1.
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
2.
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
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Limbu people
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The name Limbu is an exonym of an uncertain origin. They call themselves Yakthumba (IPA, or Yakthungba, in Standard Tibetan, they are referred to as Sikkimese people and in Sikkimese as Shong or Tsong Tsang people. Portions of the Limbu population are located in the east and west districts of Sikkim. Limbu clans and tribes are divided into two gotras indicating their origin, Lhasa and Yunnan, the Limbu are known as Yakthung Thibong or Ten Limbu, from which thirteen Limbu subgroups have emerged. According to legend, five of the came from Yunnan. The Chinese text Po-ou-Yeo-Jing translated in 308 AD refers to the Yi-ti-Sai, accounts with Sirijunga Limbu, Lepcha and Newar are the only Sino-Tibetan languages of the Central Himalayas to possess their own pre-20th century scripts. Vowels, ʌ, ɑ, i, u, e, ɑi, o, ɑu, ɛ, ɔ Consonants k, kh, g, gh, ŋ, c/ts, ch/tsh, j/dz, jh/dz, t, th, d, dh, n, p, ph, b, bh, m, j, r, l, w, sh, s, h, tr 1. Sleep, imma, kiratism or Kirat Dharma Limbus practice many of their own life cycle rituals and they believe that lineage is not transmitted patrilineally. Rather, a woman inherits her mothers gods, and when she marries and lives with her husband she brings with her the deities that will then be recognized as the household deities, Limbu bury their dead and observe for two-to-three days through practiced death rituals. The length of the period varies depending on the gender of the deceased. Dancing parties are arranged for visitors to the village and these affairs give the young Limbu girls and boys a chance to meet and enjoy dancing and drinking. The traditional dress of the Limbus are mekhli and taga, while performing mangsewa IPA, Yakthung IPA, people wear mekhli and taga in white colour as it symbolizes purity. Dhaka is the fabric of the Limbus which are made by weaving it in geometric patterns in a handloom. The art of making dhaka is taught by one generation to another and you will always see a Limbu man clad in dhaka topi and scarf, and a Limbu lady in dhaka saree, mekhli, blouse and shawl. In the olden days, the Limbus were skilled in silk farming, the Kiratis were also known as silk traders. According to JB Subba and Iman Xin Chemjong, the Kirat is a form of kereta. Mekhli- Long dress worn with a strip of cloth with collars crossing over or in a Vneck style. Chunglokek/sunghamba- Blouse Chaubandi Cholo- Blouse with collars overlapping each other Sim- gunyo in Nepali, a long strip of cloth wrapped around like a skirt
4.
Montane ecosystems
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Montane ecosystems refers to any ecosystem found in mountains. These ecosystems are affected by climate, which gets colder as elevation increases. They are stratified according to elevation, dense forests are common at moderate elevations. However, as the elevation increases, the climate becomes harsher, as elevation increases, the climate becomes cooler, due to a decrease in the greenhouse effect. The characteristic flora and fauna in the mountains tend to depend on elevation. This dependency causes life zones to form, bands of similar ecosystems at similar altitude, one of the typical life zones on mountains is the montane forest, at moderate elevations, the rainfall and temperate climate encourages dense forests to grow. Holdridge defines the climate of montane forest as having a biotemperature of between 6 and 12 °C, where biotemperature is the mean temperature considering temperatures below 0 °C to be 0 °C. Above the elevation of the montane forest, the trees thin out in the zone, become twisted krummholz. Therefore, Montane forests often contain trees with twisted trunks and this phenomenon is observed due to the increase in the wind strength with the elevation. The elevation where trees fail to grow is called the tree line. The biotemperature of the zone is between 3 and 6 °C. Above the tree line the ecosystem is called the zone or alpine tundra, dominated by grasses. The biotemperature of the zone is between 1.5 and 3 °C. Many different plant species live in the environment, including perennial grasses, sedges, forbs, cushion plants, mosses. Alpine plants must adapt to the conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation. Alpine plants display adaptations such as structures, waxy surfaces. Because of the characteristics of these zones, the World Wildlife Fund groups a set of related ecoregions into the montane grassland and shrubland biome. Climates with biotemperatures below 1.5 °C tend to consist purely of rock, Montane forests occur between the submontane zone and the subalpine zone. The elevation at which one habitat changes to another varies across the globe, the upper limit of montane forests, the forest line or timberline, is often marked by a change to hardier species that occur in less dense stands
5.
Kangchenjunga
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Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, is the third highest mountain in the world, and lies partly in Nepal and partly in Sikkim, India. Mount Kangchenjunga lies about 125 km east-south-east of Mount Everest and it is the second highest mountain of the Himalayas. Three of the five peaks – Main, Central and South – are on the border between North Sikkim and Nepal, two peaks are in Nepals Taplejung District. Kangchenjunga Main is the highest mountain in India, and the easternmost of the higher than 8,000 m. It is called Five Treasures of Snow after its five high peaks, allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world. Kangchenjunga was first climbed on 25 May 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band and they stopped short of the summit as per the promise given to the Chogyal that the top of the mountain would remain inviolate. Every climber or climbing group that has reached the summit has followed this tradition, other members of this expedition included John Angelo Jackson and Tom Mackinon. Kangchenjunga is the spelling adopted by Douglas Freshfield, Alexander Mitchell Kellas. Freshfield referred to the used by the Indian Government since the late 19th century. There are a number of spellings including Kangchendzönga, Khangchendzonga. It means The Five repositories or ledges of great snow and is descriptive of its five peaks. Kangchenjungas name in the Limbu language is Senjelungma or Seseylungma, and is believed to be an abode of the omnipotent goddess Yuma Sammang. The Kangchenjunga transboundary landscape is shared by Bhutan, China, India and Nepal, the Kangchenjunga Himal section of the Himalayas lies both in Nepal and India, and encompasses 16 peaks over 7,000 m. In the north, it is limited by the Lhonak Chu, Goma Chu and Jongsang La, the western limit runs from the Jongsang La down the Gingsang and Kangchenjunga glaciers and the rivers of Ghunsa and Tamur. Kanchenjunga rises about 20 km south of the alignment of the Great Himalayan range about 125 km east-south-east of Mount Everest as the crow flies. South of the face of Kanchenjunga runs the 3, 000–3,500 m high Singalila Ridge that separates Sikkim from Nepal. Kangchenjunga and its satellite peaks form a mountain massif. The massifs five highest peaks are listed in the following table, the main ridge of the massif runs from north-north-east to south-south-west and forms a watershed to several rivers
6.
Pathibhara Devi Temple
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Pathibhara Devi or Mukkumlung is one of the most significant Hindu temples of Goddess Pathibhara in Nepal, located on the hill of Taplejung. It is also considered one of the places for Kirat Limbu. Worshippers from different parts of Nepal and India flock to the temple during special occasions, the temple is located 19.4 km east of Phungling municipality at an elevation of 3,794 m. It serves as a route of Kanchenjunga trek. The list of devotees includes the family of Nepal. The pilgrims offer animal sacrifices, gold and silver to please the goddess, the Goddess at Pathibhara temple is believed to possess supernatural powers and diligently answer devotees prayers. She is considered by her devotees as a manifestation of the divine feminine also determined with other names as AdiKali, Maha Maya and it is believed that local shepherds lost hundreds of their sheep while grazing at the same place where the temple stands today. The distressed shepherds had a dream in which the Goddess ordered them to carry out ritualistic sacrifice of sheep, when the sacrifice was offered the lost herd supposedly returned. The ritual of offering sacrifices inside the temple is believed to have started after the incident, pilgrims can also visit monasteries situated in Olangchung Gola and Lungchung. The waterfall at Sawa and the pond of Timbung, during autumn, the forest ecosystem along the trial offers diversity of wildlife, birds, flowers and butterflies. The whole of Kanchenjunga range can be seen in this trek, for tourists other than pilgrims, Limbu Cultural Trek in the region is considered equally enthralling. A week-long trek passes through villages of Taplejung, such as, Phurunga, Limkhim, Khewang, Tellok, PhawaKhola. Pathibhara lies in the junction of three VDCs, Tapethok, Limkhim and PhawaKhola, the journey to Pathibhara starts from Suketar, which is about 20 minute driving from phungling Bazaar and 1-2 hours driving from Suketar to Sano Phedi. Pathibhara Devi is about 3–4 hours walk from Sano phedi, Suketar Airport 2,840 m at Suketar is the only STOL airport in Taplejung district, connecting Kathmandu and Biratnagar by scheduled flights. Pathibhara trail passes through Deurali, Ramitedanda, Chhatedhunga, Bhalugaunda, residents along the trail offer food and lodging facilities. Basic accommodation facilities are available for pilgrims near the temple premises. The best time to visit the temple is during Pre-monsoon and Post-monsoon seasons
7.
Rhododendron
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It is the national flower of Nepal. Most species have flowers which bloom from late winter through to early summer. Azaleas make up two subgenera of Rhododendron and they are distinguished from true rhododendrons by having only five anthers per flower. Rhododendron is a genus characterised by shrubs and small to large trees, the smallest species growing to 10–100 cm tall, the leaves are spirally arranged, leaf size can range from 1–2 cm to over 50 cm, exceptionally 100 cm in R. sinogrande. They may be evergreen or deciduous. In some species, the undersides of the leaves are covered with scales or hairs, Some of the best known species are noted for their many clusters of large flowers. There are alpine species with flowers and small leaves. Species in this genus may be part of the complex in oak-heath forests in eastern North America. They have frequently been divided based on the presence or absence of scales on the leaf surface. These scales, unique to subgenus Rhododendron, are modified hairs consisting of a scale attached by a stalk. The Rhododendron genus is the largest of the genera in the Ericaceae family, with 1,024 species, though estimates vary from 850-1000 depending on the authority used, consequently, the taxonomy has been historically complex. He listed five species under Rhododendron, at that time he considered the then known six species of Azalea that he had described earlier in 1735 in his Systema Naturae as a separate genus. Linnaeus six species of Azalea were Azalea indica, A. pontica, A. lutea, A. viscosa, A. lapponica and A. procumbens, which he distinguished from Rhododendron by having five stamens, as opposed to ten. As new species of what are now considered Rhododendron were discovered, for instance Rhodora for Rhododendron canadense, Vireya and Hymenanthes for Rhododendron metternichii, now R. degronianum. Of these Tsutsutsi, Pentanthera, Pogonanthum, Ponticum and Rhodora are still used, the sections being Lepipherum, Booram. Soon, as species became available in the nineteenth century so did a better understanding of the characteristics necessary for the major divisions. Chief amongst these were Maximoviczs Rhododendreae Asiae Orientali and Planchon, maximovicz used flower bud position and its relationship with leaf buds to create eight Sections. Bentham and Hooker used a scheme, but called the divisions Series
8.
Kathmandu
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Kathmandu is the capital city of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the largest Himalayan state in Asia. Kathmandu is also the largest metropolis in the Himalayan hill region, the city stands at an elevation of approximately 1,400 metres above sea level in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley of central Nepal. The valley is termed as Nepal Proper and has been the home of Newar culture. The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Nepal and hosts palaces. It has been home to the headquarters of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation since 1985, today, it is the seat of government of the Nepalese republic established in 2008, and is part of the Bagmati Zone in Nepalese administrative geography. Kathmandu has been the center of Nepals history, art, culture and it has a multiethnic population within a Hindu and Buddhist majority. Religious and cultural festivities form a part of the lives of people residing in Kathmandu. Tourism is an important part of the economy as the city is the gateway to the Nepalese Himalayas, there are also seven casinos in the city. In 2013, Kathmandu was ranked third among the top ten upcoming travel destinations in the world by TripAdvisor, historic areas of Kathmandu were devastated by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April 2015. Nepali is the most spoken language in the city, while English is understood by the citys educated residents, the city of Kathmandu is named after Kasthamandap temple, that stood in Durbar Square. In Sanskrit, Kāṣṭha means wood and Maṇḍap means covered shelter and this temple, also known as Maru Satal in the Newar language, was built in 1596 by Biseth in the period of King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The two-story structure was entirely of wood, and used no iron nails nor supports. According to legend, all the used to build the pagoda was obtained from a single tree. The structure collapsed during the earthquake on 25 April 2015. The colophons of ancient manuscripts, dated as late as the 20th century, the city is called Kāṣṭhamaṇḍap in a vow that Buddhist priests still recite to this day. Thus, Kathmandu is also known as Kāṣṭhamaṇḍap, during medieval times, the city was sometimes called Kāntipur. This name is derived from two Sanskrit words – Kānti and pur, Kānti is a word that stands for beauty and is mostly associated with light and pur means place. Thus, giving it a meaning as City of light, among the indigenous Newar people, Kathmandu is known as Yeṃ Deśa, and Patan and Bhaktapur are known as Yala Deśa and Khwopa Deśa
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Subtropics
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The subtropics are geographic and climate zones located roughly between the tropic circle of latitude at 23.5 latitude and temperate latitudes. Subtropical climates are characterized by warm to hot summers and cool to mild winters with infrequent frost. Subtropical climates can occur at elevations within the tropics, such as in the southern end of the Mexican Plateau and in Vietnam. Six climate classifications use the term to define the various temperature. A great portion of the deserts are located within the subtropics. Within savanna regimes in the subtropics, a wet season is seen annually during the summer, within Mediterranean climate regimes, the wet season occurs during the winter. Areas bordering warm oceans are prone to heavy rainfall from tropical cyclones. Plants such as palms, citrus, mango, lychee, the tropics have been historically defined as lying between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, located at 23. 45° north and south latitude respectively. The poleward fringe of the subtropics is located at approximately 40° north and south latitude respectively, northern fringes of the type can go further north due to moderating effects of ocean streams, like in parts of Southern Europe due to heat transported by the Gulf Stream. Several methods have used to define the subtropical climate. In the Trewartha climate classification, a subtropical region should have at least eight months with a temperature greater than 10 °C. According to the Troll-Paffen climate classification, there exists one large subtropical zone named the warm-temperate subtropical zone. According to the E. Neef climate classification, the zone is divided into two parts, Rainy winters of the west sides and Eastern subtropical climate. According to the Wilhelm Lauer & Peter Frankenberg climate classification, the zone is divided into three parts, high-continental, continental, and maritime. According to the Siegmund/Frankenberg climate classification, subtropical is one of six zones in the world. Heating of the earth near the equator leads to large amounts of upward motion and convection along the trough or Intertropical convergence zone. The upper-level divergence over the near-equatorial trough leads to air rising and moving away from the equator aloft, as the air moves towards the Mid-Latitudes, it cools and sinks, which leads to subsidence near the 30th parallel of both hemispheres. This circulation is known as the Hadley cell and leads to the formation of the subtropical ridge, many of the worlds deserts are caused by these climatological high-pressure areas, located within the subtropics
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Snow line
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The climatic snow line is the point above which snow and ice cover the ground throughout the year. The actual snow line may seasonally be significantly lower, the interplay of altitude and latitude affects the precise placement of the snow line at a particular location. At or near the equator, it is situated at approximately 4,500 meters above sea level. In addition, the location to the nearest coastline can influence the altitude of the snow line. A higher altitude is necessary to lower the temperature further against the surroundings. Furthermore, large-scale oceanic currents such as the North Atlantic Current can have significant affects over large areas, the highest mountain in the world below the snow line is Ojos del Salado. Compare the usage of snow line indicating the boundary between snow and non-snow, Frost line Frost line Glacier High Alps Ice cap climate Tree line Charlesworth J. K. With special reference to its glaciation, vol. I, london, Edward Arnold Ltd,700 pp. Flint, R. F. New York, xiii+553+555 pp. Kalesnik, S. V, uchpedgiz, Leningrad,328 pp. Tronov, M. V. Voprosy svyazi mezhdu klimatom i oledeneniem, izdatelstvo Tomskogo Universiteta, Tomsk,202 pp. Wilhelm, F. Schnee- und Gletscherkunde, De Gruyter, Berlin,414 pp
Listen (help·info) is the Mountain district out of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district covers 3,646 km2 (1,408 sq mi). The 2011 census counted 127,461 population. Taplejung is the district headquarters
Taplejung
