Mahashivaratri Festival

Mahashivaratri Festival

Mahashivaratri Festival or the ‘The Night of Shiva’ is celebrated with devotion and religious fervor in honor of Lord Shiva, one of the deities of Hindu Trinity. Shivaratri falls on the moonless 14th night of the new moon in the Hindu month of Phalgun, which corresponds to the month of February - March in English Calendar. Celebrating the festival of Shivaratri devotees observe day and night fast and perform ritual worship of Shiva Lingam to appease Lord Shiva.

Legends of Mahashivratri
There are various interesting legends related to the festival of Maha Shivaratri. According to one of the most popular legends, Shivaratri marks the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Some believe that it was on the auspicious night of Shivaratri that Lord Shiva performed the ‘Tandava’, the dance of the primal creation, preservation and destruction. Another popular Shivratri legend stated in Linga Purana states that it was on Shivaratri that Lord Shiva manifested himself in the form of a Linga. Hence the day is considered to be extremely auspicious by Shiva devotees and they celebrate it as Mahashivaratri - the grand night of Shiva.

Traditions and Customs of Shivaratri
Various traditions and customs related to Shivaratri Festival are dutifully followed by the worshippers of Lord Shiva. Devotees observe strict fast in honor of Shiva, though many go on a diet of fruits and milk some do not consume even a drop of water. Devotees strongly believe that sincere worship of Lord Shiva on the auspicious day of Shivaratri, absolves a person of sins and liberates him from the cycle of birth and death. Shivaratri is considered especially auspicious for women. While married women pray for the well being of their husbands unmarried women pray for a husband like Lord Shiva, who is regarded as the ideal husband.

To mark the Shivratri festival, devotees wake up early and take a ritual bath, preferably in river Ganga. After wearing fresh new clothes devotees visit the nearest Shiva temple to give ritual bath to the Shiva Lingum with milk, honey, water etc.

On Shivaratri, worship of Lord Shiva continues all through the day and night. Every three hours priests perform ritual pooja of Shivalingam by bathing it with milk, yoghurt, honey, ghee, sugar and water amidst the chanting of “Om Namah Shivaya’ and ringing of temple bells. Nightlong vigil or jaagran is also observed in Shiva temples where large number of devotees spend the night singing hymns and devotional songs in praise of Lord Shiva. It is only on the following morning that devotee break their fast by partaking prasad offered to the deity.

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Upcoming Fets and Festivals

Upcoming Fets and Festivals


Mahashivaratri Festival
Date : 6 March, 08
Venue : All over Nepal
Organizer :
Contact no:

Kanchanpur Festival
Date : 3-11 March, 08
Venue : Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur
Organizer : Kanchanpur Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Contact no: 977-99-522059

Short Film Festival (www.alliancefrancaise.org.np)
Date : 22-25 Feb, 08
Venue : NTB, Hall, Kathmandu
Organizer : Alliance Ferancaise
Contact no: 977-1-4241163

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A public library of Nepalese manuscripts

A public library of Nepalese manuscripts

A public library of Nepalese manuscripts

The Asha Archieves is a public library of Nepalese manuscripts, named after the late Mr. Asha Man Singh Kansakar, father of the late Mr. Prem Bahadur Kansakar (1917-1991). Mr. Kansakar was a prominent activist, social worker, educationist and Newar writer who had founded serveral social, cultural, literary and exucational instituitions. The nucleus of this collection was donated by Prem Bahadur Kansakar to Cwasa Pasa, a premier literacy association of Newar writers on August 16, 1985. To this personal collection were later added the donations of valuable manuscripts and palmleaf documents by several well-wishers and friends. Among them mention should be made of Mr. Ian Alsop, an American student of Kansakar, Dharma Ratna Bajracharya, Gurushekher Rajopadhyaya, Reverend Takoka, Gyan Ratna, and Dr. Kamal P. Malla. Similarly, more than a dozen other donors have helped this archieves with gifts of their personal collection of manuscripts.

The Archieves was inaugurated by Professor Yujiro Hayashi, the Executive Director of the Toyota Foundation, Japan on December 7, 1987. It was made accesible for the public since that day. The Toyota Foundation had made a generous grant to purchase, innovate and furnish the house where it is now located. The Foundation had also supported the document of the manuscripts and the initial operation of the Archieves with a fund deposited as seed money and endowment.

The Collections
In this archieves there are several valuable collections of palmleaf, loose leaf pothi and folded manuscripts. There are more than 6700 manuscripts and about 1100 palmleaf landgrant documents. These manuscripts belong to various sects and genres written in different languages and scripts. Largest among these are the ritual texts, medical texts, manuals of magic and necromancy, astrology/astronomy, Vedic, Puranic and Tantric texts of Shaiva, Bauddha and Shakta sects. A large number also come from the Mahayana and Vajrayana sects. There are technical and symbolic drawings and architectural designs of religious and secular structures, painted covers, and book illustrations of great beauty and delicacy. Perhaps the most important components of the archieves are the literary texts, hymns, songs, plays, popular narratives, didactic tales and Buddhist avadanas in the Newar language. Written in Sanskrit, Nepalbhasa, Maithili, and Nepali language one can find specimens of beautiful calligraphy in the collection written in plain black ink, silver and golden letters.

The archieves has also a collection of nearly all Nepalbhasa books in print, journals, magazines and newspapers in the Nepalbhasa. There is also a small Nepal collection, consisting of books on Nepal in English and other languages which will be of interest for study and research on the culture and heritage of the Nepal Valley.

Getting there
The Asha Archives is located in the western edge of the old Kathmandu, in the locality known as Kulanbhulu, just opposite of Raktakali at Gha 3/563 Kulanbhulu, Raktakali, Kathmandu. Telephone: 4263417. The opening hours are 10:00AM to 5:00Pm in summer and 11:00AM to 4:00PM in winter. It is open during weekdays except Saturdays and other public holidays.

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The National Art Gallery

The National Art Gallery

The National Art Gallery was established by Government of Nepal, Department of Archaeology in 1960 A.D. at the Singhadhoka building complex of Bhaktapur Palace. It was inaugurated by the first elected Prime Minister Shree Bishweshowar Prased Koirala on the occassion of Shree Panch Tribhuven Jayanti. This museum was founded to preserve and introduce traditional paintings of Nepal. This Museum has not been able to function as National Art Museum due to lack of space and management. The collection, however, is not very large but some of the paubhas and manuscript covers are indeed magnificent.

Stone Art Section

This section lies in the ground floor of the building beside the main entrance of the Gallery. In the arcade, there are some representative stone inscriptions have been shown including the time of Lichchavi King Shiva Deva and King Yaksha Malla dated 588 N.S. There are some remarkable stone sculptures. The stone sculputures here are mostly from Bhaktapur area and some of them are the best representative of early medieval to medieval sculputure art of Nepal.The four faced Shivalinga, Harihar, Surya, Chandrama, Vishnu, Tara, Ardhanariswar and some architectural fragments are worth mentioning stone art exhibits.

Painting Section

The first floor has various mediums of works of paintings. In this section paubhas are remarkable particularly. Among those that deserve close consideration are Vasundhara Mandala, Ganesh with sakti, Mahisa Sambhara, Vajra Yogini and Shiva Viswarupa. In the main exhibition hall of the section, there are five showcases in the middle of the room, these showcases are exhibited a few illustrated manuscripts and covers. Among them the most notable is the pilgrimage tour of King Pratap Malla. Another remarkable manuscripts are 11th century Vishnu Dasavatara 13th century manuscript cover of Shiva Dharma Purana. In this section, there is a rectangular room like a corridor, the northern wall painting facing south has rows of paintings all with captions and Shiva Viswarupa, who is multiarmed and multiheaded. The wrist of cosmic manifestation of Shiva has name of King Bhupatindra Malla, 17th century ruler, who made famous fiftyfive windows palace.The long corridors have many water colour paintings of acquatic world, the mythical dragons, various birds, bulls and so on. They are the best representations of medieval folk art of Nepal.

Woodwork Section

The woodwork section has been housed in Pujari-math, which is situated at Hachapal tole of Bhaktapur behind Dattatreya temple. The Pujari-math is considered as the oldest math in the Kathmandu Valley. The Pujari Math with courtyards are decorated with richly carved windows and pillars. The Mara Vijaya, Pooja Devi, Viswaroop and Aryatara, these are the magnificient exhibits of woodwork section.

Metalwork Section

The metalwork section has been housed at Chikan Pha Math, which is situated at Tachapal tole of Bhaktapur, just opposite to Pujari Math. This section has been popularly known as iconless metal work. In this section, the religious and ritual objects of Newar community have been displayed particularly. Almost exhibits are of early 20^th century.

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The National museum

The National museum

The National museum of Nepal was established in 1928AD as an Arsenal museum in the historical building, which was raised in early 19^th century AD during the premiership of General Bhimsen Thapa. The initial name of this museum was Chhauni Silkhana which literally means "the stone house of arms and ammunitions". It was opened as a public museum in the year 1938AD by the then Prime Minister Juddha Shamsher JBR. He not only allowed the Nepalese to visit the museum charging very little but also raised a building for an art museum and named it after him Juddha Jatiya Kalashala. Until then only foreign scholars/dignitaries and invitees or guests of the Rana Prime Minister occasionally could have a glimpse of this wonderful collections. It was only in the year 1967AD this was named as Rashtriya Sangrahalaya, the National Museum of Nepal during the rule of His Majesty the King Mahendra.

There are three building within the museum premises for the exhibition of artifacts:

• The main historical building
• Juddha Jatiya Kalashala
• Buddhist Art Gallery

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Museums and Galleries in Nepal

Museums and Galleries in Nepal

Nepal Association of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Nepal Association of Fine Arts (NAFA) was founded in 1965 A.D. in the chairmanship of late His Majesty the King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev while he was crown prince. Because of His Majesty's chairmanship the Art sector and this association got highly glorified and there was the beginning of Renaissance in Nepali Art Universe by the achievement of unique contribution in its development. Thereafter on 1977 June 8, with view to make the Association more manageable and progressive following its envisaged goal not to be hampered in any way, the Association was affiliated, by the late King Birendra, into the Nepal Academy under which it is functioning smoothly at present.

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Tourist arrivals soar up by 12.9%

Tourist arrivals soar up by 12.9%

Press Release February 1, 2008 The beginning of the New Year 2008 has heralded an optimistic tourism growth in Nepal in 2008. The data released by Immigration Office, TIA shows that arrivals in January has grown by 12.9 %, up by 2985 compared to the same month last year. Although decline in the arrivals from India (-12.2%) and Sri Lanka (-12.5%) have dragged down the total arrivals from SAARC region by 7 %, the European and North American markets have registered robust growth of 33.1 % and 34.3 % respectively. China (96.8%), S. Korea (5.1%), Thailand (23.2 %) and Malaysia (12.1 %) have posted a remarkable growth. It is very notable that contribution of S. Korean market in the total arrivals has come to be very significant. It has contributed more than 10 % in the total arrivals and; it is due to direct flight between Kathmandu and Seoul. The Japanese market is down by 15.3 % which could be due to irregular air service of national flag carrier, NAC, to Japan. All the European markets have shown positive growth this month, except Austria (-7.5%). The UK (33.9 %), France (78.5 %), Germany (4.5 %), Spain (28.5 %), and Netherlands (36.5 %) have recorded a significant growth showing increased consumer confidence towards the destination. It is expected that more tourists will travel to Nepal in days to come because of easy accessibility from long haul destinations and forthcoming tourist season.

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Indian tourists flock to Muktinath

Indian tourists flock to Muktinath

At least 5,000 Indian tourists visited the temple since the middle of March last year, a staff at the Muktinath Area Development Committee, Rudra Nath Sharma Poudel said. Their visits had dwindled during the conflict, he added. A pilot with Manang Air, Sarina Gurung said as many as five flights were made now-a-days to Muktinath when weather remains fine. Most of the flight passengers are from India and each flight carries two-dozen passengers, she added. Normally, it takes 35 minutes in a helicopter to reach Muktinath from Pokhara. Gurung underlined the need for greater publicity for Muktinath abroad. In addition to Manang Air, Sri Air is also making charter flights to Muktinath. Its helicopters make four to five flights a day. The helicopter returns from the temple with the same passengers after a gap of an hour, allowed for visit to the temple. However, a hotelier at Ranipauwa bazaar near the temple, Laxmi Tulachan says that business is not good even after surge in the number of Indian tourists. They return by the same flight without strolling around, Tulachan who is also the owner of Hotel Muktinath, says. Muktinath temple lies on the bank of Gandaki river in Muktinath village development committee, 26 km east of Mustang district headquarters, Jomsom. Muktinath is reachable on foot from Pokhara through Myagdi district headquarters in Beni or through Tatopani of Myagdi's tourist area in Ghorepani. Visitors to Muktinath on regular flights include only a few as it is difficult to buy air tickets, head at Jomsom airport Rajan Pokhrel said. Some Indian visitors choose to travel by road. Beni-Jomsom road is under construction at Mustang and Myagdi districts which has made it convenient for pilgrims to visit Muktinath, said president of the Jeep Entrepreneurs' Committee Jayendra Thakali. Jeeps and motorcycles ply on the finished section of the road which has eased the trip. A housewife from Bangalore, Sudha Shankar said it was great to visit a place like Muktinath. The place is sce-nic and panoramic, she said. A shopkeeper at Ranipauwa near the temple, Rangaraj Shastri said most Indian visitors come from South India. There are more visitors during Dashain and Janai Purnima, he added. According to Poudel, the temple receives 35,000 visitors annually, out of which 10 per cent come from India.

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Busy Everest witnesses several records this season

Busy Everest witnesses several records this season

On Tuesday alone, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation reported that 23 people, including 11 Sherpas, reached atop Everest. The successful summiteers included five Americans, three Britons, two Canadians and one Turk.

The month of May marks the favorite mountaineering time in spring season as mountaineers enjoy a window of relatively stable climatic conditions allowing them to attempt to scale the 8848 m high Mt Everest.

Some 550 people are expected to go for climbing this season from Nepal and Tibet . A total of 23 expeditions have received permission from the Nepal government to scale Everest this season.

Nepal 's legendary mountaineer Appa Sherpa broke his own record by successfully climbing the Everest for 17th time.

Samantha Larson, 18, of California, US, became the youngest foreigner to scale the peak last week. Reaching the summit with her father David, 51, the pair also became the first father-daughter team to have set their foot on Everest.

One Briton, Rod Baber, claimed to be the first person to make a cell-phone call, supported by China Telecom, from the summit on Monday, while another was the first to fly over the summit in a paraglide on Thursday. The cell phone voice was recorded and uploaded in his blog as well.

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Travelling to Nepal by air

Travelling by air

You can fly directly to Kathmandu from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, Amsterdam, Doha, Dubai, Dhaka, Karachi, Munich, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Paro, Lhasa, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Calcutta and Varanasi. Charter flights can also be arranged for large movements. All flights feature business class and amenities of international standards. Many a time, the Captain offers a guided sightseeing of the Himalaya for no extra charge!

Nepal Airlines, Thai Airways, Qatar Airways, Indian Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Biman Bangladesh, Gulf Air, Indian Airlines, Air Sahara , Jet Airways, Austrian Air, Martinair, Air China, Druk Air fly to Nepal regularly.

Airfares fluctuate with the changes in exchange rates and are to be paid in foreign currency by foreign nationals. Only Nepalese and Indian nationals are permitted to pay in rupees for air passage between Nepal and India. Departure flight tickets should be reconfirmed three days in advance to avoid inconveniences by possible flight cancellation or changes in the flight schedule. Overweight luggage charges are levied in foreign exchange.

Customs: All baggage must be declared and cleared through the customs on arrival at the port of entry. Passengers arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) without any dutiable goods can proceed through the Green Channel for quick clearance without a baggage check. If you are carrying dutiable articles, you have to pass through the Red Channel for detailed customs clearance.

Import: Apart from used personal belongings, visitors are allowed to bring to Nepal free of duty cigarette (200) or cigars (50), distilled liquor (one 1.15 liter bottle), and film (15 rolls). You can also bring in the following articles free of duty on condition that you take them out with you when you leave: binoculars, movie or video camera, still camera, laptop computer, and portable music system.

Export: It is illegal to export objects over 100 years old (sacred images, paintings, manuscripts) that are valued for culture and religious reasons. Visitors are advised not to purchase such items as they are Nepal's cultural heritage and belong here. The Department of Archaeology (tel: 4213701, 4213702) at Ramshah Path near Singha Durbar has to certify all metal statues, sacred paintings and similar objects before they are allowed to be sent or carried out of the country. Handicraft dealers and travel agents are able to assist you in this process. For more information on customs matters, contact the Chief Customs Administrator, TIA Customs Office; tel: 4470110, 4472266.

Airport Tax:

Effective form January 14,2005 ,the tourists would be levied NRS. 565(including VAT) at the departure terminal along with the Passenger Service Charge (airport tax)

Note:The new Airport Tax is equally applicable to Nepalese as well as non-Nepalese citizens flying from Nepal.

Travelling by road

All visitors entering Nepal by land must use no other entry points other than:

Nepal-India border

• Kakarbhitta
• Birgunj
• Belhiya, Bhairahawa
• Nepalgunj
• Dhangadi
• Mahendra Nagar

Nepal-China border

• Kodari

The overland tourists entering the Kingdom with their vehicles must possess an international carnet.

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