Civilization And Culture Of Kiratas

During the rule of the Kiratas, Nepal made considerable progress in the field of art and architecture, trade and commerce. The Kiratis were not only good warriors but also good administrators. Men and women were treated equally. Criminals were given severe punishment. For the administration of justice, law-courts were established at several places-Kuther, Shuli, Lingual, Mapchok, etc.

Trade and commerce flourished under the Kiratas. Nepal had trade relations with Tibet, China and India. The exports of Nepal mainly consisted of wool, woollen goods, wood and herbs. Kautilya, in his 'Arthasastra', says that Nepali wollen blankets were very popular in the market of Magadha (Bihar in modern India). People took more interest in business than in agriculture. Because of its economic prosperity, people from different places, of different tribes and races came to Nepal and settled down. Thus, the people having different customs and practices all merged into a nation. This resulted in the development of a new culture of its own.

Buddhism

Siddhartha gautam was born in 653B.C, in Kapilvastu, as a prince,who was the son of king Suddhodhana and Queen Mayadevi. When after the Siddhartha left his home i.e,Mahabhiniskarmana, he got the enlightment (Mahabodhigyan) and he spread the Buddhist Philosophy around the world.

In 240 B.C, the Buddhist Philosophy was divided into two(2) sectors.

·         Hinayana

·         Mahayana

The king Ashok, the Mauryan Emperor tried to unite the both philosophy but at last he was failed.a

As looking into the two different philosophy of Buddhism, Hinayana seems to be as followed as it is which relates with the teachings of Buddha. This philosophy is found in Pali language, as Pali was the language spoken at the time of Gautam Buddha. As the real name of this Philosophy is Therabada,later on it was named as Hinayana, which was the hatred one. This name was given by Mahayana.

But Mahayana is slightlty different from Hinayana. According to Mahayana, Buddhist theory must be twisted and turned according to the change in time. Afterwards it was translated in Sanskrit language. Mahayanis were the first to engrave the Buddha and Worship him in an Iconographic form.

Evolution of Nepali Nationhood

The word Nepal is found in “Arthava Parisistha”, of Vedic literature which is also known by the name of Rig Veda in Sanskrit Language. so, this proves that, the existence of Nepal since long. The scriptures mention that the existence of Nepal has been from the age of truth,i.e, till Satya Yuga. Nepal was known as “Satyawati” in SatyaYuga. The land of Mediatation or the “Tapovana” in Tretayuga. The ladder of Salvation or The “Muktisopan” in Tretayuga. Lastly, in “Kaliyuga” which means the modern age, it was named as “Nepal”.

This shows that how the name Nepal, came into existence and its historical background on the naming of name”Nepal”.

Importance of Festivals

Our country Nepal, being as a multicultural nation among the others over the world. At the one angle, there are too many  different perspectives, but the one common base is our “CULTURE”. This culture has became the great power to bind us all, and keeps us together as an unity. There are too many festivals that are celebrated in our country Nepal, we Nepalese not only celebrate our festivals but also invites everyone to join with us.

Different festivals have their own beliefs and their own values,but also possesses its own importance at all. Many festivals of our nation shows/reflects the typical  culture and traditions. In general, we can say that, festival shows the way of living, which varies from culture to culture. So, Festivals is the best possible way of understanding the way of living of people having different cultural pattern.

There are many festivals that are celebrated in each year in our country. Most celebrated festivals are maily Dashian, Tihar, Shivaratri, Holi Purnima,etc..

Divison of Nepal into three Kingdoms:

 During 1482, Nepal was split into three kingdoms by the sons of Yakshamalla, with centers of power at Kathmandu, Patan and Bhadgaon (also known as Bhaktapur). Each of these states controlled territory in the surrounding hill areas, with particular importance attached to the trade routes northward to Tibet and southward to India that were vital to the valley's economy. There were also numerous small principalities in the western and eastern hill areas, whose independence was sustained through a delicate balance of power based upon traditional interrelationships and, in some cases, common ancestral origins (or claims thereto) among the ruling families.
       

By the 16th century virtually all these principalities were ruled by dynasties claiming high-caste Indian origin whose members had fled to the hills in the wake of Muslim invasions of northern India. This state of affairs lasted until the 18th century when the influence of political change and expansion within Nepal’s large and powerful neighbors of India and China began to be felt. 

Civilization And Culture Of Kiratas:

During the rule of the Kiratas, Nepal made considerable progress in the field of art and architecture, trade and commerce. The Kiratis were not only good warriors but also good administrators. Men and women were treated equally. Criminals were given severe punishment. For the administration of justice, law-courts were established at several places-Kuther, Shuli, Lingual, Mapchok, etc.
  

Trade and commerce flourished under the Kiratas. Nepal had trade relations with Tibet, China and India. The exports of Nepal mainly consisted of wool, woolen goods, wood and herbs. Kautilya, in his 'Arthasastra', says that Nepali woolen blankets were very popular in the market of Magadha (Bihar in modern India). People took more interest in business than in agriculture. Because of its economic prosperity, people from different places, of different tribes and races came to Nepal and settled down. Thus, the people having different customs and practices all merged into a nation. This resulted in the development of a new culture of its own.

pashupatinath temple

Pashupatinath Temple, is one of the most  significant temples of Hindus of Lord Shiva, Located at the bank of the Bagmati River, towards the eastern part of  Kathmandu region.

Pashupatinath Temple has also been listed on the UNESCO Heritage sites list.

Since, the early beginning only the Hindus borned child are only allowed to enter the temple, but besides the Hindus ,others can visit the temple from the others side of the Bagmati River.The Pashupatinath Temple is regarded as the most sacred temples among the temples of Lord Shiva.

Pashupatinath Temple is found to be the oldest temple in Nepal.The pashupatinath Temple existence takes back to 400 A.D, which proves by the findings of richly ornamented pagoda houses and the sacred linga or the holy symbol of Lord Shiva. 

There are many legends describing that how the Pashupatinath Temple came into existence till now. the various legends are like, The Cow Legend,The Lichhavi Legend, and The Devalaya Legend.. 

Looking upon its History,The Temple was erected as a new in the 17th century by King Bhupatindra Malla. There are also the countless numbers of temples were created around this two-storied temple.

Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square

Hanuman dhoka durbar square is found to be situated in central kathmandu region of nepal. looking upon its history, it is a complex with the structures of the Royal Malla Kings and also the Shah dynasty of Nepal. this complex building of Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square has been spread over the Five acres of land.
The Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square has been built on Mid 16th century, but later on this Durbar Square was expanded by King Pratap Malla in 17th century along with the other temples.
Looking upon the history, the royal families used to lived there till 1886, then after the royal families shifted to the Narayanhiti Palace.
 The Hanuman Dhoka was named by its shape.ie. of Hanuman Gate, located at the east side of the Durbar Square. this is the entry gate to the the Durbar Square, where we can found the statue of Monkey God on the gate, which was established on the year 1672,along with the religious belief about this durbar square, that it guards the palace.

Newars of Nepal

Newars are found to be living on Nepal around the Kathmandu and Bhaktapur areas. Due to the presence of Newari tribe, the Valley and its surrounding territory have been named as Nepal Mandala,since ancient times.

Newars possesses their own living pattern, their own type of housing style, own type of cultures,traditions,values,beliefs,norms,etc..

Usually Newari people have their own language, that are found to be spoken in the society.Usually Newars follows their own religion and culture. Besides these, they are always found living under unity in their society, whereas they prefer to carry out different activities and solve their problems by their own on their community.
 Mostly Newars people use "Shrestha" as their sirnames, whereas we can found other sirnames like Bajrachharya,pode,chyame,sunar,etc..

Nepal history

Moving on towards the history of Nepal, we can found the country having  isolated position on the Himalayas, surrounded by two neighbouring countries India and China.
Nepal as being the central for the two countries, due to the huge numbers of settlers from India and China, it results to the emergence of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country.
Nepal was ruled by different rulers on long period of time before. It was found to be united after the shah dynasty was in action.
In Nepal, mostly nepali language is known as national language,and this is the mostly spoken language in country Nepal.Also, there are many other ethnic groups which are found to be living on different geographical regions of Nepal.The different ethnic groups are like as Brahmins, Chhetris, Newars, Rias, Limbus, Gurungs, Magars,etc.. These different groups of people are found to have their own style of living pattern, their dressing styles, their own type of language, their own religious beliefs, own culture,,etc..