1.
Languages of Nepal
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The 2011 National census lists 123 Nepalese languages spoken as a mother tongue in Nepal. Most belong to the Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan language families, the official language of Nepal is Nepali, formerly called Khaskura then Gorkhali. According to the 2011 national census, the percentage of Nepali Bhasi people is about 44. 6%, maithili is the second largest Nepalese language and according to 2011 Census, the percentage of Maithil people is 11. 57%. Three quarters of the 123 languages native to Nepal belong to the Tibeto-Burman language family, this includes Nepal Bhasa, the Dravidian languages are represented by Kurux, and the Munda languages of the Austroasiatic family by Santali and Mundari. The indigenous languages of Nepal that predated the influx of Indic, Tibeto-Burman, and other families barely survive in the Kusunda language, which is nearly extinct today. Nepal also has at several indigenous village sign languages, Jhankot Sign Language, Jumla Sign Language, and Ghandruk Sign Language, in addition to the Nepali Sign Language designed for national use
2.
Maithili language
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Maithili is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Mithila region which is today mainly situated in northern Bihar of India and a few districts of the Nepal Terai. It is one of the largest languages in India and the second largest language in Nepal, less commonly, it was written with a Maithili variant of Kaithi, a script used to transcribe other neighboring languages such as Bhojpuri, Magahi, and Awadhi. In 2002, Maithili was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which allows it to be used in education, government and it is recognized as one of the largest languages in India and is the second most widely used language in Nepal. In 2007, Maithili was included in the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063, Part 1, in the past, Maithili was written primarily in Mithilakshar, but today it is written in the Devanagari script. Native speakers are referred to as Maithils, Madhubani and Darbhanga constitute cultural and linguistic centers. Native speakers also reside in Delhi, Kolkata, Ranchi and Mumbai, in Nepal, Maithili is spoken mainly in the Outer Terai districts including Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusa, Sunsari, Siraha and Saptari Districts. Janakpur is an important linguistic centre of Maithili, in the 19th century, linguistic scholars considered Maithili as a dialect of Eastern Hindi languages and grouped it with other languages spoken in Bihar. Hoernlé compared it with Gaudian languages and recognised that it shows similarities with Bengali languages than with Hindi. Grierson recognized it as a language and published the first grammar in 1881. Chatterji grouped Maithili with Magadhi Prakrit, the standard form of Maithili is spoken in Darbhanga and Madhubani districts in Bihar, India. Several geographic variations of Maithili dialects are spoken in India and Nepal, including Dehati, Some dialects such as Bantar, Barmeli, Musar and Tati are spoken only in Nepal, while the Kortha, Jolaha and Thetiya dialects are spoken in India. All the dialects are intelligible to native Maithili speakers, other dialects include, Thēthi is spoken between the western part of the Mahottari and the eastern part of the Sarlahi districts of Nepal, and in adjacent areas in Bihar. The Madhubani dialect spoken in north India is generally considered to be the standard form, central Maithili is also considered as the standard form. The Kulhaiya dialect is spoken in most of north-eastern Bihar, Maithili dates back to the 14th century. The Varna Ratnākara is the earliest known text, preserved from 1507. The name Maithili is derived from the word Mithila, an ancient kingdom of which King Janaka was the ruler, Maithili is also one of the names of Sita, the wife of King Rama and daughter of King Janaka. Scholars in Mithila used Sanskrit for their work and Maithili was the language of the common folk. In 1324, Ghyasuddin Tughluq, the emperor of Delhi invaded Mithila, defeated Harasimhadeva, entrusted Mithila to his family priest Kameshvar Jha, a Maithil Brahmin of the Oinwar dynasty
3.
Nepali language
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Nepali, originally known as Khas Kura, Parbate Bhasa or Gorkhali, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal. It is also spoken in parts of India, particularly by Indian Gorkha. In India, Nepali language is listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India having a status in the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepali developed in proximity to a number of Indo-Aryan languages, most notably the Pahari languages and Magahi, however, owing to Nepals geographical area, it has also been influenced by Tibeto-Burman languages. Nepali is mainly differentiated from Central Pahari, both in grammar and vocabulary, by Tibeto-Burman idioms owing to close contact with the language group. Nepali language shares 40% lexical similarity with the Bengali language, in the nineteenth century, the British resident at Kathmandu Brian Houghton Hodgson observed that it was, in eight-tenths of its vocabulary, substantially Hindi. Historically, the language was first called the Khas language, then Gorkhali or Gurkhali before the term Nepali was adopted, in 1920, during Rana regime in Nepal, the term Nepal which resembled the Nepal Mandala was taken from its people. Soon after that, Nepal Bhasa was renamed into Newari and Parbate/Khas language took over as Nepali language, other names include Parbatiya and Dzongkha Lhotshammikha. It is also known as the Khey language or Partya language among the Newar people and Pahari language among Madhesi, however, due to protests for identity, Newars have restored their languages name as Nepal Bhasa and voices have been raise to re-instate Parbate language in its original name. Nepali developed a significant literature within a period of a hundred years in the 19th century. This literary explosion was fueled by Adhyatma Ramayana, Sundarananda Bara, Birsikka, a collection of folk tales. The contribution of trio-laureates Lekhnath Paudyal, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, the contribution of expatriate writers outside Nepal, especially in Darjeeling and Varanasi in India, is also notable. In the past decade, there have been many contributions to Nepali literature from the Nepali diaspora in Asia, Europe, America, according to the 2011 national census,44.6 percent of the population of Nepal speaks Nepali as a first language. The Ethnologue website reports 12,300,000 speakers within Nepal, Nepali is traditionally spoken in the Hill Region of Nepal, especially in the western part of the country. Although the Newar language dominated the Kathmandu valley, Nepali is currently the most dominant, Nepali is used in government and as the everyday language of a growing portion of the local population. Nevertheless, the use of Nepali in the courts and government of Nepal is being challenged. Recognition of other languages in Nepal was one of the objectives of the Communist Party of Nepals long war
4.
Province No. 2
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Mithila is a proposed state of Nepal located in Madhesh belt or eastern Terai plains. It is the Maithili-speaking area of Nepal including 13 district of Nepal bordering from current Parsa to Jhapa District of Nepal. The people here share cultural and marriage ties with Mithila, India, the region is surrounded by, The foot of the Himalaya Mountains to the North. The international border with India to the South, the East Champaran of India to the West. The Kishanganj district and Darjeeling district of India to the east, the region contains a total of 948 VDCs, including 14 municipalities. The province covers about 14,058.7 km2. of Nepals total area of 147,181 km2, with an estimated 6.65 million inhabitants, it is by far the most populous of the new proposed provinces. Janakpurdham lies 25 kilometres south of the East-West Highway, at its eastern end this road joins an Tribhuvan Highway that connects it to Kathmandu, the capital city of the country and Pokhara. At its western end it enters the Lumbini state of the country which links to Nepalgunj and Birgunj. The Mahendra Highway is the longest in the country, at 1,000 kilometres, a few other railway projects are under progress in the Mithila region of Nepal. All these projects are of Nepal Railways, Simara Airport in Pipara Simara close to Birganj. Nijgadh International Airport in Bara district, the following are notable residents of Mithila. Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, was born in Dhanusa District of Mithila region in Nepal and he is the current President of Nepal. He was elected in July 2008 and is the countrys first President and he previously served as Minister of Health and as General Secretary of the Nepali Congress party. Parmanand Jha was born in the Darbhanga District of Mithila region of India and he is the current Vice President of Nepal and a former Supreme Court judge. Madhav Kumar Nepal, was born in the Saptari District of Mithila region of Nepal and he is a Nepali politician who was Prime Minister of Nepal from 25 May 2009 until 6 February 2011. Nepal announced his resignation as Prime Minister on 30 June 2010 and he was previously the General Secretary of Communist Party of Nepal for 15 years
5.
Nepal
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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
6.
Janakpur, Nepal
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Janakpur is the capital of Dhanusa District in Nepal. The city is a centre for religious and cultural tourism, the city is also known as Janakpurdham, which was founded in the early 18th century. According to oral tradition, an earlier city existed in the area, also known as Janakpurdham, the city is located about 123 km south-east of Kathmandu. As of 2015, the city had a population of 169,287, the Nepal Railways operates between Janakpur and India. Accounts of ascetics, pandits and bards indicate that Janakpurdham was founded in the early 18th century, the earliest description of Janakpurdham as a pilgrimage site dates to 1805. Earlier archaeological evidence of the presence of an ancient city has not been found, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana, King Janak of Videhas palace was located in ancient Janakpur, the capital of the Videha Kingdom. He is said to have found a girl in a furrow, called her Sita. When she was older, he offered her in marriage to anyone who was able to lift the bow of Shiva, many royal suitors tried, but only Rama, prince of Ayodhya, could lift the bow. According to an old song, this bow was found northeast of Janakpur, until the 1950s, Janakpur was a cluster of rural hamlets inhabited by farmers, artisans, priests and clerks who worked for the monasteries that controlled the land. After independence in India, Janakpur expanded to a commercial centre, as Rama and Sita are major figures in Hinduism, Janakpur is an important pilgrimage site for Hindus all over the world. As Gotama Rahugana composed many hymns of the Rigveda, these events must date to the Regvedic period, gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th and final Tirthankara of the Jain religion, are said to have lived in Janakpur. The region was an important centre for history of Mithila during the first millennium, the major rivers surrounding Janakpur are Dudhmati, Jalad, Rato, Balan and Kamala. Janakpur is one of the fast developing cities of Nepal, and is the fifth city of Nepal. The city has good health care facilities, and a number of parks as well as private schools, colleges. There are medical and engineering colleges which are affiliated to the Tribhuvan University, the economy is mostly based on tourism, agriculture and local industries. The paintings on pottery, walls and courtyards made by Maithili women are known as Madhubani art, Janakpur attracts migrants from the surrounding area, moving to the city for medical care, education and jobs. The largest employer was the Janakpur Cigarette Factory Limited and Janakpur Railway until 2013, Nepal Railways is the only operational railway in Nepal. It connects Janakpur to the Indian border at Siraha on the Nepal side with a checkpoint for goods
7.
Shiva
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Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism, Shiva is the transformer within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In Shaivism tradition, Shiva is the Supreme being who creates, protects, in the goddess tradition of Hinduism called Shaktism, the goddess is described as supreme, yet Shiva is revered along with Vishnu and Brahma. A goddess is stated to be the energy and creative power of each and he is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. At the highest level, Shiva is regarded as formless, limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman, Shiva has many benevolent and fearsome depictions. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives a life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with wife Parvati. In his fierce aspects, he is depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi Shiva, regarded as the god of yoga, meditation. Shiva is usually worshipped in the form of Lingam. Shiva is a deity, revered widely by Hindus, in India, Nepal. The Sanskrit word Śiva means, states Monier Williams, auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, the roots of Śiva in folk etymology is śī which means in whom all things lie, pervasiveness and va which means embodiment of grace. The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda, as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, the term Shiva also connotes liberation, final emancipation and the auspicious one, this adjective sense of usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic layers of literature. The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics, Sharma presents another etymology with the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means to injure or to kill, interprets the name to connote one who can kill the forces of darkness. The Sanskrit word śaiva means relating to the god Shiva, and it is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism. Some authors associate the name with the Tamil word śivappu meaning red, noting that Shiva is linked to the Sun, the Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings, The Pure One, and the One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti. Shiva is known by names such Viswanathan, Mahadeva, Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra, Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha. The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva, Maheśvara, Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and epithets of a deity. There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, the version appearing in Book 13 of the Mahabharata provides one such list
8.
Maithils
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The Maithil homeland forms an important part of Hindu mythology as it is said to be the birthplace of Sita, the wife of Ram. Pure Maithil culture is said to be found in the villages of Madhubani district in Bihar, Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by Indo-Aryan peoples who established the Videha kingdom. During the late Vedic period, Videha became one of the political and cultural centers of South Asia, along with Kuru. The Kings of the Videha Kingdom where called Janakas, the Videha Kingdom later became incorporated into the Vajji confederacy which was based in Mithila. From the 11th century to the 20th century, Mithila was ruled by various indigenous dynasties, the first of these where the Karnatas who where of Parmar Rajput origin, the Oinwar dynasty who where Maithil Brahmins and the Khandavalas of Raj Darbhanga who where also Maithil Brahmins. It was during this period that the capital of Mithila was shifted to Darbhanga, Maithils are those who reside of North of the Ganges, based around Darbhanga and the rest of North Bihar. Maithili speaking districts that are inhabited by Maithils in India are Muzzafarpur, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Purnea, Madhepura, Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga in particular played an important role in the history of Mithila and is considered one of its core centers. It was the center of Raj Darbhanga who ruled most of the region, Madhubani was also where Madhubani paintings originated from which is a major part of Maithil culture. Sitamarhi is claimed by many to be the birthplace of Goddess Sita with Sitakund being a pilgrimage site. Most of the region from Jhapa to Parsa in Nepal form Nepalese Mithila and this area was part of the kingdom of Videha, with its capital at Janakpur. The kingdom appears in the Ramayana, according to it and other ancient texts, it is the birthplace of Janaka, many people claim Janakpur to be the birthplace of Goddess Sita also but this is disputed as many consider Sitamarhi as Her birthplace. Maithils in Nepal have been working towards a Free Maithil state, many ethnic groups and castes inhabit the Mithila region, these include Maithil Brahmins, Rajputs, Bhumihars, Karan Kayasthas, Ahirs, Kurmis, Koeris, Baniyas and many more. Maithil Brahmins are the Hindu Brahmin community of the Mithila region and they are one of the five Pancha-Gauda Brahmin communities. They are also noted for panjis, the genealogical records maintained for the last twenty-four generations. Rajputs are scattered throughout the region and are divided into various sub-clans with the most prominent being the Gandhawarias who ruled estates mainly in Saharsa, the Rajputs of Mithila maintain social and marital relations with Rajputs in other states. It is an ancient language, from which Nepali, Bengali, the script of the inscription is little different from modern Maithili script. However, during the 20th century most Maithili writers gradually adopted Devanagari script for Maithili, some traditional pandits still use Tirhutā or Mithilākshara script for pātā. Fonts for this script were developed in 2003, historically most Maithils never left their homeland – a life that kept them isolated in their own localities
9.
Geography of Nepal
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Nepal measures about 800 kilometers along its Himalayan axis by 150 to 250 kilometers across. Nepal has an area of 147,181 square kilometers, Nepal is landlocked by India on three sides and Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region to the north. West Bengals narrow Siliguri Corridor or Chickens Neck separate Nepal and Bangladesh, to the east are India and Bhutan. Nepal depends on India for goods facilities and access to the sea. For a small country, Nepal has tremendous geographic diversity, along a south-to-north transect, Nepal can be divided into three belts, Terai, Hill and Mountain Regions. In the other direction, it is divided into three major systems, from east to west, Koshi, Gandaki/Narayani and Karnali, all tributaries of the Ganges. The Ganges-Yarlung Zangbo/Brahmaputra watershed largely coincides with the Nepal-Tibet border, however several Ganges tributaries rise inside Tibet, the Terai or Madhesh region begins at the Indian border and includes the southernmost part of the flat, intensively farmed Gangetic Plain called the Outer Terai. By the 19th century, timber and other resources were being exported to India, the Outer Terai is culturally more similar to adjacent parts of Indias Bihar and Uttar Pradesh than to the hill region of Nepal. Nepali is taught in schools and often spoken in government offices, however the population mostly uses Maithali, Bhojpuri. The Outer Terai ends at the base of the first range of foothills called the Siwaliks or Churia and this range has a densely forested skirt of coarse alluvium called the bhabhar. Below the bhabhar, finer, less permeable sediments force groundwater to the surface in a zone of springs, in Persian, terai refers to wet or marshy ground. Before the use of DDT this was dangerously malarial, Nepals rulers used this for a defensive frontier called the char kose jhadi. Above the bhabhar belt, the Siwaliks rise to about 700 metres with peaks as high as 1,000 metres and this range is composed of poorly consolidated, coarse sediments that do not retain water or support soil development so there is virtually no agricultural potential and sparse population. In several places beyond the Siwaliks there are dūn valleys called Inner Terai and these valleys have productive soil but were dangerously malarial except to indigenous Tharu people who had genetic resistance. In the mid-1950s DDT came into use to suppress mosquitos and the way was open to settlement from the land-poor hills, the terai ends and the Hills begin at a higher range of foothills called the Mahabharat Range. Situated south of the Mountain Region, the Hill Region is mostly betw altitude. This region begins at the Mahabharat Range where a system called the Main Boundary Thrust creates an escarpment 1,000 to 1,500 metres high. These steep southern slopes are nearly uninhabited, thus an effective buffer between languages and culture in the Terai and Hill regions, Hindu Paharis mainly populate river and stream bottoms that enable rice cultivation and are warm enough for winter/spring crops of wheat and potato
10.
Tropical climate
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A tropical climate in the Köppen climate classification it is a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures of at least 18 °C. In tropical climates there is only two seasons, a wet season and a dry season. Tropical climates are frost-free and changes in the angle are small. In tropical climates temperature remains constant throughout the year. Within the tropical climate there are distinct varieties based on precipitation, In the Tropical rainforest climate. These climates usually occur within 5–10° latitude of the equator, in some eastern coast areas, they may extend to as much as over 26° away from the equator. This climate is dominated by the doldrums Low Pressure System all year round and it is dominated by the monsoon winds which change direction according to the seasons. This climate has a driest month with less than 60 millimetres. Examples, Southern part of Arabian Peninsula, mountaintops within the tropics, e. g. Mount Kenya, can be cold. However, like lowlands in the tropics, there is seasonal variation of temperature. Because of the effect of sun angle on climate most areas within the tropics are hot year-round, the ITCZ is shown, for July average, in the graphic. Areas of ascending air have heavy rainfall, areas of descending air are dry, the ITCZ somewhat follows the solar equator throughout the year, but with geographical variations, and in some areas is heavily influenced by local large-scale monsoons
Listen (help·info)), a part of Province No. 2, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal. The district, with Jaleshwar as its district headquarters, covers an area of 1,002 km² and had a population of 553,481 in 2001 and 627,580 in 2011.[1] Its headquarters is located in Jaleshwar, a neighbouring town of the historical city of Janakpur, the name Jaleshwar means the 'God in Water'. One can find a famous temple of Lord Shiva in Water there. Jaleshwar lies at a few kilometres distance from the Nepal-India border and has a majority Maithili population; in janakpur zone there are two districts ; mahottari and dhanusha and both are in a distance of 1 hour.
