1.
Village development committee (Nepal)
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A Village Development Committee साविक चौमाला गा. वि. स. in Nepal is the lower administrative part of its Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development. Each district has several VDCs, similar to municipalities but with greater public-government interaction and administration, there are currently 3,157 village development committees in Nepal. Each VDC is further divided into several wards depending on the population of the district, the village development committees, sanitation and income, and will monitor and record progress which is displayed in census data. In VDCs, there is one elected chief, usually elected with over an 80% majority, from each ward, there is a chief that is elected. With these, there are four members elected or nominated, to keep data, records and to manage administrative works, there is one village secretary. The position is appointed by the government permanently, from whom they receive a salary, the ward members, ward chief, and VDC chiefs are not paid a salary, but they obtain money according to presence. VDC is guided from the development committee, headquarters. Population and housing details of VDCs in Nepal is provided by the National Population and Housing Census, in the 1991 Nepal census, the 2001 Nepal census, land-use planning List of village development committees of Nepal Rural community council England Village Development Committee
2.
Hill station
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A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia, but also in Africa, for towns founded by European colonial rulers as refuges from the summer heat, up where temperatures are cooler. In the Indian context most hill stations are at an altitude of approximately 1,000 to 2,500 metres, Hill stations in India were established for a variety of reasons. Other factors included anxieties about the dangers of life in India, the hill stations were meant to reproduce the home country, illustrated in Lord Lyttons statement about Ootacamund, in the 1870s, such beautiful English rain, such delicious English mud. Shimla was officially made the capital of India in the 1860s and hill stations served as vital centers of political and military power. Dane Kennedy, following Monika Bührlein, identifies three stages in the evolution of hill stations in India, high refuge, high refuge to hill station, the first settlements started in the 1820s, primarily as sanitoria. In the 1840s and 1850s, there was a wave of new stations, with the main impetus being places to rest. In the second half of the 19th century, there was a period of consolidation with few new hill stations, in the final phase, hill stations reached their zenith in the late nineteenth century. The political importance of the stations was underscored by the inauguration of large. The Great Hill Stations of Asia, the Magic Mountains, Hill Stations and the British Raj. Berkeley, University of California Press,1996, booknotes interview with Barbara Crossette on The Great Hill Stations of Asia, August 23,1998
3.
Ama Dablam
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Ama Dablam is a mountain in the Himalaya range of eastern Nepal. The main peak is 6,812 metres, the western peak is 6,170 metres. For several days, Ama Dablam dominates the sky for anyone trekking to Mount Everest basecamp. Ama Dablam was first climbed on 13 March 1961 by Mike Gill, Barry Bishop, Mike Ward and Wally Romanes via the Southwest Ridge. They were well-acclimatised to altitude, having wintered over at 5800 metres near the base of the peak as part of the Silver Hut Scientific Expedition of 1960-61, Ama Dablam is the third most popular Himalayan peak for permitted expeditions. The most popular route by far is the Southwest Ridge, climbers typically set up three camps along the ridge with camp 3 just below and to the right of the hanging glacier, the Dablam. Any ice that calves off the glacier typically goes left, away from the camp, however, a 2006 avalanche proved that this is not always the case. A climbing permit and an officer are required when attempting Ama Dablam. As with Mt. Everest, the best climbing months are April–May,1961 Southwest Ridge FA by Mike Gill, Barry Bishop, Mike Ward and Wally Romanes. Doug Robinson and John Wasson reached the summit the next day,1979 Lowe Route on the South Face, FA Solo by Jeff Lowe,30 April 1979. 1979 North Ridge by a large French expedition led by Raymond Renaud,1981 Northeast Spur to North Ridge by Tim McCartney-Snape, Lincoln Hall, and Andrew Henderson. 1983 East Ridge by Alain Hubert and André Georges,1984 Southwest Ridge solo by Naoe Sakashita. 1985 Ariaki-Sakashita on the west face by Masayuki Ariaki and Naoe Sakashita,1985 Northeast Face winter ascent by Michael Kennedy and Carlos Buhler. 1996 Stane Belak Šrauf Memorial Route on the northwest face by Vanja Furlan and Tomaž Humar,1996 North Ridge Austro-German alpine-style ascent by Friedl Huber, Max Berger, Louis Badengruber, and Roman Dirnbok. 2001 Northwest Ridge by Jules Cartwright and Rich Cross,2012 Southwest Ridge Jon Gupta summitted Ama Dablam three times in one week. On the night of 13/14 November 2006, a large serac collapse occurred from the hanging glacier, a representation of Ama Dablam was originally used by Invesco Perpetual as its branding logo within UK. It has since adopted by the INVESCO group of companies as its worldwide signature. Image peak Ama Dablam is present on the label of bottled tap water Aqua Minerale, for its soaring ridges and steep faces Ama Dablam is sometimes referred as the Matterhorn of the Himalayas
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Nepal
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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
6.
Eastern Region, Nepal
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The Eastern Development Region was one of Nepals five development regions. It was located at the end of the country with its headquarters at Dhankuta. The fourteen administrative zones of Nepal were split between five development regions, one of which was the Eastern Region, the town of Dhankuta was the capital of the Eastern Region, as well as the capital of the Dhankuta District. The Eastern Sector embraced the snow-capped peaks including Mt. Everest, Mt. Kangchenjunga, the profusion of natural resources connected with the amiable and warm nature of the inhabitants makes the region uniquely different. It comprised three zones, Sagarmatha Koshi Mechi Mt. Everest, Kanchanjunga, Makalu, Lhotse, Pumori are the mountains of Eastern Development Region. Sagarmatha National Park, Makalu Barun National Park, Kanchanjunga Conservation Area, the Eastern Development Region consists of about 28,456 square kilometers of area. Terai, extended from east to west, is made up of alluvial soil, to the west of Koshi River, in between Mahabharat and Churia, there elongates a valley called Inner Terai. Churai ranges, Mahabharat, hills of various height, basins, tars, some parts of this region are favourable for agriculture but some other parts are not. Himalayan region, in the north, consists of many mountains ranges, mahalangur, Kumbhakarna, Umvek, Lumba Sumba and Janak are some of them. The highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, and the third highest mountain, nepal’s lowest point, Kechana Kalan at 60 m, is located in the Jhapa district of this development region. There are many river basins and gentle slopes as well, churai, Mahabharat, many basins, tars and valleys form the Terai region. Between the Churia and Mahabharat a low land of inner Terai exists, the Koshi river flows through the region with its seven tributaries like Indrawati, Likhu, Tamur, Dudh Kosi, Arun, Tamakoshi and Bhote Koshi. There are other rivers as well, tundra vegetables, coniferous forest, deciduous monsoon forests and sub-tropical evergreen woods are vegetations found here. Sub-tropical, temperate, sub-temperate, and alpine and tundra types of climates are found here, the major cities of this region are Biratnagar, Dharan, Dhankuta, Itahari, Rajbiraj, Birtamod and Damak, Gaighat, Lahan, Ilam and Bhadrapur. Other notable places are Namche Bazaar, the town near the camp of Mt. Everest
7.
Sagarmatha Zone
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Sagarmāthā is one of the fourteen zones located in eastern Nepal. It includes mountain districts of the Himalayas in the north, hill districts in the center and it is bordered by China to the north, India to the south, the Kosi Zone to the east and the Janakpur Zone to the west. Sagarmāthā is divided into six districts, The main city of the Sagarmāthā Zone is Rajbiraj which is also the headquarters. Other towns of the Sagarmāthā hill area are Katari, Okhaldhunga, Diktel, Salleri and Namche Bazaar, while Kathauna, Lahan, Fatepur, Rajbiraj, triyuga is an emerging city in the zone. Sagarmāthā takes its name from the Nepalese name for Mount Everest, Sagarmāthā means the Head in the Great Blue Sky. Development Regions of Nepal List of zones of Nepal List of districts of Nepal
8.
Solukhumbu District
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Solukhumbu District, a part of the Province No. 1, is one of the districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. As the name suggests, it consists of the subregions Solu, the district, with Salleri as its headquarters, covers an area of 3,312 km² and had a population 107,686 in 2001 and 105,886 in 2011. Mount Everest is in the part of this district, within Sagarmatha National Park. Indigenous ethnic Kulung and hill Caste Chhetri are the groups living in the mid-hills. There is a hiking trail known as the Solukhumbu Trail. Solukhumbu District is a name in mountain tourism. The main attraction is Mount Everest, UNESCO has listed the Sagarmatha National Park as a World Heritage site. Sherpa culture and Tengboche Monastery are unique to this district, the Khumjung village is famous for Sherpa culture. Gokyo valley and Khumbu valley are the major Himalayan valleys famous among the adventure and nature seekers and this district is well known for adventure holidays
9.
Khumjung
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Khumjung is a village and Village Development Committee in Solukhumbu District in the Sagarmatha Zone of north-eastern Nepal. It is located in the Khumbu region inside Sagarmatha National Park, the village is at an elevation of 3,790 metres above sea level, and is situated near Mount Khumbila. A monastery in Khumjung has a purported Yeti scalp and this village has modern communications such as the internet and mobile and landline phones. The village is the seat of Khumjung village development committee which include Kunde, Khumjung, Tengboche, Pangboche, Pheriche, Dole, Chharchung, Machhermo, Lobuche, Dingboche, as of 1991, it had a population of 1809 people living in 433 individual households. Khumjung school was built by Sir Edmund Hillarys Himalayan Trust in 1961. The school began as two classrooms but now caters for pre-school, primary and secondary sections with over 350 students, UN map of the municipalities of Solukhumbu District
10.
Khumbu
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Khumbu is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of the Sagarmatha Zone, Khumbu is one of three subregions of the main Khambu and Sherpa settlement of the Himalaya, the other two being Solu and Pharak. It includes the town of Namche Bazaar as well as the villages of Thame, Khumjung, Pangboche, Pheriche, the famous Buddhist monastery at Tengboche is also located in the Khumbu. The Khumbus elevation ranges from 3,300 metres to the 8,848 m summit of Mount Everest, the Khumbu region includes both Sagarmatha National Park and the Sagarmatha National Park Buffer Zone, between Lukla and Monju. The Khumbu is a glacier believed to be the result of the last great Ice Age, lonely Planet has ranked Khumbu region in sixth best region in the world to travel. Dingboche Kunde Khumjung Lobuche Lukla Namche Bazaar Tengboche Phortse Thame Thamo Pangboche Phakding Monjo Khumbu travel guide from Wikivoyage
11.
Buddhist
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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
12.
Monastery
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A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone. A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, a monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. These may include a hospice, a school and a range of agricultural and manufacturing such as a barn. In English usage, the monastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage, convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics, historically, a convent denoted a house of friars, now more commonly called a friary. Various religions may apply these terms in specific ways. The earliest extant use of the term monastērion is by the 1st century AD Jewish philosopher Philo in On The Contemplative Life, in England the word monastery was also applied to the habitation of a bishop and the cathedral clergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served by canons secular, however, some were run by monasteries orders, such as York Minster. Westminster Abbey was for a time a cathedral, and was a Benedictine monastery until the Reformation. They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such as St Georges Chapel, in most of this article, the term monastery is used generically to refer to any of a number of types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent in certain branches of Buddhism, there is a more specific definition of the term. Buddhist monasteries are generally called vihara, viharas may be occupied by males or females, and in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by females may often be called a nunnery or a convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple, in Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a monastery is called a wat, in Burma, a monastery is called a kyaung. A Christian monastery may be an abbey, or a priory and it may be a community of men or of women. A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order, in Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community can be called a skete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of a lavra. The great communal life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the life of an anchorite. In Hinduism monasteries are called matha, mandir, koil, or most commonly an ashram, jains use the Buddhist term vihara
13.
Tengboche Monastery
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Tengboche Monastery, also known as Dawa Choling Gompa, in the Tengboche village in Khumjung in the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Sherpa community. Situated at 3,867 metres, the monastery is the largest gompa in the Khumbu region of Nepal and it was built in 1916 by Lama Gulu with strong links to its mother monastery known as the Rongbuk Monastery in Tibet. In 1934, it was destroyed by an earthquake and was subsequently rebuilt, in 1989, it was destroyed for a second time by a fire and then rebuilt with the help of volunteers and international assistance. Tengboche is the site of the Sacred Sites Trail Project of the Sagarmatha National Park that attracts large number of tourists for trekking and mountaineering. It is a trail that covers 10 monasteries in a clockwise direction terminating in the Tengboche Monastery. Khumbu valley, where the monastery is, came under the influence of Buddhism about 350 years back, ancient scriptures of Tibet refer to this valley along with Rowlang and Khanbalung valleys as sacred places. Lama Sangwa Dorje is referred to as the founder of the oldest monastery in Khumbu at Pangboche as well as other small hermitages. His divine psychic knowledge and clairvoyant vision had prophesised suitability of establishing a monastery at Tengboche based on a footprint on a left by him while meditating. However, the establishment of the monastery happened only during Ngawang Tenzin Norbu’s time. He had established a monastery at Rongbuk in Tibet on the face of Mt. Everest. He blessed Chatang Chotar, known as Lama Gulu, to found the Tengboche monastery at Tengboche village, as a result it got established at its present location in 1916. It is the first celibate monastery under the Nyingmapa lineage of the Vajrayana Buddhism, many older village-level monasteries are close by. Three wealthy inhabitants of the local Sherpa community are credited with funding building of the monastery, among these three, Karma was the most influential and well known as he was a tax collector, and he also enjoyed the patronage of the Rana rulers of Nepal. It is said that apart from Khumbu Sherpas, Sherung Sherpas have been involved with building this monastery, some of the village temples, chortens and smaller religious shrines are predated to 1880, particularly all the large chortens. The Mani wall, made of slabs of stone inscribed with prayers, the monastery was destroyed during the 1934 earthquake. Subsequently, Lama Gulu who had built it died and his successor, Umze Gelden, took up the task of rebuilding, with strong support from Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. The monks and the community, with support from a skilled carpenter from Lhasa. Exclusive murals were painted by Kappa Kalden, a renowned artist, with an influx of tourists to the Khumbu region, particularly for trekking by mountaineers, the monastery has received wide recognition
14.
Himalayas
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The Himalayas, or Himalaya, form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayan range has the Earths highest peaks, including the highest, the Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres in elevation. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres tall. The Himalayas are spread across five countries, Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, the Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate and its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. Its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east, the name of the range derives from the Sanskrit Himā-laya, from himá and ā-laya. They are now known as the Himalaya Mountains, usually shortened to the Himalayas, formerly, they were described in the singular as the Himalaya. This was also previously transcribed Himmaleh, as in Emily Dickinsons poetry and Henry David Thoreaus essays. The mountains are known as the Himālaya in Nepali and Hindi, the Himalaya or The Land of Snow in Tibetan, the Hamaleh Mountain Range in Urdu, the flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice, the amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant. The extremes of high altitude combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms, the unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations, the oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some species, especially rhododendron, apple. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet, the Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock
15.
Tawache
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Taboche is a mountain in the Khumbu region of the Nepalese Himalaya. Taboche is connected to Cholatse by a long ridge, Taboche lies directly across the Imja River from Ama Dablam and above the villages of Pheriche and Dingboche. The first ascent was made in 1974 by a French expedition led by Yannick Seigneur, the summit team included Louis Dubost, Paul Gendre and Jacques Brugirard. 1989 The direct north-east face of Taboche was climbed in winter by Jeff Lowe and they reached the summit on February 13. The route follows the deep vertical cleft up the center of the face, the climb is documented in Last Days, a book by John Roskelley. First ascent by Giri-Giri Boys Fumitaka Ichimura and Genki Narumi
16.
Mount Everest
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Mount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in China as Chomolungma/珠穆朗玛峰, is Earths highest mountain. Its peak is 8,848 metres above sea level, Mount Everest is in the Mahalangur Range. The international border between China and Nepal runs across Everests summit point and its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse,8,516 m, Nuptse,7,855 m, and Changtse,7,580 m. In 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 8,840 m. The current official height of 8,848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey, in 2005, China remeasured the height of the mountain and got a result of 8844.43 m. An argument regarding the height between China and Nepal lasted five years from 2005 to 2010, China argued it should be measured by its rock height which is 8,844 m but Nepal said it should be measured by its snow height 8,848 m. In 2010, an agreement was reached by both sides that the height of Everest is 8,848 m and Nepal recognises Chinas claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844 m. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, Mount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal and the other from the north in Tibet, as of 2016 there are well over 200 corpses on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. The first recorded efforts to reach Everests summit were made by British mountaineers, with Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North Col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8,595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition, the Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo, and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the north ridge on 25 May 1960. In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to fix the locations, heights, starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country due to suspicions of political aggression, several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down. The British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas, conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health, nonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km distant
17.
Nuptse
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Nuptse or Nubtse is a mountain in the Khumbu region of the Mahalangur Himal, in the Nepalese Himalayas. It lies two kilometres WSW of Mount Everest, Nubtse is Tibetan for west peak, as it is the western segment of the Lhotse-Nubtse massif. After a long hiatus, Nubtse again became the objective of high-standard mountaineers in the 1990s and 2000s, with important routes being put up on its west, south, hence it is not ranked on the list of highest mountains. Nuptse on Summitpost Nuptse on Peakware - photos Günther Seifferth, Nuptse at himalaya-info. org
18.
Lhotse
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Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. Part of the Everest massif, Lhotse is connected to the peak via the South Col. Lhotse means “South Peak” in Tibetan. In addition to the summit at 8,516 metres above sea level, the mountain comprises the smaller peaks Lhotse Middle at 8,414 m. The summit is on the border between the Tibet region of China and the Khumbu region of Nepal, an early attempt on Lhotse was by the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, headed by Norman Dyhrenfurth. It also included two Austrians and two Swiss, and was the first expedition in the Everest area to include Americans, the Nepalese liaison officer was Gaya Nanda Vaidya. They were accompanied by 200 local porters and several climbing Sherpas and they were beaten back by unexpectedly strong wind and cold temperatures. Under Schneiders direction they completed the first map of the Everest area, the expedition also made several short films covering local cultural topics, and made a number of first ascents of smaller peaks in the Khumbu region. The main summit of Lhotse was first climbed on May 18,1956 by the Swiss team of Ernst Reiss, on May 12,1970, Sepp Mayerl and Rolf Walter of Austria made the first ascent of Lhotse Shar. The Lhotse standard climbing route follows the path as Everests South Col route up to the Yellow Band beyond Camp 3. After the Yellow Band the routes diverge with climbers bound for Everest taking a left over the Geneva Spur up to the South Col, the last part to the summit leads through the narrow Reiss couloir until the Lhotse main peak is reached. As of December 2008,371 climbers have summitted Lhotse and 20 have died,1955 Attempt by the International Himalayan Expedition. 1956 May 18 First ascent of the summit, Fritz Luchsinger. 1965 First attempt on Lhotse Shar by a Japanese expedition - reached 8,100 m.1970 May 12 First ascent of Lhotse Shar by an Austrian expedition, Sepp Mayerl,1973 First attempt on the South Face by a Japanese expedition led by Royei Uchida. 1974 Polish expedition on Lhotse that way from Polish to Nepal defeated the car Jelcz 316 and it was to be a trip autumn but because of many problems delayed the trip and the trip became autumn-winter. So it was an expedition, for the first time. December 25 Andrzej Zawada and Andrzej Heinrich reached a height of 8250 meters which was the first in the history of ascent the height of 8000 meters in the winter,1975 Attempt on the South Face by Reinhold Messner. 1977 Second ascent of the summit by a German expedition led by Dr. G. Schmatz. 1979 Ascent of the summit by Jerzy Kukuczka without the use of supplemental oxygen
19.
Thamserku
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Thamserku is a mountain in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal. The mountain is connected by a ridge leading eastward to Kangtega, Thamserku is a prominent mountain to the east of Namche Bazaar and lies just north of Kusum Kangguru. The first ascent was made in 1964 from the south by members of Edmund Hillarys Schoolhouse Expedition, Lynn Crawford, Pete Farrell, John McKinnon, Richard Stewart, below the basin on the southwest face, they reached the south ridge after climbing a difficult couloir. The team described the climb as difficult and the route has not been repeated in its entirety by anyone else, in 2014, Russian climbers Alexander Gukov and Alexey Lonchinskiy made the first ascent on the southwest face. Kangtega and Thamserku as seen from Lobuche
20.
Tenzing Norgay
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Tenzing Norgay OSN GM, born Namgyal Wangdi and often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali Sherpa mountaineer. Among the most famous climbers in history, he was the first individual known to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, there are conflicting accounts of Norgays early life. The account he gave in his autobiography, accepted for years, is that he was a Sherpa born and raised in Tengboche, Khumbu. In an interview with All India Radio in 1985, Tenzing Norgay said that his parents came from Tibet, Khumbu lies near Mount Everest, which the Tibetans and Sherpas call Chomolungma, which in Standard Tibetan means Holy Mother, or the goddess of the summit. Norgay was a Nepalese Buddhist, Buddhism is the religion of the Sherpas. His exact date of birth is unknown, but he knew it was in late May by the weather, after his ascent of Everest on 29 May 1953, he decided to celebrate his birthday on that day thereafter. His year of birth, according to the Tibetan Calendar, was the Year of the Rabbit, Norgay was originally called Namgyal Wangdi, but as a child his name was changed on the advice of the head lama and founder of Rongbuk Monastery, Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. His father, a yak herder, was Ghang La Mingma, Norgay ran away from home twice in his teens, first to Kathmandu and later Darjeeling, India, at that time the starting point for most expeditions in eastern Himalaya. He was once sent to Tengboche Monastery to become a monk, at the age of 19, he eventually settled in the Sherpa community in Toonsong Busty in Darjeeling. Norgay received his first opportunity to join an Everest expedition when he was employed by Eric Shipton, as a 20-year-old his chance came when two of the others failed their medical tests. As a friend of Ang Tharkay, Norgay was quickly pushed forward, and his attractive smile caught the eye of Shipton, Norgay participated as a high-altitude porter in three official British attempts to climb Everest from the northern Tibetan side in the 1930s. On the 1936 expedition, he worked with John Morris and he also took part in other climbs in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. For a time in the early 1940s Norgay lived in the Princely State of Chitral as batman to a Major Chapman, Norgays first wife died during his tenure there and was buried there. In 1947, Norgay participated in a summit attempt of Everest. Canadian-born Earl Denman, Ange Dawa Sherpa, and Norgay entered Tibet illegally to attempt the mountain, Denman admitted defeat, and all three turned around and safely returned. In 1947, Norgay became a sirdar of a Swiss expedition for the first time, the expedition reached the main summit of Kedarnath at 22,769 feet in the western Garhwal Himalaya with Norgay being one of the summit party. Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about 8,595 metres on the southeast ridge, the expedition opened up a new route on Everest that was successfully climbed the next year
21.
Edmund Hillary
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Sir Edmund Percival Ed Hillary KG ONZ KBE was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest and they were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. TIME magazine named Hillary one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school. He made his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier and he served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II. Prior to the 1953 Everest expedition, Hillary had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951 as well as an attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958 and he subsequently reached the North Pole, making him the first person to reach both poles and summit Everest. Following his ascent of Everest, Hillary devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal. Hillary was born to Percival Augustus and Gertrude Hillary in Auckland, New Zealand and his family moved to Tuakau in 1920, after his father, who served at Gallipoli in the 15th Regiment, was allocated land there. Hillarys grandparents were early settlers in northern Wairoa in the century, having emigrated from Yorkshire. Hillary was educated at Tuakau Primary School and then Auckland Grammar School and he finished primary school two years early and at high school achieved average marks. Hillary was initially smaller than his peers there and very shy, so he took refuge in his books and his daily train journey to and from high school was over two hours each way, during which he regularly used the time to read. He gained confidence after he learned to box, at 16, his interest in climbing was sparked during a school trip to Mount Ruapehu. Though gangly at 6 ft 5 in and uncoordinated, he found that he was strong and had greater endurance than many of his tramping companions. He studied mathematics and science at the Auckland University College and in 1939 completed his first major climb, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier, with his brother Rex, Hillary became a beekeeper, a summer occupation that allowed him to pursue climbing in the winter. He joined the Radiant Living Tramping Club, where a holistic health philosophy developed by the health advocate Herbert Sutcliffe was taught, Hillary developed his love for the outdoors on tours with the club through the Waitakere Ranges. His interest in beekeeping later led Hillary to commission Michael Ayrton to cast a sculpture in the shape of honeycomb. This was placed in Hillarys New Zealand garden, where his bees took it over as a hive and filled it with honey and their young. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Hillary applied to join the Royal New Zealand Air Force but withdrew the application before it was considered, because he was harassed by religious conscience
22.
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
23.
Rongbuk Monastery
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Rongbuk monastery lies near the base of the north side of Mount Everest at 4,980 metres above sea level, at the end of the Dzakar Chu valley. Rongbuk is claimed to be the highest monastery in the world, the monastery was also regularly visited by the early expeditions to Mount Everest in the 1920s and 1930s after a five-week journey from Darjeeling in the Indian foothills of the Himalaya. Most past and current expeditions attempting to summit Mount Everest from the north, today, the monastery is accessible by road after a two- to three-hour drive from the Friendship Highway from either Shelkar or Old Tingri. In front of the Monastery, there is a large, round, Rongbuk Monastery was founded in 1902 by the Nyingmapa Lama Ngawang Tenzin Norbu in an area of meditation huts and caves that had been in use by communities of nuns since the 18th century. Hermitage meditation caves dot the walls all around the monastery complex and up. Mani stone walls, carved with sacred syllables and prayers, line the paths, the founding Rongbuk Lama, also known as Zatul Rinpoche, was much respected by the Tibetans. Even though the Rongbuk Lama viewed the early climbers as heretics, he gave them his protection and supplied them with meat and it was the Rongbuk Lama who gave Namgyal Wangdi the name Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, or Tenzing Norgay, as a young child. In previous times, the Monastery became very active with Buddhist teachings at certain times of the year and it was, and is, the destination of special Buddhist pilgrimages where annual ceremonies are held for spectators coming from as far away as Nepal and Mongolia. These ceremonies were shared with satellite monasteries across the Himalaya also founded by the Rongbuk Lama and these ceremonies continue to this day, notably at the Sherpa Monastery at Tengboche. Rongbuk Monastery was completely destroyed by the excesses of Chinas Cultural Revolution by 1974, the monasterys vast treasury of books and costumes, which had been taken for safekeeping to Tengboche, was lost in a 1989 fire. Since 1983 renovation work has been carried out and some of the new murals are reportedly excellent, adjacent to the monastery there is a basic guesthouse and small but cosy restaurant. In 2011, Rongbuk Monastery was ranked at the top of CNNs Great Places to be a Recluse
24.
Mt. Everest
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Mount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in China as Chomolungma/珠穆朗玛峰, is Earths highest mountain. Its peak is 8,848 metres above sea level, Mount Everest is in the Mahalangur Range. The international border between China and Nepal runs across Everests summit point and its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse,8,516 m, Nuptse,7,855 m, and Changtse,7,580 m. In 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 8,840 m. The current official height of 8,848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey, in 2005, China remeasured the height of the mountain and got a result of 8844.43 m. An argument regarding the height between China and Nepal lasted five years from 2005 to 2010, China argued it should be measured by its rock height which is 8,844 m but Nepal said it should be measured by its snow height 8,848 m. In 2010, an agreement was reached by both sides that the height of Everest is 8,848 m and Nepal recognises Chinas claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844 m. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, Mount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal and the other from the north in Tibet, as of 2016 there are well over 200 corpses on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. The first recorded efforts to reach Everests summit were made by British mountaineers, with Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North Col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8,595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition, the Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo, and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the north ridge on 25 May 1960. In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to fix the locations, heights, starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country due to suspicions of political aggression, several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down. The British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas, conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health, nonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km distant
25.
Nyingmapa
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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
26.
Vajrayana Buddhism
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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
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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
28.
Lhasa
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Lhasa is a city and administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. Lhasa is the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining and, at an altitude of 3,490 metres, the city has been the religious and administrative capital of Tibet since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Lhasa literally means place of the gods. Lhasa is first recorded as the name, referring to the temple of Jowo. By the mid 7th century, Songtsän Gampo became the leader of the Tibetan Empire that had risen to power in the Brahmaputra River Valley, Bhrikuti is said to have converted him to Buddhism, which was also the faith attributed to his second wife Wencheng. In 641 he constructed the Jokhang and Ramoche Temples in Lhasa in order to house two Buddha statues, the Akshobhya Vajra and the Jowo Sakyamuni, respectively brought to his court by the princesses. Lhasa suffered extensive damage under the reign of Langdarma in the 9th century, when the sites were destroyed and desecrated. A Tibetan tradition mentions that after Songtsän Gampos death in 649 C. E. Chinese troops captured Lhasa, Chinese and Tibetan scholars have noted that the event is mentioned neither in the Chinese annals nor in the Tibetan manuscripts of Dunhuang. Lǐ suggested that this tradition may derive from an interpolation, tsepon W. D. Shakabpa believes that those histories reporting the arrival of Chinese troops are not correct. From the fall of the monarchy in the 9th century to the accession of the 5th Dalai Lama, however, the importance of Lhasa as a religious site became increasingly significant as the centuries progressed. It was known as the centre of Tibet where Padmasambhava magically pinned down the earth demoness, islam has been present since the 11th century in what is considered to have always been a monolithically Buddhist culture. Two Tibetan Muslim communities have lived in Lhasa with distinct homes, food and clothing, language, education, trade, by the 15th century, the city of Lhasa had risen to prominence following the founding of three large Gelugpa monasteries by Je Tsongkhapa and his disciples. The three monasteries are Ganden, Sera and Drepung which were built as part of the puritanical Buddhist revival in Tibet, the scholarly achievements and political know-how of this Gelugpa Lineage eventually pushed Lhasa once more to centre stage. The 5th Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso, unified Tibet and moved the centre of his administration to Lhasa in 1642 with the help of Güshi Khan of the Khoshut. With Güshi Khan as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama, the core leadership of this government is also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang, and Lhasa thereafter became both the religious and political capital. In 1645, the reconstruction of the Potala Palace began on Red Hill, in 1648, the Potrang Karpo of the Potala was completed, and the Potala was used as a winter palace by the Dalai Lama from that time onwards. The Potrang Marpo was added between 1690 and 1694, the name Potala is derived from Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the Dalai Lamas divine prototype, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The Jokhang Temple was also expanded around this time
29.
Bodhisattvas
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Bodhisattvas are a popular subject in Buddhist art. In early Indian Buddhism, the term bodhisattva was primarily used to specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life. The Jataka tales, which are the stories of the Buddhas past lives, depict the various attempts of the bodhisattva to embrace qualities like self-sacrifice, mount Potalaka, for example, is one of Bodhisattvayana. Because Hinayana was disliked and the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva were not widely used, nevertheless, bodhisattva retained an implied reference to someone on the path to become an arhat or pratyekabuddha. In contrast, the goal of Mahayanas bodhisattva path is to achieve Samyaksambodhiṃ, when, during his discourses, he recounts his experiences as a young aspirant, he regularly uses the phrase When I was an unenlightened bodhisatta. The term therefore connotes a being who is bound for enlightenment, in other words, in the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta is also described as someone who is still subject to birth, illness, death, sorrow, defilement, and delusion. Some of the lives of the Buddha as a bodhisattva are featured in the Jataka tales. According to the Theravāda monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, the path is not taught in the earliest strata of Buddhist texts such as the Pali Nikayas which instead focus on the ideal of the Arahant. In later Theravada literature, the bodhisatta is used fairly frequently in the sense of someone on the path to liberation. He also quotes an inscription from the 10th Century king of Sri Lanka, Mahinda IV, paul Williams writes that some modern Theravada meditation masters in Thailand are popularly regarded as bodhisattvas. Like perhaps some of the early Mahāyāna forest hermit monks, or the later Buddhist Tantrics and they are widely revered, worshipped, and held to be arhats or bodhisattvas. Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally even an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, or the Bodhisattva Vehicle. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra contains a simple and brief definition for the term bodhisattva and this definition is given as the following. Because he has enlightenment as his aim, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is so called, the early Rastrapalapariprccha sutra also promotes a solitary life of meditation in the forests, far away from the distractions of the householder life. The Rastrapala is also critical of monks living in monasteries and in cities who are seen as not practicing meditation. These texts seem to indicate the initial Bodhisattva ideal was associated with a strict forest asceticism, Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the enlightenment of all sentient beings by practicing the six perfections. Indelibly entwined with the vow is merit transference
30.
John Hunt, Baron Hunt
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Brigadier Henry Cecil John Hunt, Baron Hunt KG, CBE, DSO, PC was a British Army officer who is best known as the leader of the successful 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest. Hunt was born in Simla, British India on 22 June 1910, the son of Captain Cecil Edwin Hunt MC, of the Indian Army, and his father was killed in action during the First World War. He made an ascent of Piz Palu at 14. He was educated at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was awarded the Kings Gold Medal, after Sandhurst, Hunt was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in 1930. In 1931, the regiment was posted to India and he was promoted lieutenant in 1933. Despite his background he seems not to have been comfortable with the prevailing social climate of the Raj. He preferred Rugby to Polo, and having already gained fluency in German and French he added Urdu, in 1934 he became a Military Intelligence officer in the Indian Army, with the local rank of captain, and was seconded to the Indian police. At this time the Indian independence movement was gaining ground, Hunt even worked undercover, gathering intelligence in Chittagong while dressed in Indian clothing. He returned to his regiment in 1935, having awarded the Indian police medal. Throughout this period Hunt continued to climb in the Himalayas, in 1935, with James Wallers group, he attempted Saltoro Kangri, reaching 24,500 feet. This exploit led to his election to the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society and he applied to join the 1936 Everest Expedition, but was turned down when an RAF medical discovered a minor heart problem. Here they saw tracks that one of the partys Sherpas told them were those of the Yeti,1938 saw a further period of secondment to Military Intelligence, and promotion to substantive captain. Upon returning to the United Kingdom in 1940, Hunt became chief instructor at the Commando Mountain and Snow Warfare School, Braemar. He returned to duty in 1943 as a war substantive major and acting lieutenant colonel, commanding officer of the 11th Battalion of the KRRC. In October 1944 his battalion was transferred to Greece, just as the tensions that would lead to the Greek Civil War were becoming evident, in Greece he was appointed temporary brigadier and given command of the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade at Patras. He kept the situation calm, and when allowed to act. He then attended Staff College in 1946, followed by staff appointments in the Middle East. He was granted the rank of major in 1946
31.
Guru Rimpoche
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Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist master. A number of legends have grown around Padmasambhavas life and deeds, and he is venerated as a second Buddha across Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan. The Nyingma school considers Padmasambhava to be a founder of their tradition, nyangrel Nyima Özer was the principal architect of the Padmasambhava mythos according to Janet Gyatso. Guru Chöwang was the major contributor to the mythos. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries there were several competing terma traditions surrounding Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Songtsän Gampo, and Vairotsana. At the end of the 12th century, there was the victory of the Padmasambhava cult, according to tradition, Padmasambhava was incarnated as an eight-year-old child appearing in a lotus blossom floating in Lake Dhanakosha, in the kingdom of Oddiyana. Padmasambhavas special nature was recognized by the local king of Oḍḍiyāna and was chosen to take over the kingdom. In Rewalsar, known as Tso Pema in Tibetan, he secretly taught tantric teachings to princess Mandarava, the king found out and tried to burn him, but it is believed that when the smoke cleared he just sat there, still alive and in meditation. Greatly astonished by this miracle, the king offered Padmasambhava both his kingdom and Mandarava, Padmasambhava left with Mandarava, and took to Maratika Cave in Nepal to practice secret tantric consort rituals. They had a vision of buddha Amitāyus and achieved what is called the rainbow body. Both Padmasambhava and one of his consorts, Mandarava, are believed to be alive and active in this rainbow body form by their followers. She and Padmasambhavas other main consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, who hid his numerous termas in Tibet for later discovery. Many thangkas and paintings show Padmasambhava in between them, with Mandarava on his right and Yeshe Tsogyal on his left. According to this story, King Trisong Detsen, the 38th king of the Yarlung dynasty. Śāntarakṣita started the building of Samye, demonical forces hindered the introduction of the Buddhist dharma, and Padmasambhava was invited to Tibet to subdue the demonic forces. The demons were not annihilated, but were obliged to submit to the dharma and this was in accordance with the tantric principle of not eliminating negative forces but redirecting them to fuel the journey toward spiritual awakening. According to tradition, Padmasambhava received the Emperors wife, identified with the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, King Trisong Detsen ordered the translation of all Buddhist Dharma Texts into Tibetan. Padmasambhava, Shantarakṣita,108 translators, and 25 of Padmasambhavas nearest disciples worked for years in a gigantic translation-project
32.
Washington DC
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
33.
Charlie Boorman
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Charley Boorman is an English TV presenter, travel writer and actor. He is known for his enthusiasm for motorbikes, as demonstrated in several documentaries of his travels, born in Wimbledon, southwest London, Boorman spent much of his formative years in County Wicklow, Ireland. Boorman is the son of German costume designer Christel Kruse and film director John Boorman and he then attended Sibford School, a Quaker school near Banbury, Oxfordshire, England from 1980 until 1983, where he received extra lessons in a specialist department catering for pupils with dyslexia. He is married to Olivia with whom he has two daughters, Doone and Kinvara and he resides in Barnes, south London. Boorman got a start in the film business appearing in films directed by his father. He first appeared in Deliverance, played a young Mordred in Excalibur, in 1987 he had a non-speaking role as a young German Luftwaffe pilot parachuting into a small village in Hope and Glory. His more recent acting appearances include The Serpents Kiss on which he met Ewan McGregor, in 2007, Boorman appeared on stage in Newcastle upon Tyne at the Tyne Theatre. The evening with style show then went on a tour around the UK, just about this time Boorman revealed he had testicular cancer. Caught early, he had a testicle removed and has since been a supporter of Movember – an event that focuses on this disease. Boorman was given the all-clear, but continued telling audiences across the country about his ordeal, encouraging more men to be aware, in 2011, the Charley Boorman Live show toured the UK and Ireland again, following a similar format to the first tour but without support acts. Boorman also began promoting African Adventures, which are commercial 17-day BMW motorcycle trips across Africa, Boorman has been on many visits to Dyslexia Actions regional centres and was actively involved in the charitys appeal Its ME. He also supported its whole school initiative P4L, Boorman recently participated in a live web chat for the charity where he answered questions about his dyslexia and his various adventures. In 2009, Boorman went to Helmand Province, Afghanistan and visited troops, kandahar and Bastion were the two key camps he visited, just before Christmas. He was reported to be humbled by meeting troops and has since been involved in related fund raising projects, in particular for Help for Heroes. In February 2014 and November 2016 Charley presented Gold Duke of Edinburghs Awards at St. Jamess Palace, on behalf of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and this was recorded, then later made into a television series, book and DVD. The series was shown around the world and the DVD and book became best sellers, along with producer Russ Malkin and a motorbike team, Boorman competed in the 2006 Dakar Rally in January 2006. The event was filmed and the series Race to Dakar began on Sky2 in the United Kingdom in October 2006, during the rally Boorman injured himself and was forced to retire from the race after five days. In 2007, he started another journey with McGregor, Long Way Down and this was televised on BBC2 starting in October 2007
34.
Peter Hillary
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Peter Edmund Hillary is a New Zealand mountaineer, philanthropist and writer. He is the son of adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Nepalese Sherpa mountain climber Tenzing Norgay, when Peter Hillary summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat. Hillary has achieved two summits of Everest, an 84-day trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, and an expedition guiding astronaut Neil Armstrong to land an aircraft at the North Pole. He has climbed many of the major peaks, and on 19 June 2008, completed the Seven Summits, reaching the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents. Peter Edmund Hillary was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 26 December 1954 and he had two younger sisters, Sarah Louise and Belinda Mary, and was the eldest of the three children of Sir Edmund Hillary and his first wife, Louise Mary Rose. Peter Hillary received his education at Kings College, Auckland and at Auckland University, as a child, Hillary travelled the world extensively. In 1962, when he was seven, his family travelled all over the United States, on the way back to New Zealand, the Hillary family capped off their year abroad in Nepal for a visit with Tenzing Norgay. At age eleven, his father took him to climb Mount Everest, Hillary, then twenty, was in Assam, India, visiting a friend, when he received the news that there were no survivors in the crash. He described Lady Hillary and Belinda as the glue that bonded the family together, hillarys climbing friend, Australian Mark Moorhead, died on 15 October 1983 attempting to ascend Makalu, a Himalayan mountain that is the fifth-highest in the world. When Hillary went to pay his respects to the family, he met Moorheads sister Ann and they separated in 1993 when Hillary began talking about resuming his mountaineering career after a three-year hiatus, and were subsequently divorced. Hillary later married Yvonne Oomen, with whom he has two children, Alexander and Lily, he also has two children, Amelia and George, from his first marriage. On 11 January 2008, Hillary was in Lisbon, Portugal at a dinner with some clients when he was informed his father had died of a heart attack at Auckland Hospital. Sir Edmund lay in state at the Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Hillary delivered a eulogy for his father in which he said, recalling his childhood, Growing up in the Hillary family, was quite an adventure. However, in 2010, a committee of Sherpas decided against it, Hillary said he and his sister owned the watches as per their fathers will. It was ruled that, under New Zealands heritage laws, the Everest watch should never have left the country and was a violation of the Protected Objects Act, Lady Hillary had to withdraw the items from auction. When the courts awarded ownership of the watches to Sir Edmunds children, finally, in October 2011, Lady Hillary resigned as the head of the Himalayan Trust, with five additional board members going with her. Hillary has been to Everest five times, once reaching 8,300 metres on the West Ridge, with his first summit of Mount Everest in 1990, he and Sir Edmund became the first father and son to achieve the feat. His second ascent in May 2002 was part of a National Geographic Society expedition to mark the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary, the 1990 expedition was led by veteran Everest climber Pete Athans, who holds the record for the most summits of Everest by a Western climber
35.
By Any Means (2008 TV series)
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By Any Means, also known as Ireland to Sydney by Any Means, is a television series following Long Way Round and Long Way Down star Charley Boorman. Travelling from Wicklow, Ireland, to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, it features him completing the journey using 112 modes of transport, after Long Way Round and Long Way Down, Boorman and producer Russ Malkin conceived By Any Means in late 2007. Travelling across 24 countries, the crew comprised only Boorman, Malkin, the expedition got under way on 12 April 2008 from Boormans father John Boormans house in Wicklow. They rode their motorbikes up to Kilkeel before crossing the Irish Sea by fishing boat to the Isle of Man, from there they drove an AEC Routemaster bus down to Dover and boarded a small sailboat across to Calais which they completed in five hours. From Calais the expedition drove down to Paris in a 1969 Citroën DS and boarded the Venice-Simplon Orient Express which took them across France, Switzerland and Austria to Venice, Italy. They spent some time in Venice, experiencing the daily lives of people on the Venetian canals before boarding a catamaran to Poreč and they then boarded a train which took them through Serbia and Belgrade and they took a boat down to the Danube. It was designed as a service bus with notices of the towns they would pass on their journey on the windows. They crossed into Georgia to Batumi, where they resumed their journey in an old Russian UAZ and across to the Caspian Sea in Baku, Azerbaijan. They noted how polluted the city was, and the difficulties of the lives of the workers who worked in the multibillion-dollar oil industry despite earning very little. Boorman found Mumbai extremely crowded and hot, but took the time to visit some pottery makers in the city and he then took a cab to the train station where he boarded a train for the 852 miles journey to Delhi that took 19 hours. In Delhi they took a tuk tuk across the city, where they picked up Royal Enfield Bullet 500cc motorcycles to take them to Agra. During this time the cameraman, Mungo, learned of his grandfathers death and they took a taxi to Kanpur and then boarded a Tata Truck which Boorman was emphatic about through Allahabad to Mirzapur. There they switched transport to Mahindra Jeeps for some 42 miles to Ramnagar Fort, there they boarded a rowing boat on the Ganges for the five miles journey to Varanasi, one of Indias holiest cities for both Hindus and Buddhists. Boorman found the city extremely spiritual and an experience, witnessing the Sandhya Aarti and cremations at the river side at night. After some time driving a tuk tuk themselves, the team caught the Gorakhpur Express train to Gorakhpur, after visiting a UNICEF site in the city they took one of the UNICEF minibuses to Kodahi. During their time there it coincided with the 55th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillarys ascent of Everest and they witnessed a marathon being held there, always won by the Sherpas due to them being accustomed to the thin air at that altitude. They were also under scrutiny on the Tibetan border by the Chinese army as their helicopter teetered marginally into Chinese airspace. In Wuzhou they caught a bus to Yangshuo where they experienced village life in the area and the fields, exploring the deep pot hole mud caves
36.
Dudh Kosi
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Dudh Koshi is a river in eastern Nepal. It is the highest river in terms of elevation, the Kosi River, or Sapt Koshi, drains eastern Nepal. It is known as Sapt Koshi because of the seven rivers which join together in east-central Nepal to form this river. The main rivers forming the Koshi system are – the Sun Koshi, the Indravati River, the Bhote Koshi, the Dudh Koshi, the Arun River, Barun River, and Tamor River. The Dudh Kosi river originates from the areas of Mt Everest. The combined river flows through the Chatra Gorge in a direction to emerge from the hills. The river drains the Mount Everest massif, the highest peak in the world and it begins just east of Gokyo Lakes and flows south to Namche Bazaar. Continuing south, the Dudh Koshi exits Sagarmatha National Park and passes to the west of Lukla, the Lamding Khola joins the Dudh Koshi to the southwest of Surkya and continues its southerly course to Harkapur, where it joins the Sun Kosi. The river is characteristic of white water and normally cannot be used for watersports. The descent is over 5% and there are rapids that reach WW VI difficulty, in addition, the river often changes — big stones getting moved around by natural forces etc. Flowing down from Mount Everest, the river is believed to be the highest navigable whitewater, as such, it came to attention of teams participating in the world cup since Austrian paddlers made a world record descending from 3200 m altitude in France. Czechoslovak sportsmen then agreed to take up the challenge, a team of sixteen men, fourteen Czechs and two Slovaks, had been gathered and on January 4,1973 they set on the journey from Děhylov by cars. For the last part from Lukla to Pheriche,110 porters were hired to carry the boats, the actual river trip began on April 1 near Pheriche at 4243 mamsl and ran for 126 km down to Sun Kosi. The paddlers used both covered tandem canoes of Vertex brand and solo kayaks, all made of fiberglass, the expedition returned home safely in August the same year. Three years later, in 1976, there was a British expedition of seven kayakers under the leadership of Mike Jones and they used 4 metres long fiberglass slalom-style kayaks specially designed by Pyranha Canoes with extra buyonancy and reinforcement. The expedition is notable for taking place in September to avoid ice and they paddled at approximately 5300 mamsl on one of the lakes at the Khumbu Glacier. But the high water flow had its downside — many parts were too dangerous and had to be omitted and it is unclear which parts of the river were skipped, but the descent is generally considered incomplete. The next year, HTV documentary movie Dudh Kosi, Relentless River of Everest has been released which is a source of common misconception that this was the first trip on the river
37.
Imja Khola
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The Imja Khola is a tributary of the Dudh Kosi in Nepal. It drains the slopes of Mount Everest, the Khumbu Glacier melts into the Lobujya River, which flows southward as the Imja Khola to its confluence with the Dudh Kosi at Tengboche. The Imja Khola collects water from the Imja Glacier through the Dingboche Valley, there is a monastery at Pangboche at 3,900 metres. The trek is through beautiful Rhododendron forest and it is also on the trekking route to Chukhung and the Imja Tse or Island peak. See also – video of bridge over Imja Khola See also – pictures of a hike up the Imja Khola valley
38.
Solukhumbu district
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Solukhumbu District, a part of the Province No. 1, is one of the districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. As the name suggests, it consists of the subregions Solu, the district, with Salleri as its headquarters, covers an area of 3,312 km² and had a population 107,686 in 2001 and 105,886 in 2011. Mount Everest is in the part of this district, within Sagarmatha National Park. Indigenous ethnic Kulung and hill Caste Chhetri are the groups living in the mid-hills. There is a hiking trail known as the Solukhumbu Trail. Solukhumbu District is a name in mountain tourism. The main attraction is Mount Everest, UNESCO has listed the Sagarmatha National Park as a World Heritage site. Sherpa culture and Tengboche Monastery are unique to this district, the Khumjung village is famous for Sherpa culture. Gokyo valley and Khumbu valley are the major Himalayan valleys famous among the adventure and nature seekers and this district is well known for adventure holidays
39.
Namche
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Namche Bazaar is a village and Village Development Committee in Solukhumbu District in the Sagarmatha Zone of north-eastern Nepal. It is located within the Khumbu area at 3,440 metres at its low point, most Sherpa who are in the tourism business are specifically from the Namche area. Namche is the trading center and hub for the Khumbu region with many Nepalese officials, a police check, post. Namche is the most expensive place in Nepal, at least thrice as expensive as the capital city Kathmandu, at the time of the 2001 Nepal census, it had a population of 1647 people residing in 397 individual households. Immediately west of Namche is Kongde Ri at 6,187 metres, on a hill overlooking Namche Bazaar is the Syangboche Airport. It is no used for passenger flights. Russian helicopters make occasional cargo flights, nearest open airport is Tenzing–Hillary Airport, located 13 km south to the Namche. Namche Bazaar is popular with trekkers in the Khumbu region, especially for altitude acclimatization, the town has a number of lodgings and stores catering to the needs of visitors as well as a number of internet cafés. On Saturday mornings, a market is held in the center of the village. There may also be a daily Tibetan market where clothing and cheap Chinese consumer goods tend to be the articles for sale. Namche has electricity from nearby Thame-Namche small hydropower plant, opened in October 1995 near Thame, Namche has cool, wet summers and chilly, dry winters mainly affected by its altitude and the summer monsoon season. The average precipitation is 1110mm and has a temperature of 6.1 celsius. Namche Bazaar is the name of a song by Nathan Rogers on his album The Gauntlet, the song was inspired by the mixing of culture along the silk road. Hiking Namche and Everest, GoNOMAD feature article Namche Bazaar travel guide from Wikivoyage Image of Shrine at Namche Bazar
40.
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
41.
Sagarmatha National Park
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The Sagarmāthā National Park is a protected area in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that is dominated by Mount Everest. It encompasses an area of 1,148 km2 in the Solukhumbu District, in the north, it shares the international border with the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve of Tibet and extends to the Dudh Kosi river in the south. Adjacent to the east is the Makalu Barun National Park, Sagarmāthā is a Nepali word derived from सगर् sagar meaning sky and माथा māthā meaning head. The protected area has identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International and is included in the Sacred Himalayan Landscape. The Sagarmatha National Park was established in 1976, in 1979, it became the countrys first national park that was inscribed as a Natural World Heritage Site. In January 2002, a Buffer Zone comprising 275 km2 was added, tourism to the area began in the early 1960s. In 2003, about 19,000 tourists arrived, about 3500 Sherpa people live in villages and seasonal settlements situated along the main tourist trails. The parks visitor centre is located at the top of a hill in Namche Bazaar, the parks southern entrance is a few hundred metres north of Monzo at 2,835 m, a one-day trek from Lukla. The park contains the upper catchment areas of the Dudh Kosi river, Bhotekoshi river basin and the Gokyo Lakes. It is largely composed of rugged terrain and gorges of the high Himalayas, other peaks above 6,000 m are Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Thamserku, Nuptse, Amadablam and Pumori. Barren land above 5,000 m comprises 69% of the park while 28% is grazing land and the remaining 3% is forested. Climatic zones include a temperate zone, a subalpine zone above 3,000 m. The nival zone starts at 5,000 m, in the lower forested zone, birch, juniper, blue pines, firs, bamboo and rhododendron grow. Above this zone the vegetation is dwarf-sized or comprises shrubs, as the altitude increases, plant life is restricted to lichens and mosses. Plants cease to grow at about 5,750 m, because this is the permanent snow line in the Himalayas, forests of pine and hemlock cover the lower elevations of the national park. At elevations of around 3,500 m and above, forests of fir, birch, rhododendron. The forests provide habitat to at least 118 species of birds, including Himalayan monal, blood pheasant, red-billed chough, Sagarmāthā National Park is also home to a number of rare mammal species, including musk deer, snow leopard, Himalayan black bear and red panda. Himalayan thars, langur monkeys, martens and Himalayan wolves are found in the park
42.
Rhododendrons
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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
43.
Shakyamuni Buddha
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Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region and he later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala. Gautama is the figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as a teacher who attained full Buddhahood. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death, various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the facts of the Buddhas life. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddhas lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism. Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought, thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. The times of Gautamas birth and death are uncertain, most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet accepted by all historians. It was either a republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, no written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon and they are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different and these include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, a poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE, the Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE
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Manjushri
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Mañjuśrī is a bodhisattva associated with prajñā in Mahayana Buddhism. In Tibetan Buddhism, he is also a yidam and his name means Gentle Glory in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the name of Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, literally Mañjuśrī, Still a Youth or, less literally. Scholars have identified Mañjuśrī as the oldest and most significant bodhisattva in Mahāyāna literature, Mañjuśrī is first referred to in early Mahayana sutras such as the Prajnaparamita sutras and through this association very early in the tradition he came to symbolize the embodiment of prajñā. The Lotus Sutra assigns him a land called Vimala, which according to the Avatamsaka Sutra is located in the East. His pure land is predicted to be one of the two best pure lands in all of existence in all the past, present and future, when he attains buddhahood his name will be Universal Sight. In the Lotus Sūtra, Mañjuśrī also leads the Nagarajas daughter to enlightenment, an example of a wisdom teaching of Mañjuśrī can be found in the Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. This sūtra contains a dialogue between Mañjuśrī and the Buddha on the One Samadhi, constantly thus practicing, day or night, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down, finally one reaches an inconceivable state without any obstruction or form. This is the Samadhi of One Act, within Vajrayana Buddhism, Mañjuśrī is a meditational deity, and considered a fully enlightened Buddha. In Shingon Buddhism, he is one of the Thirteen Buddhas to whom disciples devote themselves and he figures extensively in many esoteric texts such as the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa and the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti. His consort in some traditions is Saraswati, Mañjuśrī is depicted as a male bodhisattva wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing the realization of transcendent wisdom which cuts down ignorance and duality. The scripture supported by the padma held in his hand is a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra. Mañjuśrī is often depicted as riding on a lion, or sitting on the skin of a lion. This represents the use of wisdom to tame the mind, which is compared to riding or subduing a ferocious lion, in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art, Mañjuśrīs sword is sometimes replaced with a ruyi scepter, especially in representations of his Vimalakirti Sutra discussion with the layman Vimalakirti. According to Berthold Laufer, the first Chinese representation of a ruyi was in an 8th-century Mañjuśrī painting by Wu Daozi, in subsequent Chinese and Japanese paintings of Buddhas, a ruyi was occasionally represented as a padma with a long stem curved like a ruyi. He is one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas of Chinese Buddhism, in China, he is often paired with Samantabhadra. In Tibetan Buddhism, Mañjuśrī is sometimes depicted in a trinity with Avalokiteśvara and this syllabary was most widely used for the Gāndhārī language with the Kharoṣṭhī script, but also appears in some Sanskrit texts. In some of these texts, the Arapacana syllabary serves as a mnemonic for important Mahāyāna concepts, due to its association with him, Arapacana may even serve as an alternate name for Mañjuśrī
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Maitreya
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Maitreya, Metteyya, Maithri, Jampa or Di-lặc, is regarded as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, according to Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor to the present Buddha, the prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya refers to a time in the future when the dharma will have been forgotten by most on the terrestrial world. Maitreya has also adopted for his millenarian role by many non-Buddhist religions in the past, such as the White Lotus, as well as by modern new religious movements. The name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit word maitrī loving-kindness, the Pali form Metteyya is mentioned in the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta of the Pāli Canon, and also in chapter 28 of the Buddhavamsa. This leads scholar Richard Gombrich to conclude that either the whole sutta is apocryphal or that it has at least been tampered with. In the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, in the first centuries CE in northern India, in 4th to 6th-century China, Buddhist artisans used the names Shakyamuni and Maitreya interchangeably. Indicating both that the distinction between the two had not yet been drawn and that their respective iconographies had not yet been firmly set, an example is the stone sculpture found in the Qingzhou cache dedicated to Maitreya in 529 CE as recorded in the inscription. The religious belief of Maitreya apparently developed around the time as that of Amitābha. One mention of the prophecy of Maitreya is in the Maitreyavyākaraṇa, no longer will they regard anything as their own, they will have no possession, no gold or silver, no home, no relatives. But they will lead the life of oneness under Maitreyas guidance. They will have torn the net of the passions, they manage to enter into trances. Maitreya is typically pictured seated, with both feet on the ground or crossed at the ankles, on a throne, waiting for his time. He is dressed in the clothes of either a bhikṣu or Indian royalty, as a bodhisattva, he would usually be standing and dressed in jewels. A khata is always tied around his waist as a girdle, in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, Maitreya is represented as a Central Asian or northern Indian nobleman, holding a kumbha in his left hand. Sometimes this is a wisdom urn and he is flanked by his two acolytes, the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu. The Maitreyasamiti was an extensive Buddhist play in pre-Islamic Central Asia, the Maitreyavyakarana in Central Asia and the Anagatavamsa of South India also mention him. Maitreya currently resides in the Tuṣita Heaven, said to be reachable through meditation, Gautama Buddha also lived here before he was born into the world as all bodhisattvas live in the Tuṣita Heaven before they descend to the human realm to become Buddhas
