The Picture Gallery (contd...)
Newari kitchen
Nepal not only presents a huge variety of different landscapes but if you get there you may recognize that there are much more different ethnic groups with their own customs and culture. You can talk about the "Nepalese", but this just means the same as the "European". It doesn't tell you really which tribe the one belongs. So, the people of Nepal don't built up a homogenous ethnic group, but there are at least 36 different groups which mostly speak their own language and/or have their own traditions. The spectrum ranges from Tibetan tribes in the northern parts of the land to indo-aryan groups in the Terai, close to the boundary of India. The most important ethnic groups are: Newar, Gurung, Magar, Thakali, Rai, Tamang and Sherpa.
What people can learn about this is that even though a particular ethnic community is entirely different from another, it is absolutely possible to live as members of the same family, the same country. The social history shows, that this country has never seen or experienced any bitter communal clashes or conflicts and scientists tell, that "The uniformity in diversity is the basic feature of the Nepalese nationality." So if you ever come to Nepal, take your time to study the different features of those different ethnic groups.
The Newar e.g. are said to be the "aborigines" of the Kathmandu Valley. The Newar themselves are not an homogenous ethnic group, but a mixed community absorbing all the people entering the Kathmandu Valley by its rich culture. Thus the Newar are a complex of many communal groups having a common language, customs, tradition and culture and so they constitute an entirely self-dependent community.
One interesting thing is to get the chance attending a typical Newar meal with friends. So we did. There are some very typical Newar restaurants in downtown Kathmandu one won't recognize on first sight. The following bunch of pictures shows us having dinner in such a restaurant.
