1.
Tamang language
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Tamang is a term used to collectively refer to a dialect cluster spoken mainly in Nepal, Sikkim, West Bengal, Some parts of Assam and North East Region. It comprises Eastern Tamang, Northwestern Tamang, Southwestern Tamang, Eastern Gorkha Tamang, lexical similarity between Eastern Tamang and other Tamang languages varies between 81% to 63%. For comparison, lexical similarity between Spanish and Portuguese, is estimated at 89%, Tamang likely split from the Tibetan languages some time before the 7th century. Ethnologue divides Tamang into the following due to mutual unintelligibility. Outer-Eastern Tamang Central-Eastern Tamang Southwestern Tamang Western Tamang,323,000, trisuli Rasuwa Northwestern dialect of Western Tamang — separate ISO code. Spoken in the central strip of Nuwakot District, Bagmati Zone. Southwestern dialect of Western Tamang Eastern Gorkha Tamang,4,000, kasigaon Kerounja The Tamang language is the most widely spoken Sino-Tibetan language in Nepal. Ethnologue gives the location information for the varieties of Tamang. Tamangic languages use Tam-Yig which is similar to Tibetan scripts and Devanāgarī, in many situations, however, Tamang is written in Devanāgarī proper. Tamang Gurung Languages of Nepal Languages of Bhutan Counting in Tamang ELAR archive of Tamang
2.
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
3.
Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
4.
Hinduism
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Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
5.
Devanagari
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Devanagari, also called Nagari, is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written left to right, has a strong preference for symmetrical rounded shapes within squared outlines. The Nagari script has roots in the ancient Brāhmī script family, the Nagari script was in regular use by the 7th century CE and it was fully developed by about the end of first millennium. Nagari has been the primus inter pares of the Indic scripts, the Devanagari script is also used for classical Sanskrit texts. The Devanagari script is closely related to the Nandinagari script commonly found in ancient manuscripts of South India. Devanagari script has forty-seven primary characters, of which fourteen are vowels, the ancient Nagari script for Sanskrit had two additional consonantal characters. The script has no distinction similar to the capital and small letters of the Latin alphabet, generally the orthography of the script reflects the pronunciation of the language. Devanagari is part of the Brahmic family of scripts of India, Nepal, Tibet and it is a descendant of the Gupta script, along with Siddham and Sharada. Medieval inscriptions suggest widespread diffusion of the Nagari-related scripts, with biscripts presenting local script along with the adoption of Nagari scripts, the 7th-century Tibetan king Srong-tsan-gambo ordered that all foreign books be transcribed into the Tibetan language. Other closely related scripts such as Siddham Matrka was in use in Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Sharada remained in parallel use in Kashmir. Nāgarī is the Sanskrit feminine of Nāgara relating or belonging to a town or city and it is a phrasing with lipi as nāgarī lipi script relating to a city, or spoken in city. The use of the name devanāgarī is relatively recent, and the older term nāgarī is still common, the rapid spread of the term devanāgarī may be related to the almost exclusive use of this script to publish Sanskrit texts in print since the 1870s. As a Brahmic abugida, the principle of Devanagari is that each letter represents a consonant. This is usually written in Latin as a, though it is represented as in the International Phonetic Alphabet, the letter क is read ka, the two letters कन are kana, the three कनय are kanaya, etc. This cancels the inherent vowel, so that from क्नय knaya is derived क्नय् knay, the halant is often used for consonant clusters when typesetting conjunct ligatures is not feasible. Consonant clusters are written with ligatures, for example, the three consonants क्, न्, and य्, when written consecutively without virāma form कनय, as shown above. Alternatively, they may be joined as clusters to form क्नय knaya, कन्य kanya and this system was originally created for use with the Middle Indo-Aryan languages, which have a very limited number of clusters. When applied to Sanskrit, however, it added a deal of complexity to the script
6.
Tibeto-Burman
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The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages, namely Burmese and the Tibetic languages. These languages also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 12th and 7th centuries respectively, most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail. Some taxonomies divide Sino-Tibetan into Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman branches, however, other scholars deny that Tibeto-Burman comprises a monophyletic group. Van Driem argues that the Sino-Tibetan family should be called Tibeto-Burman, others exclude a relationship with Chinese altogether. During the 18th century, several scholars noticed parallels between Tibetan and Burmese, both languages with extensive literary traditions, others identified related languages in the highlands of southeast Asia and southwest China. The name Tibeto-Burman was first applied to this group in 1856 by James Logan, the third volume of the Linguistic Survey of India was devoted to the Tibeto-Burman languages of British India. Julius Klaproth had noted in 1823 that Burmese, Tibetan and Chinese all shared common basic vocabulary, several authors, including Ernst Kuhn in 1883 and August Conrady in 1896, described an Indo-Chinese family consisting of two branches, Tibeto-Burman and Chinese-Siamese. The Tai languages were included on the basis of vocabulary and typological features shared with Chinese, jean Przyluski introduced the term sino-tibétain as the title of his chapter on the group in Antoine Meillet and Marcel Cohens Les Langues du Monde in 1924. The Tai languages have not been included in most Western accounts of Sino-Tibetan since the Second World War, the link to Chinese is now accepted by most linguists, with a few exceptions such as Roy Andrew Miller and Christopher Beckwith. More recent controversy has centred on the proposed primary branching of Sino-Tibetan into Chinese, most of the Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken in inaccessible mountain areas and many are unwritten, which has greatly hampered their study. It is generally easier to identify a language as Tibeto-Burman than to determine its precise relationship with other languages of the group. These subgroups are here surveyed on a geographical basis, the southernmost group are the Karen languages, spoken by three million people on both sides of the Burma–Thailand border. They differ from all other Tibeto-Burman languages in having a word order, attributed to contact with Tai–Kadai. The most widely spoken Tibeto-Burman language is Burmese, the language of Myanmar, with over 32 million speakers. All languages of the Loloish subgroup show significant Austroasiatic influence, the Pai-lang songs, transcribed in Chinese characters in the 1st century, appear to record words from a Lolo-Burmese language, but arranged in Chinese order. The Tibeto-Burman languages of southwest China have been influenced by Chinese over a long period. The grouping of the Bai language, with one million speakers in Yunnan, is particularly controversial, the Naxi language of northern Yunnan is usually included in Lolo-Burmese, though other scholars prefer to leave it unclassified. The hills of northwestern Sichuan are home to the small Qiangic and Rgyalrongic groups of languages, the most easterly Tibeto-Burman language is Tujia, spoken in the Wuling Mountains on the borders of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Chongqing
7.
Sikkim
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Sikkim is a northeastern state of India. It borders China in its north and east, Bhutan in its east, Nepal in its west, Sikkim is also located close to the Siliguri Corridor near Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states, Sikkims capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 25% of the state is covered by the Khangchendzonga National Park, the Kingdom of Sikkim was founded on the Silk Road by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century. It was ruled by a Buddhist priest-king known as the Chogyal, once a vassal state of Qing China, it became a princely state of British India in 1890. After the Peoples Republic of China invaded Tibet, Sikkim continued its status with the dominion. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita income among Himalayan states, in 1975, the Indian military deposed the Sikkimese monarchy. A referendum in 1975 led to Sikkim joining India as its 22nd state, modern Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual Indian state. Sikkim has 11 official languages, Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha, Tamang, Limbu, Newari, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Sunwar, English is taught in schools and used in government documents. The predominant religions are Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, Sikkims economy is largely dependent on agriculture and tourism, and as of 2014 the state had the third-smallest GDP among Indian states, although it is also among the fastest-growing. Sikkim accounts for the largest share of production in India. It is the most organic farming state in India and it is also among Indias most environmentally conscious states, having banned plastic water bottles and styrofoam products. The most widely accepted theory of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two Limbu words, su, which means new, and khyim, which means palace or house. The name is believed to be a reference to the built by the states first ruler. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Drenjong, which means valley of rice, while the Bhutias call it Beyul Demazong, the Lepcha people, the original inhabitants of Sikkim, called it Nye-mae-el, meaning paradise. In History, Sikkim is known as Indrakil, the garden of the war god Indra, little is known about Sikkims ancient history, beyond the fact that its original inhabitants were the Lepcha. The earliest historical mention of Sikkim is a record of the passage of the Buddhist saint Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later. According to legend, Khye Bumsa, a 14th-century prince from the Minyak House in Kham in eastern Tibet, Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son, Tensung Namgyal, who moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse
8.
Darjeeling district
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Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its stations and Darjeeling tea. Kurseong, Siliguri and Mirik, three major towns in the district, are the subdivisional headquarters of the district. Kalimpong was one of the subdivisions but on 14 February 2017, geographically, the district can be divided into two broad divisions, the hills and the plains. The entire hilly region of the district comes under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and this body covers the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik and the district of Kalimpong. The foothills of Darjeeling Himalayas, which comes under the Siliguri subdivision, is known as the Terai, the district is bounded on the north by Sikkim, on the south by Kishanganj district of Bihar state, on the east by Kalimpong district and on the west by Nepal. Darjeeling district has a length from north to south of 18 miles, as of 2011, it was the second least populous district of West Bengal, after Dakshin Dinajpur. The name Darjeeling comes from the Tibetan words, Dorje and Ling, meaning the land of the thunderbolt, the history of Darjeeling district is linked to that of the Sikkim, East India Company, Nepal and Bhutan. Most of Darjeeling formed a part of dominions of the Chogyal of Sikkim, from 1780, the Gorkhas made several attempts to capture the entire region of Darjeeling. By the beginning of 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai, in the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from over-running the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas, according to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company. In 1835, the hill of Darjeeling, including an enclave of 138 square miles, was given to the British East India Company by Sikkim. In November 1864, the Treaty of Sinchula was executed in which the Bhutan Dooars with the passes leading into the hills, the Darjeeling district can be said to have assumed its present shape and size in 1866 with an area of 1234 sq. miles. Before 1861 and from 1870–1874, Darjeeling District was a Non-Regulated Area, from 1862 to 1870, it was considered a Regulated Area. The phrase Non-Regulated Area was changed to Scheduled District in 1874, the status was known as Partially Excluded Area from 1935 until the independence of India. On 14 February 2017, Kalimpong district was carved out of Darjeeling district, the movement reached its peak around 1986-1988 but ended with the establishment of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988. The hill areas of Darjeeling enjoyed some measure of autonomy under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, however, the demand for full statehood within India has emerged once again, with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha as its chief proponent. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration replaced the DGHC in August 2012 after the GJM signed an agreement with the government, the Darjeeling hill area is formed of comparatively recent rock structure that has a direct bearing on landslides
9.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
10.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
11.
April 2015 Nepal earthquake
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The April 2015 Nepal earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and injured nearly 22,000. It occurred at 11,56 Nepal Standard Time on 25 April, with a magnitude of 7. 8Mw or 8. 1Ms and its epicenter was east of Gorkha District at Barpak, Gorkha, and its hypocenter was at a depth of approximately 8.2 km. It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, the earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing 21, making April 25,2015 the deadliest day on the mountain in history. The earthquake triggered another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing, hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless with entire villages flattened, across many districts of the country. Geophysicists and other experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to an earthquake, particularly because of its geology, urbanization. Continued aftershocks occurred throughout Nepal at the intervals of 15–20 minutes, the country also had a continued risk of landslides. A major aftershock occurred on 12 May 2015 at 12,50 NST with a moment magnitude of 7.3, the epicenter was near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mt. Everest. More than 200 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured by this aftershock, the earthquake occurred on 25 April 2015 at 11,56 a. m. NST at a depth of approximately 15 km, with its epicentre approximately 34 km east-southeast of Lamjung, Nepal, the earthquake was initially reported as 7.5 Mw by the United States Geological Survey before it was quickly upgraded to 7.8 Mw. The China Earthquake Networks Center reported the earthquakes magnitude to be 8.1 Ms, the India Meteorological Department said two powerful quakes were registered in Nepal at 06,11 UTC and 06,45 UTC. The first quake measured 7.8 Mw and its epicenter was identified at a distance of 80 km to the northwest of Kathmandu, bharatpur was the nearest major city to the main earthquake,53 km from the epicenter. The second earthquake was somewhat less powerful at 6.6 Mw and it occurred 65 km east of Kathmandu and its seismic focus lay at a depth of 10 km below the earths surface. Over thirty-eight aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 Mw or greater occurred in the day following the initial earthquake, Kathmandu, situated on a block of crust approximately 120 km wide and 60 km long, reportedly shifted 3 m to the south in a matter of just 30 seconds. The risk of an earthquake was well known beforehand. In 2013, in an interview with seismologist Vinod Kumar Gaur, The Hindu quoted him as saying, Calculations show that there is sufficient accumulated energy, now to produce an 8 magnitude earthquake. It may not happen tomorrow, but it could possibly happen sometime this century, geologically, the Nepal Himalayas are sub-divided into five tectonic zones from north to south and, east to west and almost parallel to sub-parallel. These five distinct morpho-geotectonic zones are, Terai Plain, Sub Himalaya, Lesser Himalaya, Higher Himalaya, each of these zones is clearly identified by their morphological, geological, and tectonic features. The convergence rate between the plates in central Nepal is about 45 mm per year, the location, magnitude, and focal mechanism of the earthquake suggest that it was caused by a slip along the Main Frontal Thrust
12.
Mongol National Organisation
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Mongol National Organisation is a political party in Nepal. Unlike most other movements, MNO emphazises racial identity rather than ethnicity. The party claims to work for the interests of the Mongol racial groups in Nepal, if this is correct, its a mystery how they originally migrated there centuries ago from far off lands. Other minor groups like lowland Munda people are in fact confirmed as Austroasiatic, the party was denied registration in 1990, but was registered with the Election Commission of Nepal ahead of the 2008 Constituent Assembly election. Albeit unregistered, the party launched independent candidates in the 1991,1994 and 1999 parliamentary elections in Ilam, in the 2008 CA polls, he party got 11,578 votes in the proportional representation vote. Whilst unsuccessful in elections, the party has now village level seats in Ilam District
13.
Self-determination
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The right of peoples to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law, binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter’s norms. The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, nor what the outcome should be, whether it be independence, federation, protection, neither does it state what the delimitation between peoples should be—nor what constitutes a people. There are conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination, National aspirations must be respected, people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. Self determination is not a phrase, it is an imperative principle of action. By extension the term self-determination has come to mean the free choice of ones own acts without external compulsion, during, and after, the Industrial Revolution many groups of people recognized their shared history, geography, language, and customs. Such groups often pursued independence and sovereignty over territory, but sometimes a different sense of autonomy has been pursued or achieved, the world possessed several traditional, continental empires such as the Ottoman, Russian, Austrian/Habsburg, and the Qing Empire. During the early 19th century, competition in Europe produced multiple wars, after this conflict, the British Empire became dominant and entered its imperial century, while nationalism became a powerful political ideology in Europe. Later, after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, New Imperialism was unleashed with France and later Germany establishing colonies in Asia, the Pacific, Japan also emerged as a new power. The Ottoman Empire, Austrian Empire, Russian Empire, Qing Empire, all ignored notions of self-determination for those governed. The French Revolution was motivated similarly and legitimatized the ideas of self-determination on that Old World continent, within the New World during the early 19th century, most of the nations of Spanish America achieved independence from Spain. The United States supported that status, as policy in the relative to European colonialism. Such support, however, never became official government policy, due to balancing of other national interests, meanwhile, in Europe itself there was a rise of nationalism, with nations such as Greece, Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria seeking or winning their independence. Karl Marx supported such nationalism, believing it might be a condition to social reform. In 1914 Vladimir Lenin wrote, would be wrong to interpret the right to self-determination as meaning anything, woodrow Wilson revived Americas commitment to self-determination, at least for European states, during World War I. When the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia in November 1917 and they also supported the right of all nations, including colonies, to self-determination. The 1918 Constitution of the Soviet Union acknowledged the right of secession for its constituent republics and this presented a challenge to Wilsons more limited demands. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 led to Russias exit from the war, however, this imposition of states where some nationalities were given power over nationalities who disliked and distrusted them eventually helped lead to World War II. Also Germany lost land after WWI, Northern Slesvig voted to return to Denmark after a referendum, the League of Nations was proposed as much as a means of consolidating these new states, as a path to peace
14.
Kirati people
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The Kirat or Kirati or Kiranti or Kirant people are indigenous ethnic groups of the Himalayas extending eastward from Nepal into India, Bangladesh, Burma and beyond. They migrated to their present locations via Assam, Burma, Tibet and their languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. The original inhabitants of the Dooars region of India, the Koch Rajbongshi and Mech and they derive their titles from the original place of their dwelling, Koch from the Koshi river, Mech from the Mechi River and Kachari is derived from Kachar, which means river basin. The basis of these claims relies on the fact that they are Mongoloids, the source of the word Kirat or Kirati is much disputed. One school of thought says that it comes from the Sanskrit word Kirata found in the Yajurveda, they are described as the mountain people. It is also described as Chinese in the Mahabharata, Kirtarjuniya, there are four different groups of Kirati tribes, including Himalayan Kiratis, Tibetan-Himalayan, Khas-Kiratis and the Kacharis of South Asian region. Their populations are such largest comparing to any ethnic groups of South Asia. C. According to Gopalvansavali,32 Kirat Kings ruled in the Kathmandu valley for 1963 years 8 months, the Lichhavi dynasty dethroned the Kirat rulers in 158AD. This means that Kirat King Yalambars reign started BC1779.8, if we calculate current 2017 +1779.8 =3796 is the Kirati new year in Maghe Sakranti in AD2017. New year is celebrated in Maghe Sakranti which is around mid-January, kirātas are mentioned in early Sanskrit literature as hunter tribes from the Himalayas. They are first mentioned in the Yajurveda, and in the Atharvaveda and they are often mentioned along with the Cinas Chinese. Hindu myth also has many incidents where the god Shiva imitates a married Kirati girl who later become Parvati. In Yoga Vasistha 1.15.5, Rama speaks of kirāteneva vāgurā a trap by Kiratas, so about 10th century BCE, they were thought of as jungle trappers, the ones who dug pits to capture roving deer. The same text also speaks of King Suraghu, the head of the Kiratas who is a friend of the Persian King, another wave of political and cultural conflict between Khas and Kirat ideals surfaced in the Kirat region of present-day Nepal during the last quarter of the 18th century. A collection of manuscripts from the 18th and 19th centuries, till now unpublished and unstudied by historians, have made possible a new understanding of this conflict. For over two millennia, a portion of the eastern Himalaya has been identified as the home of the Kirat people, of which the majority are known today as Limbu, Newar, Sunuwar, Rai. In ancient times, the entire Himalayan region was known as the Kimpurusha Desha and these people were also known as Nep, to which the name Nepala and Newar are believed to have an etymological link. The earliest references to the Kirat as principal inhabitants of the Himalayan region are found in the texts of Atharvashirsha and Mahabharata, for over a millennium, the Kirat had also inhabited the Kathmandu Valley, where they installed their own ruling dynasty
15.
Bandh
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Bandh, originally a Urdu word meaning closed, is a form of protest used by political activists in South Asian countries such as India and Nepal. It is similar to a general strike, during a bandh, a political party or a community declares a general strike. A Bharatha bandh is a call for a bandh across India, often, it is going to be the best community or political party declaring a bandh expects the general public to stay in at home and not report to work. Most affected are shopkeepers who are expected to keep their shops closed, as well as public transport operators of buses and cabs who are expected to stay off the road, there have been instances when large metro cities have been brought to a standstill. A bandh is a means of civil disobedience. Because of the impact of a bandh on the local community. Burglary, forced closures, arson attacks, stoning, and clashes between the organizers and the police are common during the period of closure. The Supreme Court of India opposed against any sort of hooliganism in the name of bandh in 1998, but political parties still organize them. In 2004, the Supreme Court of India fined two political parties, Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena, for organizing a bandh in Mumbai as a protest against bomb blasts in the city, government of West Bengal also baned bandh often conducted by communist party of India. Bandh was a phenomenon by congress party in many states where they are in opposition. The National Democratic Alliance and 13 non-UPA parties called for a bandh on July 5,2010. This bandh prevented Indians from carrying out tasks, especially in states that were ruled by the NDA. In Nepal, calls for bandhs have increased due to political instability, bharat bandh was called by the opposition party NDA on 31 May 2012, to protest against a steep hike in petrol prices. In 2016, Kashmir, Gujarat and Karnataka are the states which are affected by frequent Bandhs. Gherao Hartal Strike action List of Bandh in India Political activism in Kerala Johari, chapter 20, Techniques of Pressure Politics
16.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
17.
Limbuwan
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Limbuwan is an area of the Himalaya historically made up of 10 Limbu kingdoms, all now part of Nepal. Limbuwan means abode of the Limbus or Land of the Limbus, Limbus themselves call Limbuwan Yakthung Laaje or the country of the Yakthungs. Today, Limbuwan comprises the districts of Taplejung, Panchthar, Ilam, Jhapa, Terhathum, Sankhuwasabha, Dhankuta, Sunsari, Limbuwan is the land east of the Arun and Koshi Rivers and west of Kanchenjunga Mountain and the Mechi River. The seat of power in Kathmandu and western Nepalese refer to Limbuwan as the Pallo Kirant region or far Kirant, the Ten Kings of Limbus came together to formally declare all the ten kingdoms between the Arun River and Teesta River to be called Yakthung Laaje. The ten rulers, their kingdoms and their forts, Samlupi Samba Hang, King of Tambar, sisiyen Shering Hang, King of Mewa and Maiwa kingdoms and his capital Meringden Yiok. Thoktokso Angbo Hang, King of Athraya and his capital Pomajong, thindolung Khokya Hang, King of Yangwarok and his capital Hastapojong Yiok Yengaso Papo Hang, King of Panthar and his capital at Yashok and Pheden. Shengsengum Phedap Hang, King of Phedap and his capital at Poklabung, mung Tai Chi Emay Hang, King of Ilam and his capital at Phakphok. Soiyak Lado Hang, King of Bodhey and his capital at Shanguri Yiok, tappeso Perung Hang, King of Thala and his capital at Thala Yiok. Taklung Khewa Hang, King of Chethar and his capital at Chamling Chimling Yiok, after a brief period, King Mawrong Hang came to prominence and took over Terai lands of Chethar, Bodhey, Panthar and Ilam. He named his Kingdom Morang after his name and rose to power and he subdued all the Ten Limbu Kings of Limbuwan and became their overlord. He died without any heir and King Uba Hang took over as supreme ruler of Limbuwan in 849 AD-865 AD. He made many religious and social reforms in Limbuwan, Uba Hangs worthy son Mabo Hang succeeded him in 865 AD and ruled till 880 AD. Uba hang kept on with the reforms his father had started, Uba Hang was succeeded by his son Muda Hang. Muda Hang was a weak ruler so the local chiefs started ruling their areas independently, Muda Hang was succeeded by his son Wedo Hang, by this time Limbuwan was in chaos and every principality was ruling independently and fighting with each other. Wedo hang was murdered and his son Chemjonghang succeeded, during this chaos and the waning phase of King Chemjong hang, King Sirijonga of Yangwarok kingdom rose to power. He subdued all the independent rulers and took over as the new ruler of Limbuwan. He built two big forts in Phedap and Chainpur, the remains of the structure still stand today. One of legacy was that he brought all the Limbus under the writing system in Limbu script
18.
Gorkhaland
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In 1929, the Hillmens Association again raised the same demand before the Simon Commission. In 1947, the undivided Communist Party of India submitted a memorandum to the Constituent Assembly with copies to Pt. B, Gurung, the party met Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India in Kalimpong and submitted a memorandum demanding the separation from Bengal. In 1980, under the presidency of Indra Bahadur Rai, the Pranta Parishad of Darjeeling wrote to the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi with the need to form a new state in Darjeeling. A new violent movement for a state of Gorkhaland was started in 1986 by Gorkha National Liberation Front led by Subhash Ghisingh. The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of a body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council to govern certain areas of Darjeeling district. However, in 2007, a new party called the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha raised the demand for a state of Gorkhaland once again. Before the 1780s, the area of Darjeeling formed a part of dominions of the Chogyal of Sikkim, around 1780, the Gorkhas invaded Sikkim and captured most part of it, which included Darjeeling and Siliguri. By the beginning of the 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai, in the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from overrunning the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas, according to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories that the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company. The controversy did not end there, in 1835, the hill of Darjeeling, including an enclave of 138 square miles, was given to the British East India Company by Sikkim, executed with a Deed of Grant. The present Darjeeling district can be said to have assumed its present shape, prior to 1861 and from 1870–1874, Darjeeling District was a Non-Regulated Area. From 1862 to 1870, it was considered a Regulated Area, the term Non-Regulated Area was changed to Scheduled District in 1874 and again to Backward Tracts in 1919. The status was known as Partially Excluded Area from 1935 until the independence of India, the demand took a violent turn, which led to the death of over 1,200 people. This movement culminated with the formation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988, the DGHC administered the Darjeeling hills for 23 years with some degree of autonomy. The fourth DGHC elections were due in 2004, however, the government decided not to hold elections and instead made Subhash Ghisingh the sole caretaker of the DGHC till a new Sixth Schedule tribal council was established. Resentment among the councillors of DGHC grew rapidly. Among them, Bimal Gurung, once the trusted aide of Ghising and he went on to found the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha raising the demand a state of Gorkhaland. GJM supported the candidature of Jaswant Singh of BJP, who won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat with 51. 5% votes in his favour
19.
Siliguri Corridor
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The kingdom of Bhutan lies on the northern side of the corridor. The Siliguri Corridor was created in 1947 after the partition of Bengal between India and Pakistan, although the Siliguri Corridor is an especially important and sensitive territory for India, its location has created a political reality that is also important for Bangladesh. The partition of India into India and Pakistan occurred as a result of hostility between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League, from the very beginning, the relationship between these two new states was marked by hostilities and confrontations. The formation of East Pakistan created a barrier to the northeastern part of India. The narrow Siliguri Corridor, which at one point is less than 17 miles wide, wedged between Bangladesh to the south and west and hostile China to the north, the region has no access to the sea closer than Kolkata, on the other side of the corridor. Between Sikkim and Bhutan lies the Chumbi Valley, a slice of Tibetan territory. A Chinese military advance of less than 80 miles would cut off Bhutan, part of West Bengal and all of North-East India and this situation arose during the war between India and China in 1962. As a sensitive area amidst three countries, the strip is heavily patrolled by the Indian Army, the Assam Rifles, the Border Security Force and the West Bengal Police. In recent times, the area has become the focus of illegal crossings by Bangladeshi rebels and Nepali Maoist insurgents, a flourishing narcotics and weapons traffic also takes place in this region. All land transportation between mainland India and its far northeastern states uses this circuitous corridor, as there is no agreement between Bangladesh and India. However, the proposal is still in the stages of negotiation. The route has a broad gauge railway line. Electrification of this corridor is in progress with assistance from CORE. National Highway 31 connects Siliguri to Guwahati in Assam, which is the most critical highway in the region, owing to insurgents operating in the vicinity
20.
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration
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Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is a semi-autonomous administrative body for the Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills in West Bengal, India. GTA replaced the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which was formed in 1988, GTA presently has two hill subdivisions Darjeeling and Kurseong and some areas of Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district and the whole of Kalimpong district under its authority. Gorkhaland is the name of the state in India that the Nepali-speaking Gorkha ethnic group in Darjeeling. The term Gorkhaland was coined by Subhash Ghisingh, leader of Gorkha National Liberation Front and this movement culminated with the formation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988. After three years of agitation for a state of Gorkhaland led by GJM, the GJM reached an agreement with the government to form a semi-autonomous body to administer the Darjeeling hills. A bill for the creation of GTA was passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on 2 September 2011, the GTA aimed to have administrative, executive and financial powers but no legislative powers. A 10-member joint verification committee headed by a retired High Court judge examined the demand to bring the Gorkha-inhabited pockets of the Dooars, the agreement was signed by West Bengal Home Secretary G. D. Gautama, Union Home Ministry Joint Secretary K. K. Pathak and GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, the ABAVP decided to agree to incorporate 196 mouzas of the Dooars and 199 mouzas of the Terai region into the proposed GATA. The President of India Pratibha Patil gave her assent to the GTA Bill of West Bengal on 7 March 2012, the West Bengal government issued a gazette notification for the GTA Act on 14 March 2012, signalling preparations for elections for the GTA. In a meeting held on 24 March 2012 between GJM leaders and the West Bengal government, it was decided that the election to the GTA would be held in the end of June or in July 2012. The Justice Sen Committee would be requested to submit its report on the inclusion of additional areas of Terai, the WB government released a list of 45 constituencies of the GTA on 26 May 2012 to which elections are to be held in July 2012. The Calcutta High Court admitted on 19 June 2012 the case moved by Gorkha National Liberation Front leader Subhash Ghisingh challenging the legality of the GTA, the West Bengal government announced that the election for the GTA would be held on 29 July 2012. After a period of silence, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha announced the names of its GTA election nominees, parties that formed the Gorkhaland Task Force decided not contest the GTA elections. Both CPI and Trinamool Congress fielded candidates in the election, the GNLF decided to boycott the elections and its chairman filed a case in the Kolkata High Court challenging the GTA. The CPI withdrew the nominations of all its 13 candidates from the GTA elections, alleging threats and intimidation by the GJM, in the elections of the remaining 17 seats of the GTA held on 29 July 2012, GJM candidates won from all the constituencies. Sanchabir Subba, the rebel GJM candidate from Gitdabling-Nimbong, narrowly lost to the partys official contestant Kalyan Dewan by 677 votes. The newly elected members of the GTA were sworn in on 4 August 2012 at Darjeeling in the presence of home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee
21.
Nyingma
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The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Nyingma literally means ancient, and is referred to as Ngangyur because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Old Tibetan in the eighth century. The Tibetan alphabet and grammar was created for this endeavour, in modern times, the Nyingma lineage has been centered in Kham. The Nyingmapa, a Red Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism, incorporate local religious practices and local deities and elements of shamanism, the group particularly believes in hidden terma treasures. Traditionally, Nyingmapa practice was advanced orally among a network of lay practitioners. Monasteries with celibate monks and nuns, along with the practice of reincarnated spiritual leaders are later adaptations, Nyingma maintains the earliest tantra teachings that have been given the popular nomenclature of Vajrayana. Early Vajrayana that was transmitted from India to Tibet may be differentiated by the specific term Mantrayana, T least in Eastern Tibet, there existed during and after the time of Lha-tho-tho-ri a solid knowledge of Buddhism and that the upper classes of the people were faithfully devoted to it. But the border regions in the north and west probably had also come into contact with Buddhism long before the time of Srong-btsan-sgam-po, there used to be contacts with the Tibetan population in these border regions. It is possible that the knowledge gained from these encounters was spread by merchants over large areas of Tibet, thus, when Srong-btsan-sgam-po succeeded to the throne of Tibet in the year 627, the country was ready for a systematic missionary drive under royal patronage. Around 760, Trisong Detsen invited Padmasambhava and the Nalanda abbot Śāntarakṣita to Tibet to introduce Buddhism to the Land of Snows, Trisong Detsen ordered the translation of all Buddhist texts into Tibetan. Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita,108 translators, and 25 of Padmasambhavas nearest disciples worked for years in a gigantic translation-project. The translations from this period formed the base for the large scriptural transmission of Dharma teachings into Tibet, Padmasambhava supervised mainly the translation of tantras, Śāntarakṣita concentrated on the sutras. Padmasambhava and Śāntarakṣita also founded the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, from this basis, Tantric Buddhism was established in its entirety in Tibet. From the eighth until the eleventh century, the Nyingma was the school of Buddhism in Tibet. Langdarma persecuted monks and nuns, and attempted to wipe out Buddhism and his efforts, however, were not successful. A few monks escaped to Amdo in the northeast of Tibet, indeed, the Nyingma traditionally had no centralized authority or Nyingma-wide hierarchy. Only since the Tibetan diaspora following the Chinese annexure of Tibet have the Nyingma had a head of the Tradition, even so, the Nyingma tradition is still politically decentralized and often decisions are made in an oligarchy or community of the senior sangha within a given jurisdiction or locale. There was never a single head of the lineage in the manner of either the Ganden Tripa or Dalai Lama of the Gelug and it was only recently in exile in India that this role was created at the request of the Central Tibetan Administration and it is largely administrative
22.
Vajrayana
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Vajrayāna, Mantrayāna, Esoteric Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism refer to the Buddhist tradition of Tantra, an esoteric system of beliefs and practices that developed in medieval India. Vajrayāna is usually translated as Diamond Vehicle or Thunderbolt Vehicle, referring to the Vajra, according to Vajrayāna scriptures, the term Vajrayāna refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment, the other two being the Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna. Founded by Indian Mahāsiddhas, Vajrayāna subscribes to the known as the Buddhist Tantras. Elements of Tantric Buddhism can be traced back to groups of wandering yogis called mahasiddhas. These yogic circles came together in tantric feasts often in sacred sites and places which included dancing, singing, sex rites and it is interesting to note that at least two of the Mahasiddhas given in the Buddhist literature are actually names for Shaiva Nath saints who practiced Hatha Yoga. According to Schumann, a movement called Sahaja-siddhi developed in the 8th century in Bengal and it was dominated by long-haired, wandering yogis called mahasiddhas who openly challenged and ridiculed the Buddhist establishment. The Mahasiddhas pursued siddhis, magical powers such as flight and Extrasensory perception as well as liberation, earlier Mahayana sutras already contained some elements which are emphasized in the Tantras, such as mantras and dharani. The practice of visualization of Buddhas such as Amitabha is also seen in texts like the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra. Vajrayana developed a large corpus of texts called the Buddhist Tantras, some of which can be traced to at least the 7th century CE, the dating of the tantras is a difficult, indeed an impossible task according to David Snellgrove. The earliest such texts include the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Guhyasamāja Tantra. Later monastic Vajrayana Buddhists reinterpreted and internalized these radically transgressive and taboo practices as metaphors, the Kalachakra tantra developed in the 10th century. It is farthest removed from the earlier Buddhist traditions, and incorporates concepts of messianism, various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism. According to Alexis Sanderson, the Vajrayana Yogini-tantras draw extensively from Shaiva Bhairava tantras classified as Vidyapitha, there is even direct borrowing of passages from Saiva texts. The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, an associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures. The Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhava, according to Louis de La Vallée-Poussin and Alex Wayman, the view of the Vajrayana is based on Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, mainly the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools. The major difference seen by Vajrayana thinkers is Tantras superiority due to being a vehicle to liberation containing many skillful methods of tantric ritual. The doctrine of Buddha-nature, as outlined in the Ratnagotravibhāga of Asanga, was also an important theory which became the basis for Tantric views, by passion the world is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists this practice of reversals is not known. As Snellgrove notes, this doctrine is also present in Asangas Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika and therefore it is possible that he was aware of Tantric techniques
23.
Lama
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Lama is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru, historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries. Perhaps due to misunderstandings by early western scholars attempting to understand Tibetan Buddhism, the term Lamaism is now considered by some to be derogatory. In the Vajrayana path of Tibetan Buddhism, the lama is often the tantric spiritual guide, as such, the lama will then appear as one of the Three Roots, alongside the yidam and protector
24.
Sherpa people
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Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, the Himalayas. Sherpa as a surname is the result of census takers of the Nepalese government. Not recognizing that some only have one name, census takers wrote Sherpa in the place of a last name. The surname Sherpa has thus been adopted and involuntarily used as last names even though last names are not part of Sherpa culture, most Sherpa people live in Nepals eastern regions, however, some live farther west in the Rolwaling valley and in the Helambu region north of Kathmandu. Tengboche is the oldest Sherpa village in Nepal, Sherpa people also live in Tibet, Bhutan, as well as in the Indian states of Sikkim and the northern portion of West Bengal, specifically the district of Darjeeling. The Sherpa language belongs to the branch of the Tibeto-Burman languages. However, this language is separate from Lhasa Tibetan and unintelligible to Lhasa speakers, the number of Sherpas migrating to the West has significantly increased in recent years, especially to the United States. New York City has the largest Sherpa community in the United States, the 2001 Nepal census recorded 154,622 Sherpas within its borders. Some members of the Sherpa population are known for their skills in mountaineering, the Sherpa were nomadic people who first settled in the Solukhumbu District, Nepal, then gradually moved westward along salt trade routes. According to Sherpa oral history, four groups migrated out of Solukhumbu at different times, giving rise to the four fundamental Sherpa clans, Minyagpa, Thimmi and these four groups have since split into the more than 20 different clans that exist today. About 1840, Sherpa ancestors migrated from Kham, mahayana Buddhism religious conflict may have contributed to the migration in the 15th and 16th centuries. Sherpa migrants traveled through Ü and Tsang, before crossing the Himalaya, by the 1400s, Khumbu Sherpa people attained autonomy within the newly formed Nepali state. In the 1960s, as tension with China increased, Nepali government influence on the Sherpa people grew, in 1976, Khumbu became a national park, and tourism became a major economic force. According to Oppitz, Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years, on the other hand, Gautam concluded that the Sherpa migrated from Tibet approximately 600 years ago, through the Nangpa La pass. It is presumed that the group of people from the Kham region, east of Tibet, was called Shyar Khamba, as the time passed, the Shyar Khamba, inhabitants of Shyar Khumbu, were called Sherpa. A recent Nepal Ethnographic Museum study postulated that present-day Nepal became a part of the kingdom of Nepal. Since ancient times, Sherpas, like other indigenous Kirat Nepalese tribes, would move one place to another place within the Himalayan region surviving as Alpine pastoralists. Genetic evidence shows that the majority of Sherpa have a Tibeto-Burman origin, genetically, the Sherpa cluster closest with Tibetans and Han Chinese
25.
Mantra
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A Mantra is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit believed by practitioners to have psychological and spiritual powers. A mantra may or may not have syntactic structure or literal meaning, the earliest mantras were composed in Vedic Sanskrit by Hindus in India, and are at least 3000 years old. Mantras now exist in various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, in Japanese Shingon tradition, the word Shingon means mantra. Similar hymns, chants, compositions and concepts are found in Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Christianity, the use, structure, function, importance, and types of mantras vary according to the school and philosophy of Hinduism and of Buddhism. Mantras serve a role in tantra. In this school, mantras are considered to be a sacred formula, in other schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism or Sikhism, initiation is not a requirement. Mantras come in forms, including ṛc and sāman. They are typically melodic, mathematically structured meters, believed to be resonant with numinous qualities, at its simplest, the word ॐ serves as a mantra. In more sophisticated forms, mantras are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge. Some mantras have no meaning, yet are musically uplifting. The Sanskrit word mantra- consists of the root man- to think, scholars consider mantras to be older than 1000 BC. By the middle Vedic period—1000 BC to 500 BC—claims Frits Staal, mantras in Hinduism had developed into a blend of art, the Chinese translation is zhenyan 眞言, 真言, literally true words, the Japanese onyomi reading of the Chinese being shingon. Mantras are neither unique to Hinduism, nor to other Indian religions such as Buddhism, similar creative constructs developed in Asian, mantras, suggests Frits Staal, may be older than language. There is no accepted definition of mantra. Renou has defined mantra as thought, mantras are structured formulae of thoughts, claims Silburn. Farquhar concludes that mantras are a religious thought, prayer, sacred utterance, zimmer defines mantra as a verbal instrument to produce something in one’s mind. There is no universally applicable uniform definition of mantra because mantras are used in different religions, in some schools of Hinduism for example, suggests Gonda, mantra is sakti to the devotee in the form of formulated and expressed thought. Staal clarifies that mantras are not rituals, they are what is recited or chanted during a ritual, There is a long history of scholarly disagreement on the meaning of mantras and whether they are really instruments of mind, as implied by the etymological origin of the word mantra
26.
Damphu drum
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Damphu, or Damfoo, Damphu is a percussion instrument instrument similar to a large tambourine. This instrument is used to play the melodious Tamang selo, the original maker named it after Nepals national bird. Many stories exist in the Tamang community about how the drum was first made, according to custom the drum was invented by Peng Dorje a hunter who killed a particularly beautiful deer which deeply saddened his wife. She was always in tears so and Peng Dorje thought to cheer her up and he created the drum using the deers beautiful skin. First, he bought a strip of wood and made a circle, then he tightened the dried deerskin on one side of the circle, using 32 bamboo sticks. The circle created melodious sounds, trak dhin and he started to sing, remembering his ancestors and gods with the beat of that new-born instrument. The story goes that all creatures danced to it, as did his wife, a bird, the pheasant Danphe, was also dancing to the melody. So Peng Dorje named the drum, Damphu. It then became a part of the Tamang peoples culture and lifestyle, the damphu used generally in performances and celebrations is more like a bodhrán, a single-sided circular frame drum decorated with symbols or left plain. It can have a small drumstick or played just with the hands, the skin is tightened and held in place by 32 bamboo sticks. Sometimes it has a metal bird attached representing the mythic eponymous bird. Its parts symbolize Buddha and Bodhisattvas, the 32 sticks symbolize the Buddhas 32 physical symbols. The Damphu is not to be confused with a drum, the dhyāngro having jingles. This kind is a double-sided disk-shaped drum topped with leather having a wooden handle. This type is priestly in purpose and for work only. As a traditional instrument, the ancient Damphu is still popular. Along with the rhythm of Tamang Selo music, it has an important influence in Nepalese culture. It is easy to learn and easy to play, Tamba singers present Tamang historical and ritual songs with the damphu
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Dashain
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It is the longest and most anticipated festival in Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and North Indian hills. People return from all parts of the world, as well as different parts of the country, among the fifteen days on which it is celebrated, the most important days are the first, seventh, eighth, ninth and the tenth. It is celebrated with only slight differences and interpretations, where each nine days Navaratri leading up to the 10th day called Dashami carry special importance, the goddess Durga and her various manifestations are especially worshiped by Hindu Newars throughout the Shaktipeeths of Kathmandu Valley. Dashain symbolizes the victory of good over evil, for followers of Shaktism, it represents the victory of the goddess Parvati. In Hindu mythology, the demon Mahishasura had created terror in the devaloka, the first nine days of Dashain symbolize the battle which took place between the different manifestations of Durga and Mahishasura. The tenth day is the day when Durga finally defeated him, for other Hindus, this festival symbolizes the victory of Ram over Ravan as recounted in the Ramayana. Ghaṭasthāpanā marks the beginning of Dashain, literally, it means placing a kalasha or a pot, which symbolizes Durga. Ghaṭasthāpanā falls on the first day of the festival, on this day the kalasha is filled with holy water which is then covered with cow dung and sewn with barley seeds. Then the kalasha is put in the center of a rectangular sand block, the remaining bed of sand is also seeded with grains. The priest then starts the puja by asking Durga to bless the vessel with her presence and this ritual is performed at a certain auspicious time which is determined by the astrologers. The goddess is believed to reside in the vessel during navratri, the room where all this is done is known as the Dasain Ghar. Traditionally, outsiders and women are not allowed to enter it, a male family member worships the kalasha twice every day, once in the morning and then in the evening. But the coming of time has brought about women empowerment and the woman now are equally responsible for doing these rituals. The kalasha is kept away from sunlight and holy water is offered to it every day. This sacred grass is known as jamara and these rituals continue until the seventh day. Fulpati is a major celebration occurring on the day of Dashain. Hundreds of government officials gather together in the Tundikhel grounds in conventional formal dress to witness the event, the Fulpati is taken to the Hanuman Dhoka Royal palace by the time the occasion ends in Tundikhel, where a parade is held. Since 2008, when the family was overthrown, the two-century old tradition is changed so that the holy offering of Fulpati goes to the residence of the president
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Tihar (festival)
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Tihar, also known as Deepawali and Yamapanchak, is a five-day-long Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal and in the Indian states of Assam and Sikkim including in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It is the festival of lights, as diyas are lit inside and outside the houses to make it illuminate at night and it is popularly known as Swanti among the Newars and as Deepawali among Madhesis. Set in the Vikram Samvat calendar, the festival begins with Kaag Tihar in Trayodashi of Kartik Krishna Paksha, Tihar is the second biggest Nepalese festival after Dashain. The first day of the festival is called Kaag Tihar, crows and ravens are worshiped by offerings of sweets and dishes placed on the roofs of houses. The cawing of crows and ravens symbolizes sadness and grief in Hinduism, so devotees offer crows and ravens food to avert grief, Tihar among Gorkhas represents the divine attachment between humans and other animals. The second day is called Kukur Tihar and it is called the Khicha Puja by the Newars. People offer garlands, tika and delicious food to dogs and acknowledge the relationship between humans and dogs. Dogs occupy a place in Hindu mythology. As mentioned in the Mahabharata, Bhairava, a manifestation of Lord Shiva, had a dog as a vahana. Yama, the god of death, is believed to own two guard dogs – each with four eyes, the dogs are said to watch over the gates of Naraka, the Hindu concept of Hell. Owing to this belief, this day is observed as Naraka Chaturdashi. The morning of day is Gai Tihar. In Hinduism, cow signifies prosperity and wealth, in ancient times people benefited a lot from the cow. Its milk, dung, even urine was used for purposes like purification, thus, on this day people show their gratefulness to the cow by garlanding and feeding them with the best grass. Houses are cleaned and the doorways and windows are decorated with garlands made of sayapatri, from the third day onward tihar is celebrated with Deusi and Bhailo with light and fireworks. Deusi is mostly sung by the boys while the Bhailo is sung by the girls, Deusi is balladic and tells the story of the festival, with one person narrating and the rest as the chorus. In return the home owners give them money, fruit and selroti, nowadays social workers, politician, and young people visit local homes, sing these songs, and collect funds for welfare and social activities. Coincidentally, Laxmi Puja also marks the birthday of Laxmi Prasad Devkota, on the fourth day of Tihar, there are three different known pujas, depending on the peoples cultural background
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Agriculture
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Agriculture is the cultivation and breeding of animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuel, medicinal plants and other products used to sustain and enhance human life. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of human civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science, the history of agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven and defined by greatly different climates, cultures, and technologies. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture farming has become the dominant agricultural methodology, genetically modified organisms are an increasing component of agriculture, although they are banned in several countries. Agricultural food production and water management are increasingly becoming global issues that are fostering debate on a number of fronts, the major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials. Specific foods include cereals, vegetables, fruits, oils, meats, fibers include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax. Raw materials include lumber and bamboo, other useful materials are also produced by plants, such as resins, dyes, drugs, perfumes, biofuels and ornamental products such as cut flowers and nursery plants. The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, field, Agriculture usually refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant, termite and ambrosia beetle. To practice agriculture means to use resources to produce commodities which maintain life, including food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops. This definition includes arable farming or agronomy, and horticulture, all terms for the growing of plants, even then, it is acknowledged that there is a large amount of knowledge transfer and overlap between silviculture and agriculture. In traditional farming, the two are often combined even on small landholdings, leading to the term agroforestry, Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa. At least 11 separate regions of the Old and New World were involved as independent centers of origin, wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago. Pigs were domesticated in Mesopotamia around 15,000 years ago, rice was domesticated in China between 13,500 and 8,200 years ago, followed by mung, soy and azuki beans. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago. From around 11,500 years ago, the eight Neolithic founder crops, emmer and einkorn wheat, hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax were cultivated in the Levant. Cattle were domesticated from the aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, along with beans, coca, llamas, alpacas, sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 9,000 years ago. Sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 7,000 years ago, cotton was domesticated in Peru by 5,600 years ago, and was independently domesticated in Eurasia at an unknown time
30.
Hira Devi Waiba
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Hira Devi Waiba was a Nepali folk singer from Darjeeling, India. Hira Devi Waiba came from a family of musicians from Ambootia Tea Estate near Kurseong and is hailed as the pioneer of Nepali folk songs and she has sung nearly 300 folk songs during her musical career spanning 40 years. Her singing career began when she recorded three songs in Kurseong for Radio Nepal in 1966 and she worked as an announcer at the All India Radio station in Kurseong from 1963 to 1965. She was also a Nepali folk singer with All India Radio and she is the only Nepali folk singer to have cut albums with HMV, Kolkata. Her popular songs include Phariya Lyayidiyechhan and Ora daudi jaanda, as a tribute to her father, Waiba had opened the SM Waiba International Music and Dance Academy at her home in Kadamtala, near Siliguri in 2008. Hira Waiba died on 19 January 2011 at the age of 71 years after suffering injuries in a fire accident at her home. The Nepal government had awarded her the Gorkha Dakshina Bahu, Sadhana Samman, navneet sang and Satya looked after the production and management of the songs
31.
Prashant Tamang
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Prashant Tamang is a Nepalese singer from Darjeeling, West Bengal, India and a film actor based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He was the winner of Indian Idol Season 3 in 2007, Prashant Tamang was born in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India, to a Nepalese mother Rupa Tamang and Indian Gorkha father Madan Tamang. and studied at St Robert School. After the demise of his father in an accident, Prashant left school, in Kolkata Police, he sang for the police orchestra. His family includes his grandmother, mother and his sister, Archana, Prashant married Geeta Thapa, who is a flight attendant, on 16 February 2011 in Nagaland, India. He auditioned for Indian Idol in Kolkata and was chosen for the next rounds. He received mixed comments from judges for his performances and he is the only contestant to have never been in the bottom three or four of the gala round. He made it to the top two of Indian Idol 3 along with Amit Paul, Prashant got about 10 times more votes than Amit in the final and went on to win the Indian Idol contest. He won 1 crore Indian rupees as cash prize as the winner of Indian Idol, after entering the Indian Idol contest, Prashant Tamang became a celebrity in West Bengal, Sikkim, Nepal and particularly in the Darjeeling hills. People from Kolkata, Sikkim, Nepal, and Gorkha population living all around the world voted overwhelmingly for Prashant in the contest, the mayor of Mirik vowed to spend Rs.10,000 and his staff vowed to spend a months salary in SMS voting for Prashant Tamang. People of Nepalese origin working in Brunei, UK, Hong Kong, UAE, travel were organised in Howrah, Kolkata in his support, some of which were attended by his sister, mother and grandmother. In Pokhara, Nepal, Radio Annapurna campaigned for collecting donation, seventy-thousand donations were sent to Darjeeling through its representative to vote for Prashant. A signature campaign for his support was organised by Himalaya Darpan in Kolkata, schools, clubs and other organisations asked people to support and vote for Prashant, who was named पहाडको गौरव meaning Pride of the Hills. Two cabinet ministers from Sikkim, G. M, subedi, planted tree saplings at Singtam to pledge the Sikkimese support for Prashant and to show the unity of the Nepalese community in Sikkim and Kolkata. The Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs of Sikkim, P. S, golay, also supported the statewide voting for Prashant. Prashant, a constable in Kolkata Police, was supported by the officials of his department, according to reports, a couple of policemen even stayed awake through the nights to vote for Prashant. Hasan said, Given the hard worker he is, Prashant deserved this title and he has no formal training in music, but he has been chosen the new Indian Idol. This proves how dedicated he is towards whatever he does, Bimal Gurung, a former councillor of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, led a successful campaign for voting for Prashant Tamang in Indian Idol 3. His campaign gained support and popularity from the people of Darjeeling
32.
Nima Rumba
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Nima Rumba is a singer, lyricist, musician, and actor from Nepal. Nima was born in Subarnapur, Parsa of Nepal to a Madhesi-Tamang parents and his family were migrated to Parsa from Mudhe, Sindhupalchok before he was born. Nima is married and has two children and his wifes name is Sheli Thapa Magar. Albums Suna Suna Memories Huri Batas Lolita Faith Pride Rangau Ki Ma A collection album Best of Nima Rumba was released in 2002
33.
Aruna Lama
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Aruna Lama is one of the well-known singers of Nepali music. She is popularly known as Nightingale of the Hills and she sang hundreds of Nepali songs, including some for Nepali Film, and left an indelible mark as one of the best singers in Nepali music. Aruna Lama was born on September 9,1945 at Ghoom Pahar, Darjeeling, British India to Surya Bahadur Lama and her uncle C. B. Lama inspired her to sing from the age of 7. She won a competition organized by the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan in 1956 at the age of 11. Amber Gurung, one of the stalwarts of Nepali music, groomed her in singing from 1958, Aruna Lama did her schooling at Mungpoo Primary School, Jalpahar, and St. Teresas School, Darjeeling. She completed her degree in arts from Darjeeling Government College. In 1963, Aruna Lama married Saran Pradhan, another Nepali musician, in 1974, her husband died and she was left with her two children, Sapna Thapa and Supreet Raj Pradhan. She continued to sing even with all her struggles till the end of her life, Aruna Lama sang for numerous music composers, most notably Amber Gurung, Karma Yonzon, Gopal Yonzon, Shanti Thatal, Narayan Gopal, Mani Kamal Chettri and Dibya Khaling. Her first song was composed by Amber Gurung with lyrics of Bhupi Sherchan in 1961 and she also sang for a number of Nepali films, such as Maitighar, Paral Ko Aago and Kanchhi, and these film songs are remembered even today. Some of her musical performances include Raag Rajat at Gorkha Rangamanch, Darjeeling 1981, Arunanjali at Pragya Bhawan, Kathmandu. Aruna Lama received numerous awards both in Nepal and India for her singing and contribution to Nepali music. com Aruna Lamas songs Aruna Lama documentary on YouTube
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