nepaliculture

Nepali Culture Centre

Nepali Culture

Religion: Religion is important in Nepal; the Kathmandu Valley alone has more than 2,700 religious shrines. The Nepal constitution describes the country as a "Hindu Kingdom," although it does not establish Hinduism as the state religion. Nepal's constitution continues long-standing legal provisions prohibiting discrimination against other religions and proselytization. Nevertheless, Nepal remains the only officially Hindu country in the world and the king is deified as the earthly manifestation of the Hindu god, Vishnu.

The 2001 census identified 80.6% of the population as Hindu and Buddhism was practiced by about 11% of the population (although many people labelled Hindu or Buddhist often practice a syncretic blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and/or animist traditions). About 4.2% of the population is Muslim and 3.6% of the population follows the indigenous Kirant Mundum religion. Christianity is practiced by less than 0.5% of the population.
Buddhist and Hindu shrines and festivals are respected and celebrated by most Nepalis. Nepal also has Muslim (4.2%), indigenous Kirant (3.6%) and Christian (0.5%) minorities. Certain animist practices of old indigenous religions survive.

Ethnicity: Nepal�s 2001 census enumerated 103 distinct caste/ethnic groups including an "unidentified group". The caste system of Nepal is rooted in the Hindu religion while the ethnic system is rooted in mutually exclusive origin myths, historical mutual seclusion and the occasional state intervention.
The major caste/ethnic groups identified by the 2001 census are Chetri (15.8%), Hill Brahmin (12.7%), Magar (7.1%), Tharu (6.8%), Tamang (5.6%), Newar (5.5%), Muslim (4.3%), &nbspKami (3.9%), Rai (3.9), Gurung (2.8%), and Damai/Dholi (2.4%). The remaining 92 caste/ethnic groups (including the world-famous Sherpa) each constitute less than 2 percent of the population.

The Caste system

Socially, the most important contribution of the Vedic age was the development of the 4-stage caste system. (The word �caste� was given by the Portuguese in the 15th century AD and means �breed� or �race�.) The Rig Veda records how the original single caste, the Hamsa, was divided as a result of the continuing moral decline of man through the ages. In descending hierarchical order, the Brahmins represent the unsullied hamsa and were seen as coming from the mouth of Brahma, while the Kshatriyas are the warrior class coming from Brahma�s arms, the Vaishyas the mercantile and professional class coming from Brahma�s thighs, and the Shudras the working class who came from Brahma�s feet. A fifth class is considered to be outside the caste system, and are known variously as outcastes, untouchables, Panchama and Harijans. �Untouchable� refers to ritual pollution suffered upon contact by a caste member, while �Panchama� means �fifth�, The term �Harijan� was first coined by Gandhi in the early 1930s and means� a person of Hari (Vishnu)�, or �a child of God�. They were left with the jobs which were regarded as impure, usually associated with the dead (animal or human) or with excrement.

Those of the top three castes are considered to be dvija, or �twice born�, a reference to the additional �spiritual birth� that takes place with the ceremony of the �sacred thread�. The exact origins of the system are unclear. Some theories maintain that it was initially based on the obvious criterion of skin colour, or Varna (the Aryans were fair skinned), while others point to differences in religious practice and traditions among communities, or simply to a meritodal division of society by occupation. There are, in addition, several thousand sub-castes - including over 1,800 subdivisions of Brahmins. In theory, interaction between members of different castes is strictly regulated. There should be no intermarriage, for example, nor should those of one caste share food with lower castes lest they become polluted. In practice, a rather more pragmatic approach is often adopted: pollution may be ritually cleansed and some communities have a more liberal interpretation of marriage rules.
Even though, in modern Nepal, the strength of caste hierarchy was officially replaced by the acknowledgement of equality of all people before the law in the 1967 Constitution of Nepal, the caste system itself was not actually abolished and continues to play a central role in the structure and organization of Nepali society.

Food:

Daal bhaat tarkaari (lentil soup, white rice and curried vegetables) isn't just the most popular meal in Nepal - for many Nepalis it's the only meal they ever eat, twice a day, every day of their lives. Indeed, in much of hill Nepal, bhaat is a synonym for food. The daal bhaat served in restaurants ranges from pretty good to derisory - it's a meal that's really meant to be eaten at home - so if you spend much time trekking or travelling off the beaten track you'll probably quickly tire of it. That said, a good achhaar (chutney) - made with tomato, radish or whatever's in season - can liven up a daal bhaat tremendously. The food will be served on a gleaming steel platter divided into compartments; one price covers unlimited refills, except in a few establishments that adhere to the "plate system". Add the daal and other condiments to the rice in the main compartment, a little at a time, knead the resulting mixture into mouth-sized balls with the right hand, then push it off the fingers into your mouth with the thumb.

You'll usually be able to supplement a plate of daal bhaat with small side dishes of maasu (meat) - chicken, goat or (in riverside bazaars) fish - marinated in yoghurt and spices and fried in oil or ghiu (clarified butter). In Indian-influenced Tarai towns you can often get taareko daal, fried with ghiu and spices to produce a tastier variation, and roti instead of rice. Sokuti (dried, spiced meat fried in oil) is popular in eastern hill areas. Soups ( surwa) are sometimes available: tama surwa, made with bamboo shoots, and gundruk, a sour/tangy concoction of fermented vegetables, are favourites. You could make a meal out of rice and sekuwa (kebabs of spicy marinated meat chunks) or taareko maachhaa (fried fish), both common in the Tarai. If you're invited into a peasant home in the hills you might be served dhedo (a dough made from water mixed with toasted corn, millet or wheat flour) instead of rice.

Nepali desserts include khir (rice pudding), sikarni (thick, whipped yoghurt with cinnamon, raisins and nuts) and versions of Indian sweets. Other traditional Nepali dishes are more localized, or reserved for special occasions, but well worth the effort of tracking them down.