Limi

Last updated
Limi
लिमी
Village (Ward council)
Slider-1-Humla-Linda-Bezemer.jpg
Nickname: 
Hidden Valley
Namkha Rural Municipality.jpg
Limi (Ward No. 6)
Nepal Karnali adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Limi
Location in province
Nepal adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Limi
Limi (Nepal)
Coordinates: 30°17′N81°39′E / 30.29°N 81.65°E / 30.29; 81.65
CountryFlag of Nepal.svg    Nepal
Province Karnali Province
District Humla District
Rural Municipality Namkha
WardWard No.6
Government
 • TypeWard council
Area
 • Total
1,201.29 km2 (463.82 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total
904
 • Density0.75/km2 (1.9/sq mi)
 • Religions
 Tibetan Buddhism
Time zone UTC+5:45 (Nepal Time)
Website namkhamun.gov.np

Limi Valley is a high-altitude valley that forms the northernmost part of the Humla District of north-western Nepal. To its north, the Limi valley borders the Purang County of Tibet, China.

Contents

Administrative

Limi is a ward council of the Namkha rural municipality of the Humla district, which itself is a part of the Karnali Province. Previously the whole valley was known as the Limi Village Development Committee (VDC). As of the 1991 Nepal census, Limi valley had a population of 988 persons living in 169 individual households. [1] The population of the valley decreased to 904 individual according to 2011 Nepal census. [2]

Geography

The Limi valley is drained by the Limi river, a tributary of the Humla Karnali river. This valley has only three settlements, the Dzang, Halji, and Til villages. Dzang lies at 3,920m, Halji at 3,700m, and Til at 4,100m above sea level. [3] Halji village is located on the southern slopes of the Gurla Mandhata massif. [4]

Access

To go to the Limi valley, one first needs to travel to Simikot, the headquarters of district Humla. Presently, the only way of traveling to Simikot, other than going on foot for several days, is to take a flight from Nepalgunj in the western Nepali plains. Limi valley can be accessed from Simikot by two routes. [5] One follows the upstream course of the Humla Karnali river from Simikot to Hilsa; crosses the river at Hilsa, and climbs up the eastward trail to Limi valley. This route enters near Til village. Walking this route takes 5-7 days. The other route also begins by following the Humla Karnali river in an upstream direction, but diverges to turn north at the confluence of the Salli Khola and Humla Karnali rivers. This route goes over the 4,995m high Nyalu Lagna pass, enters Talung valley, and after another day's march, enters the Limi valley near Takche, east of village Dzang. Walking this route takes 4-5 days. A rough motorable road has been built from the Sino-Nepal border near Lapcha La pass till Salli Khola; it connects the eastern end of Limi, near Dzang, by road to Taklakot in Tibet (China).

A permit is required to visit the northern areas of Humla, including Simikot and Limi valley. [6]

Culture

The local inhabitants of the Limi valley, called the Limey, [7] follow the Drikung Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, and there is a small gonpa in each village. [8] The Limey economy has traditionally been dependent on agriculture, supplemented by pastoralism and trade. [9] Over history and in the present times, the Limi valley community has had various kinds of close ties with the neighboring region of Tibet. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The Rinchenling gonpa at Halji is said to have been built by Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo in the 11th century AD, and bears significant resemblances with the Tabo monastery in Spiti valley, India - also said to have been built by Rinchen Zangpo. [15] Limi valley is also known for the Lapcha La pass, on the border with Tibet, from where one gets an expansive view of Lake Manasarovar and the distant Mount Kailash on a clear day. [16] [17]

Wildlife

The snow leopard, Himalayan wolf, Tibetan fox, Tibetan gazelle, kiang, argali, Himalayan brown bear, and Himalayan blue sheep have been reported from Limi. [18] [19] Wild yak, once thought to be extinct in Nepal since five decades, was reported from the Limi valley in 2014. [20] [21] Limi valley and its neighboring parts of upper Humla are rich in bird diversity. [22]

Climate Change

Since 2004, a series of GLOFs have come threateningly close Halji Richenling monastery, while also destroying parts of the Halji village. Scientists have linked these GLOFs directly to global warming and climate change. [4] [23] [24]

On account of its geographic remoteness and the intactness of its culturally Tibetan heritage, the Limi valley has been called 'Shangri La' by some commentators. [25] [26] In a similar vein, the Zen Buddhist teacher Joan Hallifax has called Limi valley a 'beyul'. [27] The Indian guru Sadhguru visited Limi valley to view Kailash-Manasarovar from the Lapcha La pass in September 2021. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Kailash</span> Religious mountain in Tibet Autonomous Region

Mount Kailash is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies in the Kailash Range of the Transhimalaya, in the western part of the Tibetan Plateau. The peak of Mount Kailash is located at an elevation of 6,638 m (21,778 ft), near the western trijunction between China, India and Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Manasarovar</span> Freshwater lake in the Tibet Region

Lake Manasarovar, also called Mapam Yumtso locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located at an elevation of 4,600 m (15,100 ft), near the western trijunction between China, India and Nepal. It overflows into the adjacent salt-water lake of Rakshastal via the Ganga Chhu. The sources of four rivers: Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and Karnali lie in the vicinity of the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Rakshastal</span> Lake

Lake Rakshastal is a saltwater lake in Tibet Autonomous Region, lying just west of Lake Manasarovar and south of Mount Kailash. The Sutlej River originates at Rakshastal's northwestern tip. Rakshas Tal is at 4,575 metres above sea level whereas the Manasarovar is at 4,690 metres.

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

Humla District, a part of Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Simikot as its district headquarters, covers an area of 5,655 km2 (2,183 sq mi) and has population of 50,858 as per the census of 2011. Namkha is the largest rural municipal which lies in humla Humla is the 2nd largest district of Nepal. The southern and middle parts of Humla District are inhabited by Khas communities, originating from Sinja valley, whereas the higher and northern parts of Humla are mostly inhabited by culturally Tibetan communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepalgunj</span> Sub-Metropolitan City in Lumbini, Nepal

Nepalgunj, also spelled Nepalganj, is a Sub-Metropolitan City in Banke District, Nepal. It lies on the Terai plains near the southern border with Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Nepalgunj is 153 kilometers south-west of Ghorahi and 16 km south of Kohalpur. Former Village Development Committee: Udayapur, Bhawaniyapur, Piprahawa, Jaispur, Paraspur, Indrapur, Khaskarkado, Basudevpur, Manikapur and Puraina were added to territory in order to make it Sub metropolitan city on 2071 Paush 28 and later Puraini was also added in list on 2072 Paush 21. Further, while restructuring of local levels nationwide, ward no. 23 was taken out to Janaki Rural Municipality and ward no. 7 of Hirminiya VDC was added to Nepalgunj.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purang County</span> County in Tibet, China

Purang County or Burang County (Tibetan: སྤུ་ཧྲེང་རྫོང; Chinese: 普兰县) is an administrative division of Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China. The county seat is Purang Town, known as Taklakot in Nepali. The county covers an area of 12,539 square kilometres (4,841 sq mi), and has a population of 9,657 as of 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simikot</span> District Headquarters in Karnali, Nepal

Simikot is the administrative headquarters of Humla District of Karnali Zone in the mountain region of northwestern Nepal.

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

Simikot Airport is a domestic airport located in Simikot serving Humla District, a district in Karnali Province in Nepal. It is the main tourist gateway on the Nepalese side to the Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. As road access in this area of Nepal is weak, the airport facilitates travel in the whole district of Humla.

Simbiling Monastery, also known as Shambuling Gompa, Shepeling Dzong and Taklakot Gompa, was located next to the large fort of Tegla Kar on a ridge near Taklakot, above the town of Purang, in the Ngari province, which is just over the border from India, in western Tibet in the valley of the Karnali River, which is known in Tibet as the Mapchchu Khambab - the 'Peacock Mouth River' or 'River Formed from the Mouth of a Peacock'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purang Town</span> Town in Tibet, Peoples Republic of China

Purang or Burang, known as Puhreng in Tibetan, (Nepali:ताक्लाकोट) is a town which serves as the administrative center of Purang County, Ngari Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), China. The town lies at an altitude of 3,900m in the valley of the Karnali River. The town spans an area of 3,257.81 square kilometres (1,257.85 sq mi), and has a permanent population 6,047 as of 2010, and a hukou population of 4,477 as of 2018. To the south are Gurla Mandhata and the Abi Gamin ranges. Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash are to the north. This region is the mythological and actual river nexus of the Himalaya with sources of the Indus, Ganges and Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra all within 110 kilometres (70 mi) of Purang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kailasha</span> Celestial abode of Shiva in Hinduism

Kailasha or Kailasa is the celestial abode of the Hindu god Shiva. It is traditionally recognized as a mountain where Shiva resides along with his consort Parvati, and their children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. Mount Kailash, located in the Transhimalaya, in the western part of the Tibetan Plateau, is considered as a geographic manifestation of Kailasha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rinchen Zangpo</span> Tibetan lotsawa (958–1055)

Lochen Rinchen Zangpo, also known as Mahaguru, was a principal lotsawa or translator of Sanskrit Buddhist texts into Tibetan during the second diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet, variously called the New Translation School, New Mantra School or New Tantra Tradition School. He was a student of the famous Indian master, Atisha. His associates included (Locheng) Legpai Sherab. Zangpo's disciple Guge Kyithangpa Yeshepal wrote Zangpo's biography. He is said to have built over one hundred monasteries in Western Tibet, including the famous Tabo Monastery in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, Poo in Kinnaur and Rinchenling monastery in Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabo Monastery</span> Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Tabo, Himachal Pradesh, India

Tabo Monastery is located in the Tabo village of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It was founded in 996 CE in the Tibetan year of the Fire Ape by the Tibetan Buddhist lotsawa (translator) Rinchen Zangpo, on behalf of the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge, Yeshe-Ö. Tabo is noted for being the oldest continuously operating Buddhist enclave in both India and the Himalayas. A large number of frescoes displayed on its walls depict tales from the Buddhist pantheon. There are many priceless collections of thankas, manuscripts, well-preserved statues, frescos and extensive murals which cover almost every wall. The monastery is in need of refurbishing as the wooden structures are aging and the thanka scroll paintings are fading. After the earthquake of 1975, the monastery was rebuilt, and in 1983 a new Du-kang or Assembly Hall was constructed. It is here that the 14th Dalai Lama held the Kalachakra ceremonies in 1983 and 1996. The monastery is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a national historic treasure of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darchen</span> Place in Tibet, China

Kangsa Village, poetically known as Darchen, Tarchan or Taqin, is a former Bhutanese enclave, currently held by the People's Republic of China and the seat of the Parga Township, Purang County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Thus, it is commonly referred as Parga although there is another smaller settlement formally named Parga after which the Parga Township was named, located on the east of this settlement. It was also previously known as Lhara and still signposted as such. It was previously an important sheep station for nomads and their flocks and had only two permanent buildings; only one of which survived the Cultural Revolution and is now used to house Tibetan pilgrims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilsa, Nepal</span> Place in Mid-Western, Nepal

Hilsa is a village in the northwestern corner of Nepal bordering Tibet Autonomous Region (China), where the Humla Karnali crosses from the Tibetan Plateau into the mountain regions on its descent to the Ganges. Hilsa is in Humla District, Karnali Zone facing Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet region of China.

According to Hindu theology, there are five sacred lakes; collectively called the Panch Sarovar or Panch-Sarovar: Manasarovar, Bindu Sarovar, Narayan Sarovar, Pampa Sarovar and Pushkar Sarovar. The lakes are mentioned in the Shrimad Bhagavata Purana. The Hindu epics, like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, also narrate the significance of bathing in these lakes. Four of the lakes are in India, while Manasarovar is in Tibet,China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namkha Rural Municipality</span> Rural municipality in Karnali Province, Nepal

Namkha is the largest rural municipality of Nepal located in Humla District of Karnali Province.

Rinchenling Gompa (monastery) is an ancient Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Nepal located in Limi Valley of Humla district near the Tibet border at an altitude of about 3500 m msl.

Nyalu Lagna Pass or just Nyalu Pass is a mountain pass on Himalayas at elevation of 4,995 metres (16,388 ft) above the sea level. The pass is located at Humla District of Karnali Province in Nepal. Limi-Lapcha Road crosses through this pass to connect the Limi valley with Simikot. Simikot is the district headquarter of Humla. This pass lies on an ancient trade route between Humla and Tibet, starting from Salli Khola in the Humla Karnali valley, going through Tsong Tsa valley, passing over the Nyalu Lagna pass, then going through the Talung valley, and entering the Limi valley near Takche. From Takche, one path heads west, to village Dzang, and the other path heads north, to the Lapcha La pass, further north beyond which lies the Purang County of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humla Tibetan language</span> Sino-Tibetan language of western Nepal.

Humla Tibetan, also known as Humla Bhotiya, and Humli Tamang, is the Sino-Tibetan language of the Tibetan people of Humla district in Nepal.

References

  1. ↑ "Nepal Census 2001". Nepal's Village Development Committees. Digital Himalaya. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "वडा नं. ६" [Ward No. 6] (in Nepali). Namkha rural municipality. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Humla and Limi valley trek". www.yatritrekking.com. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  4. 1 2 Kropáček, J.; Neckel, N.; Tyrna, B.; Holzer, N.; Hovden, A.; Gourmelen, N.; Schneider, C.; Buchroithner, M.; Hochschild, V. (2015-10-26). "Repeated glacial lake outburst flood threatening the oldest Buddhist monastery in north-western Nepal". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 15 (10): 2425–2437. doi: 10.5194/nhess-15-2425-2015 . hdl: 20.500.11820/64439aad-d2d0-4d32-9f02-3e3d4f65db7d . ISSN   1561-8633.
  5. ↑ Bubriski, Kevin; Pandey, Abhimanyu (2018). Kailash Yatra: a Long Walk to Mount Kailash through Humla. New Delhi: Penguin Random House. p. 47.
  6. ↑ "Humla Trekking Permit". Info Nepal Tours and Treks. 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  7. ↑ Bate, Tara (2022-07-15). "Competing perceptions of landscape in the Limi Valley: politics, ecology and pastoralism". European Bulletin of Himalayan Research (58). doi: 10.4000/ebhr.490 . ISSN   0943-8254.
  8. ↑ "Monasteries in the region of Purang" . Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  9. ↑ Goldstein, Melvyn (1975). "A Report on the Limi Panchayat, Humla District, Karnali Zone" (PDF). Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  10. ↑ Saxer, Martin (2013). "Between China and Nepal: Trans-Himalayan Trade and the Second Life of Development in Upper Humla". Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review. 2 (2): 424–446. doi:10.1353/ach.2013.0015. ISSN   2158-9674. S2CID   144666817.
  11. ↑ Yeh, Emily T. (2021-05-03). ""The land belonged to Nepal but the people belonged to Tibet": Overlapping sovereignties and mobility in the Limi Valley Borderland". Geopolitics. 26 (3): 919–945. doi:10.1080/14650045.2019.1628018. ISSN   1465-0045. S2CID   197727669.
  12. ↑ Hovden, Astrid; Havnevik, Hanna (2021), "Balancing the sacred landscape: environmental management in Limi, North-Western Nepal", Cosmopolitical Ecologies Across Asia, pp. 83–101, doi:10.4324/9781003036272-4, ISBN   9781003036272, S2CID   239514686 , retrieved 2022-08-04
  13. ↑ Pandey, Abhimanyu; Pradhan, Nawraj; Chaudhari, Swapnil; Ghate, Rucha (2017-01-02). "Withering of traditional institutions? An institutional analysis of the decline of migratory pastoralism in the rangelands of the Kailash Sacred Landscape, western Himalayas". Environmental Sociology. 3 (1): 87–100. doi: 10.1080/23251042.2016.1272179 .
  14. ↑ Bubriski, Kevin; Pandey, Abhimanyu (2018). Kailash Yatra: a Long Walk to Mt Kailash through Humla. Penguin Random House.
  15. ↑ "Mimi Church and Mariette Wiebenga: A four-fold Vairocana in the Rinchen Zangpo tradition at Halji in Nepal". asianart.com. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  16. ↑ Bubriski, Kevin; Pandey, Abhimanyu (2018). Kailash Yatra: a Long Walk to Mount Kailash through Humla. New Delhi: Penguin Random House. p. 1.
  17. ↑ "Limi-Lapcha could be an alternative route to Kailash Manasarovar". thehimalayantimes.com. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  18. ↑ "Limi Valley: A threatened Shangri-La for wildlife (commentary)". Mongabay Environmental News. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  19. ↑ "Wolf Research Expedition to Humla western Nepal 2015 | Himalayan Wolves Project" . Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  20. ↑ "Mammals - Bos mutus" . Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  21. ↑ "'Extinct' wild yak found in Humla: Study". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  22. ↑ Acharya, Raju; Ghimirey, Yadav (2016). "The remote trans-Himalayan landscapes of Limi valley, Humla district, north-west Nepal". BirdingASIA (26): 91–98.
  23. ↑ Crews, Chris (2015-01-08). "When the Anthropocene Came to Halji" . Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  24. ↑ Vallangi, Neelima. "Climate change threatens 1,000-year-old monastery in remote Nepal". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  25. ↑ "The Hidden Himalayas - Path to Shangri-La". ECS NEPAL. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  26. ↑ "Limi Valley: A threatened Shangri-La for wildlife (commentary)". Mongabay Environmental News. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  27. ↑ "Program Descriptions". Upaya Zen Center. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  28. ↑ "Religious tourism key to Nepal's economy, says Sadhguru". thehimalayantimes.com. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.