Portal:Nepal

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स्वागतम् / Welcome to the Nepal Portal


Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point above mean sea level on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and its largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language.

The name "Nepal" is first recorded in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian subcontinent, the era in ancient Nepal when Hinduism was founded, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BC, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The centrally located Kathmandu Valley is intertwined with the culture of Indo-Aryans, and was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley's 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, under its Rana dynasty of premiers. The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and British India. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951 but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of a secular republic in 2008, ending the world's last Hindu monarchy. The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms the country as a federal parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces. In September 2025, protests against a social media ban and economic inequality caused riots, resulting in casualties and the resignation of the prime minister.

Nepal's foreign policy focuses on neutrality, sovereignty, and multilateral cooperation. Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and China in 1960. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative. Nepal's foreign relations also emphasise development assistance, trade partnerships, and promoting peace and stability in South Asia. (Full article...)

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Selected article -

Damaged homes in Kathmandu after the April mainshock.

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of Mw 7.8–7.9 or Ms 8.1 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (Extreme). Its epicenter was east of Gorkha District at Barpak, Gorkha, roughly 85 km (53 mi) northwest of central Kathmandu, and its hypocenter was at a depth of approximately 8.2 km (5.1 mi). It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–India earthquake. The ground motion recorded in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, was of low frequency, which, along with its occurrence at an hour when many people in rural areas were working outdoors, decreased the loss of human lives.

The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing 22 people, the deadliest incident on the mountain on record. The earthquake triggered another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing. (Full article...)

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Pashupatinātha Temple, associated with Shiva as 'the lord of all beings'

Pashupatinath Temple (Nepali: श्री पशुपतिनाथ मन्दिर) is a revered Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupati, a manifestation of Shiva. Located on the banks of the sacred Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, the temple is one of the oldest and most significant religious complexes in South Asia. Recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, it is one of seven monument groups in UNESCO's designation of Kathmandu Valley and is described as an "extensive Hindu temple precinct" comprising a vast network of temples, ashrams, inscriptions, and images raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati River. The temple, considered one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Hindus, is built on an area of 246 hectares (2,460,000 m2) and includes 518 mini-temples and the principal pagoda-style temple.

Pashupatinath temple is venerated as one of the holiest abodes of Shiva in Skanda Purana and is honored as one of the Paadal Petra Sthalams (Tamil Tevara Sthalam) of Tevaram. The linga of Pashupatinath, as per Shiva Purana, is believed to be the bestower of all wishes. Mythologically, the temple is seen as the head of Shiva with his body stretching to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in India, and is also spiritually connected to the temples of Kedarnath, Rudranath, Kalpeshwar, Madhyamaheshwar and Tungnath as per the legend of Mahabharata. The main temple priests are, as a long-standing tradition, Vedic Dravida Brahmins from Karnataka trained at the Sringeri Sharada Peetham in Southern India. (Full article...)

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Namche Bazaar is a town in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. It is located within the Khumbu area at 3,440 metres (11,286 ft) at its low point, populating the sides of a hill. Most Sherpa who are in the tourism business are from the Namche area. Namche is the main trading center and hub for the Khumbu region with many Nepalese officials.


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Selected biography -

Gyanendra in 2012

Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Nepali: ज्ञानेन्द्र बीर बिक्रम शाह देव; born 7 July 1947) was King of Nepal from 1950 to 1951 and again from 2001 until the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.

As a child, Gyanendra was briefly declared king when his grandfather Tribhuvan and his family fled to India during a political crisis. His second reign, which began as a result of the Nepalese royal massacre, was characterised by constitutional upheaval. His brother, King Birendra, established a constitutional monarchy and delegated policy to a representative government following the 1990 Nepalese revolution which ended absolute monarchical rule. During Gyanendra's reign, the growing insurgency of the Nepalese Civil War disrupted representative elections. Following several election delays, Gyanendra suspended the constitution and assumed direct rule in February 2005, claiming that it was a temporary measure to suppress the Maoist insurgency after civilian governments failed to do so. In April 2006, despite widespread opposition, he restored Nepal's previous parliament. Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord between the government and the Maoists, he was deposed two years later by the first session of the Constituent Assembly, which declared a republic and ended the 240-year rule of the Shah dynasty. (Full article...)

Selected fare or cuisine -

Yomari, also called Yamari, (Nepal Bhasa: 𑐫𑑀𑐩𑐵𑐬𑐷‎, also written as 𑐫𑑅𑐩𑐵𑐬𑐷‎, romanized. yomarī) is a delicacy of the Newar community in Nepal which is usually eaten in the winter. It is a steamed dumpling that consists of an external covering of rice flour with sweet high caloric fillings such as chaku and khuwa which are traditionally believed to ward off the cold. Yomari plays a very important role in Newar society and is a key part of its namesake festival,Yomari Punhi, celebrated in the winter. It is also believed that the triangular shape of the Yamari is a symbolic representation of one half of the Shadkona, the symbol of Saraswati and wisdom.

The structure of Yamari is similar to “Bagiya”, a dish traditional to the Maithil and Tharu community of southern Nepal. (Full article...)

Did you know -

  • In Nepal there are as many as 80 ethnic groups speaking more than 100 different languages.
  • Dang Valley situated in the mid-western development region of Nepal is the largest valley of Asia.

Wiki Loves Nepal

The following pages at Wikimedia Commons contain a plethora of images taken in Nepal.

Wiki Loves Earth is an international photographic competition to promote natural heritage sites around the World through Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons).


Wiki Loves Monuments is an international photographic competition to promote cultural monuments around the World through Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.

Provinces

Below is a clickable map of Nepal's Provinces

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