Culture of Nepal

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Senior offering Dashain Tika on great Nepali Hindu festival at a traditional home. Dashain Tika 02.JPG
Senior offering Dashain Tika on great Nepali Hindu festival at a traditional home.

The culture of Nepal encompasses the various cultures belonging to the 125 distinct ethnic groups present in Nepal. [1] The culture of Nepal is expressed through music and dance; art and craft; folklore; languages and literature; philosophy and religion; festivals and celebration; foods and drinks.

Contents

Dance and music

Women in cultural costume at Ubhauli Kirati festival 2017 at Gough Whitlam Park, Earlwood Women in cultural costume at Ubhauli Kirati festival 2017 at Gough Whitlam Park, Earlwood.jpg
Women in cultural costume at Ubhauli Kirati festival 2017 at Gough Whitlam Park, Earlwood
Nepali traditional Pahadi dress used for dance Nepali culture.JPG
Nepali traditional Pahadi dress used for dance

Legends state that dances in this country originated in the abode of Lord Shiva — the Himalayas, where he performed the tandava dance. [2] This indicates that dance traditions of Nepal are very ancient and unique. With altitudes and ethnicity, the dances of Nepal slightly change in style as well as in the costumes. The Dishka, a dance performed at weddings, includes intricate footwork and arm movements. [3] Accompanying music and musical instruments change in tune with the themes, which revolve around topics like harvesting of crops, marriage rites, war stories,love, and several other themes and stories from everyday life in the villages. The Tharu stick dances and the peacock dance are also performed. [4]

Languages

As many as 123 languages are spoken in Nepal according to the 2011 census. Most of them belong to either the Indo-Aryan or the Tibeto-Burman language families. The major languages of the country (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (44.6%), Maithili (11.7%), Bhojpuri(6%), Tharu (5.8%), Tamang (5.1%), Nepal Bhasa (3.2%), Magar (3%) and Bajjika (3%), and Doteli (3%). [5]

Nepali, written in Devanagari script, is the official national language and serves as lingua franca among Nepalese ethnolinguistic groups.

Religions and philosophy

Procession of Nepali Hindu Wedding; Groom being carried by a bride brother or relatives Nepali Hindu Wedding (34).jpg
Procession of Nepali Hindu Wedding; Groom being carried by a bride brother or relatives
A Buddhist monastery in southern Nepal. A Buddhist Monastery Nepal.jpg
A Buddhist monastery in southern Nepal.

The 2011 census identified 81.6% of the population being Hindu. Buddhism was practiced by about 9% of the population. About 4.2% practice Islam and 3.6% follow the indigenous Kirant religion. Christianity is practiced officially by less than 1.0% of the population.

Hindu and Buddhist traditions in Nepal go back more than two millennia. In Lumbini, Buddha was born, and Pashupatinath temple, Kathmandu, is an old and famous Shiva temple of Hindus. Nepal has several other temples and 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 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. Cows are very sacred animals and are never considered acceptable for sacrifice .

Festivals and celebrations

Senior offering Dashain Tika to junior Dashai.jpg
Senior offering Dashain Tika to junior
Costumed Hindu girls of Kathmandu during festival time in Nepal Messe-09.JPG
Costumed Hindu girls of Kathmandu during festival time in Nepal

Several of the festivals of Nepal [6] last from one to several days. As a predominantly Hindu and Buddhist nation, most of the Nepalese festivals are religious ones. The festivals of Nepal have their roots in Hinduism as more than 80% of the population of the country is Hindu. Buddhism, the second-largest religion of the nation which accounts for 9% of the population, has influenced the cultural festivals of Nepal. Dashain or Vijaya Dashami is 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. It is "a day of Victory over Demons". The Newars celebrate the festival as Mohani, Tihar or Dipawali, Holi, Saraswati Puja, Rakshabandhan, Janmashtami, Gai Jatra, Nag Panchami, Teej, Chhath, Kartik Poornima, Maghe Sankranti, or Makar Sankranti, Maha Shivratri and Chhechu are widely celebrated important festivals of Nepal. New Year's Day of the lunar calendar Nepal Sambat occurs in November. Several Jatras take place throughout the year and public holidays are declared in some regions.

Other important festivals include Buddha Purnima (the celebration of the birth of Buddha) [7] Maha Shivaratri (a festival of Lord Shiva) and during Maha Shivaratri festivities, some people consume excessive drinks and smoke charas. [8] Sherpas, mostly located at higher altitudes and in the Mount Everest region, celebrate Mani Rimdu, for the good of the world.

Most festivals include dancing and music, and a variety of special foods are consumed during festivals and on special occasions.

The Sagan ceremony is the ritualized presentation of five food items (boiled egg, smoked fish, meat, lentil cake and rice wine) to a person which is done to bring good fortune as per Tantric tradition.

Architecture and archaeology

Statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, gilded bronze, Nepal, 16th century CE British Museum Asia 41-2.jpg
Statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, gilded bronze, Nepal, 16th century CE
A 1905 painting of Nepalese woman Nepal Woman 2.jpg
A 1905 painting of Nepalese woman

Nepal Sampada Sangha (Nepal Heritage Society) has compiled an inventory of 1,262 significant architectural and archeological sites in Nepal outside Kathmandu Valley. [9]

Sports

The government declared volleyball as the national game of the country. Before it used to be dandi biyo.

A Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's residence in Baluwatar took the decision. The Ministry of Youth and Sports had put the proposal to declare volleyball as the national game. Nepal Volleyball Association had been demanding that the sport, which is played in all 75 districts of the country, should be the national game.

National Sports Council's former Member Secretary Yubaraj Lama had initiated the process of deciding the national game, while the current Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista had recommended for the national game. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathmandu</span> Capital and largest city in Nepal

Kathmandu, officially the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is the seat of federal government and the most populous city in Nepal. As of the 2021 Nepal census, there were 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households and approximately 4 million people in its surrounding agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley surrounded by hills in central Nepal, at an altitude of 4,344 feet above sea level.

Music of Nepal refers to the various musical genres played and listened to in Nepal. With more than fifty ethnic groups in Nepal, the country's music is highly diverse. Genres like Tamang Selo, Chyabrung, Dohori, Adhunik Geet, Bhajan, Filmi music, Ghazal, Classical music, songs and Ratna music are widely played and popular, but many other less common genres are yet to be cataloged. Western musical genres like Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B also regularly feature on the Nepalese music charts. Most of the country's musical bands are based in the Kathmandu valley. Musical genres from Tibet and India have greatly influenced Nepalese music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newar people</span> Native ethnic group of Nepal

Newar, or Nepami, are primarily inhabitants in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and the Indian territories of Sikkim state and Gorkhaland including its surrounding areas and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. The Newar are a distinct linguistic and cultural group, primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities, who share a common language, Nepal Bhasa, and predominantly practice Newar Hinduism and Newar Buddhism. Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilisation not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maha Shivaratri</span> Hindu festival dedicated to the god Shiva

Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half of the lunar month of Phalguna. The festival commemorates the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, and the occasion that Shiva performs his divine dance, called the Tandava.

Ranjitkar is one of the castes of Newar. The Newari caste system is divided according to profession. The Ranjitkar caste is concerned with the dyeing of clothes as well as other color related activities. The word "Ranjitkar" comes from Sanskrit origins crudely meaning "people concerned with colors" whereas the word "Chhipaa" is a Nepal Bhasa compound word which can be roughly translated as "color and allow to dry".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lalitpur, Nepal</span> City in Bagmati Province, Nepal

Lalitpur Metropolitan City, also known as Patan, Yala, and Manigal, is a metropolitan city and fourth most populous city of Nepal with 299,843 inhabitants living in 49,044 households per the 2021 census. It is located in the south-central part of Kathmandu Valley, a large valley in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirtipur</span> Municipality in Bagmati, Nepal

Kirtipur is a Municipality and an ancient city of Nepal. The Newars are the natives of Kipoo (Kirtipur). It is located in the Kathmandu Valley 5 km south-west of the city of Kathmandu. It is one of the five dense municipalities in the valley, the others being Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi. It is one of the most famous and religious places to visit. Many people visit this place not only for its natural environment but also to visit temples. The city was listed as a UNESCO tentative site in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddhism in Nepal</span>

Buddhism in Nepal started spreading since the reign of Ashoka through Indian and Tibetan missionaries. The Kiratas were the first people in Nepal who embraced the Buddha’s teachings, followed by the Licchavis and Newar people. Buddhism is Nepal's second-largest religion, with 8.2% of the country's population, or approximately 2.4 million people, identifying as adherents of Buddhism in a 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinduism in Nepal</span>

Hinduism is the largest religion of Nepal. In 2006, the country declared itself a secular country through democracy, after the abolition of its monarchy. According to the 2021 census, the Hindu population in Nepal is estimated to be around 23,677,744 which accounts for at least 81.19% of the country's population, the highest percentage of Hindus of any country in the world. Vikram Samvat, one of the two official calendars used in Nepal, is a solar calendar essentially the same to that widespread in North India as a religious calendar, and is based on solar units of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kapilvastu District</span> District in Lumbini Province, Nepal

Kapilvastu District, often Kapilbastu, is one of the districts of Lumbini Province, Nepal. The district, with Kapilbastu municipality as its district headquarters, covers an area of 1,738 square kilometres (671 sq mi) and in 2001 had a population of 481,976, which increased to 571,936 in 2011 and later according 2021 census it further increased to 686,739 Kapilvastu district has 3 number of seats for central whereas 6 seats for state level elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathmandu District</span> District in Bagmati Province, Nepal

Kathmandu District is a district located in Kathmandu Valley, Bagmati Province of Nepal. It is one of the 77 districts of Nepal, covers an area of 413.69 km2 (159.73 sq mi), and is the most densely populated district of Nepal with 1,081,845 inhabitants in 2001, 1,744,240 in 2011 and 2,017,532 in 2021. The administrative headquarters of Kathmandu district is located in Kathmandu. The city has 21 post offices which handle mail from across the country and beyond, with Kathmandu DPO having 44,600 as its postal code for international mail delivery services like UPS or DHL Couriers etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pashupatinath Temple</span> Hindu temple in Kathmandu

The Pashupatinath Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupati, a form of Shiva. It is located in Kathmandu, Nepal near the Bagmati River. The temple was classified as a World Heritage Site in 1979. This "extensive Hindu temple precinct" is a "sprawling collection of temples, ashrams, images and inscriptions raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati river", and is one of seven monument groups in UNESCO's designation of Kathmandu Valley. The temple, considered one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Hindus, is built on an area of 246 hectares and includes 518 mini-temples and a main pagoda house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newar Buddhism</span> Form of Vajrayana Buddhism practiced by the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Newar Buddhism is a form of Vajrayana Buddhism practiced by the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It has developed unique socio-religious elements, which include a non-monastic Buddhist society based on the Newar caste system and patrilineality. Its caste system has a non-celibate religious clergy caste formed of vajracharya and shakya. Other Buddhist Newar castes like the Urāy act as patrons. Urāy also patronise Tibetan Vajrayana, Theravadin, and even Japanese clerics. It is the oldest known sect of the Vajrayana tradition outdating the Tibetan school of Vajrayana by more than 600 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuladhar</span> Subcastes Buddhist Newar

Tulādhar is a Nepali/Nepalese caste from the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The name Tuladhar is derived from the Sanskrit words "tula" and "dhar" (possessor), thus meaning scale-bearer or in general, merchant. Tuladhars belong to the Uray group which includes Kansakar, Tamrakar, Sthapit, Bania, Sindurakar, Selalik and other castes. They follow Newar Buddhism and speak Nepal Bhasa as a mother tongue.

Tokha Chandeshwari is a village and former Village Development Committee that is now part of Tokha Municipality in Kathmandu District in Province No. 3 of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 3,961. Tokha Chandeshwari now is part of Tokha municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dipayal Silgadhi</span> Municipality in Sudurpashchim Province, Nepal

Dipayal Silgadhi is a municipality and the district headquarters of Doti District in Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal. Previously, it also served as the headquarters of the Far-Western Development Region. It lies in the Lesser Himalayas on the bank of Seti River. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 32,941 people living in 7,447 individual households.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Kathmandu</span> Overview of the culture of Kathmandu

The ancient and refined traditional culture of Kathmandu, for that matter in the whole of Nepal, is an uninterrupted and exceptional meeting of the Hindu and Buddhist ethos practiced by its highly religious people. It has also embraced in its fold the cultural diversity provided by the other religions such as Kirat, Jainism, Islam and Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepalese sculpture</span> Figurine sculpture of Nepal

The sculpture of Nepal is best known for small religious figures and ritual objects in bronze or copper alloy, but also has other strengths. The Newar people of Nepal had a long-lasting specialism in casting small bronze figures, mostly religious and especially Buddhist, considerable numbers of which were exported to India and Tibet over many centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dance in Nepal</span> Aspect of Nepalese culture

Dance is a performing art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. Dance (Nepali: नृत्य/ नाच) in Nepal comprises numerous styles of dances, including folk, ethnic, classical to modern dances. Lakhey is the dance of a demon in the carnival of God. Durbar Square, a historic plaza in Kathmandu, Nepal, facing ancient palaces and adorned by Hindu temples, is always full of eager crowds on the last day of Indra Jatra, the festival celebrating Indra, the Hindu king of heaven. In this divine stage, Lakhe the demon dances among gods and deities relentlessly and carelessly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namo Buddha</span> Municipality in Kavrepalanchok District of Nepal

Namo Buddha or Takmo Lüjin is located in a municipality in Kavrepalanchok District of Bagmati Province of Nepal, 52 km southeast of Kathmandu. Namo Buddha is named after the self-sacrifice by an early incarnation of Shakyamuni Buddha, performed to save the lives of a tigress and her cubs. The Namo Buddha Stupa houses his bone relics and is considered one of the three most important pilgrimage sites and main stupas in the Kathmandu Valley.

References

  1. "2011 Nepal Census Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2013.
  2. Shanmuganathan, Thilagavathi (2014). "A pragmatic analysis of Lord Shiva's dance". International Journal of the Sociology of Language (229): 95–115. doi:10.1515/ijsl-2014-0019. ISSN   1613-3668. S2CID   170652980. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  3. Gubhani, Juhee. "Re-Visiting the Question: Are Rājopādhyāyas Newārs of Nepal?".
  4. McDonnaugh, Christian. "The mythology of the Tharu: aspects of cultural identity in Dang, West Nepal" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  5. "Major highlights" (PDF). Central Bureau of Statistics. 2013. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  6. yukesh0007 (2019-05-22). "Festival around Nepali New Year". Soul of Himalayas. Archived from the original on 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  7. "Buddha Jayanti". We All Nepali. Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  8. "Maha Shivaratri". We All Nepali. Archived from the original on 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  9. Bhandari, Bishnu, ed. (1997). Inventory of heritage sites in Nepal. Kathmandu: IUCN Nepal. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  10. "Volleyball declared national game | the Himalayan Times". 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-05-07.

Further reading

Folktale collections