profession. They have negligible representations in the army and police services.

Newars speak their own language, ' Newari' better known as Nepal Bhasa which belongs to Tibeto - Burman family of languages. It has its own scripts and has no linguistic connection to Nepali, Hindi or Sanskrit. The Newari script, the 'Ranjana lipi' is exceptional. The Newari literature is also very rich.

There are both Buddhist and Hindu Newars. Like elsewhere in the country, religioius syncretism is blended into the culture and tradition.

They celebrate numerous feasts and festivals throughout the year.

Newars have a well defined occupational caste system among themselves. 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 artists and architects.

To quote Prakash A. Raj, the kathmandu valley with all its temples and palaces compares no less to Florence in Italy. The Newars, of course, remained pivotal in the arts and architecture found in the vallley.

Among the Newar community, an interesting ancient tradition, known as 'Ihi or Bel Biha' , requires that a young girl often 7 or 8 years old, be married to a certain tree called 'Bel tree' or to its green fruit called ' Bel'. The tree and the fruit symbolizes a deity called ' Hiranya Garbha'. Among the deities, Hiranya Garbha is one of the immortals. Thus marriage with ' Hiranya Garbha' is considered to be everlasting.

To put it in a nutshell, the Newars, though small in numbers, have a very strong and dominating influence in Nepal's economy, politics and society in general

Dolpali

The Dolpo- pa or Dolpa settlements are concentrated in the remote and fascinating region which is confined by the Dhaulagiri Himalaya in the south and east; the Sisne and Kanjiroba mountain in the west and Tibet on the north. They generally settle at altitudes of 3660 m ( Approx. 12000 ft.) to 4070m ( 14000 ft. approx.) They are probably the highest settlements in the world. These mongoloid featured people are Tibetan speaking. Most of them are illiterate , but they are not very poor. They derive their subsistence from agriculture and cattle breeding. The transactions are still done on barter basis.

Dolpo society is divided into a number of exogamous clans. Each of the clans has a totem animal which they worship. The particular totem animal is never slaughtered by the clan member. Marriages are very relaxed in general. Pre- marital and extra- marital sex union are not prejudiced. All the brothers in a family marry a common wife. Marriages can be of any type; by arrangement , capture or elopement.

Dresses & Ornaments
They wear bakhhu ( a heavy warm outer covering to knee - high). Dolpo women wear colorful aprons with a pair of trousers underneath. The ornaments include brass headdress of rectangular shape and other brass ornaments.

Religion
The Dolpo people are Buddhist, but the Bon- po sect of Buddhism also co-exists. They dispose off the dead in different ways. Some throw the corpse into the river while others cut the flesh into pieces and feed them to the vultures.

Manage Gurungs

Manangi resemble physionomically and religiously to the Tibetans but they take a pride to believe themselves belonging to the Gurungs who live in the lower hills and valleys. These people inhabit in the pleasant valley of Manang in the upper reaches of the Marsyangdi river northwards in the central Nepal. The Manang district encloses three distinct areas of Neshyang, Nar and Gyasumdo; all of them culturally interrelated. They have agriculture as their foremost recourse of subsistence for living. The harsh and cold climate limits the cultivation to buck wheat, barley, wheat, maize, potatoes and radishes. They also breed sheep and other cattles. Now a days, they are also into trading and other professions.

They have developed considerably in living style since they got special consideration from the His Majesty 's Government of Nepal to trade in the South East Asian countries till 1963/ 1964. They are divided into different exogamus clans. Like the Gurungs in the lower hills, they are divided into Char jat and Sor jat ( group of four and sixteen clans respectively). They practice polyandry i.e. a tradition of two or more brothers marrying one common wife. This tradition , similar to that of other northern Himalayan people, is, however , unlikely among the Gurungs. They arrange for feast, singing and dancing in the wedding.

After death, they either cremate the body; throw it in the river or cut the flesh into pieces and feed them to the vultures. The funeral proceeds as the Lama directs the rituals. Lossar , the new year's celebration is their main festival in the month of February. Similary, archery is arranged in a grand way during the month of April- May.

Dolpali

The Dolpa or Dolpo-pa settlements are concentrated in the remote and fascinating region which is confined by the Dhaulagiri Himalaya in the south and east; the Sisne and Kanjiroba mountain in the west and Tibet on the north. They generally settle at altitudes of 3,660 m (Approx. 12,000 ft.) to 4,070 m (14,000 ft. approx.) They are probably the highest settlements in the world. These mongoloid featured people are Tibetan speaking. Most of them are illiterate, but they are not very poor. Marriages are very relaxed in general. Pre-marital and extra-marital sex union are not prejudiced. All the brothers in a family marry a common wife. Marriages can be of any type; by arrangement, capture or elopement. The Dolpa people are Buddhist, but the Bon-po sect of Buddhism also co-exists. They dispose off the dead in different ways. Some throw the corpse into the river while others cut the flesh into pieces and feed them to the vultures

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