Nepali cultural

Main Feature of Our Social Life

2011-07-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Nepalese society is patriarchal rather than matriarchal. The head of the family is a male member, father or grandfather or the eldest brother. The advanced and educated people prefer the single family to the joint family system. Another important feature of the Nepalese social life is the water-tight caste system. The cast system still prevails in the Nepalese society in one form or another. Main feature of our social life are given below with short describe.

a) Patriarchal Society

b) Joint Family System

c) Elements of Exploitation

d) Cast system

e) Religious Influence

f) Political Influence

g) Linguistic Influence

h) Influence of Education

i) Influence of poverty

j) miscellaneous

Nepalese society is patriarchal rather than matriarchal. The head of the family is a male member, father or grandfather or the eldest brother. There is a division of word and responsibility between the father and the mother. Mother is responsible for domestic matters and care of the children while father is responsible for earning the means of living. All the members of the family solely depend upon the income of the father because he is the guardian and head of the family. However, equal distribution of parental property to daughters has been felt in modern times. Thus, patriarchy is one of the important features of the Nepalese social life. All the members live jointly in a family. The properties and possessions of the family are jointly shared by all the members. Changes have taken places in our society during the recent years.

The advanced and educated people prefer the single family to the joint family system. Those who are employees have to stay away from home and live separately from their parents. Thus, the single family system has developed in town areas. However, they are together again as a family during festivals and marriages of their family members. They visit their parents occasionally and look after them when they are sick and incapable of earning their living. Thus, it still not completely like the single family system as found in European countries. The Nepalese people have been suffering from social, economic, religious and moral exploitation for a long time. There are many customary social institutions, like polygamy, child marriage, forced marriage, inequal age marriage, etc. During the recent years, there has been a great development in this regard since ‘Muluki Ain’ (the civil code) was introduced in 1963 A.D. The Muluki Ain is the fundamental social law of the country. It has ended the legal and social inequality between men and women.

Another important feature of the Nepalese social life is the water-tight caste system. The cast system still prevails in the Nepalese society in one form or another. The deep influence of religion, devotion and superstitious belief is another feature of the Nepalese social life. Since the restoration of democracy in Nepal, several political parties have been formed. People in the same locality, and very often, in the same family, belong to different political parties. At least 18 major languages in Nepal according to Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal, as the ‘national language’, is widely spoken in all parts of the kingdom. The mass of the Nepalese people are illiterate. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 2001, only 53.75% of the Nepalese people are literate. About 66% of the Nepalese people are farmers and workers. Mountainous, location, deforestation, lack of big industries, lack of proper care of health and inadequate availability of hospitals and health centre’s are other factors that affect the social life of the Nepalese people.

Geographical situation

2011-07-06T20:33:00.001-07:00

From the geographical point of view, the Nepalese social life can be divided into three categories: Terai Region, Hilly Region and Himalayan Region.

i) Terai Region: The Terai region is spread from east to west, in the southern part of the country, bordering India. The social life of the people in the Terai region is influenced by Aryan culture and Hindu religion. The tradition, custom, art, language and the way of life of the people living in Terai region represent the imprint and influence of the Aryan culture and civilization. It is very hot during summer, so the people wear light cotton clothes and do not work during the day due to the scorching heat of the sun.

ii) Hilly Region: In between the Himalayan and Terai regions, there lies the Hilly region. The social life of the Hilly region represents both the Aryan and the Mongolian culture and civilization. In addition, an advanced culture and civilization developed in this region which is different from those of the Himalayan and Terai regions. The people in the beautiful valleys like Kathmandu, Pokhara, Pampa (Madi) Surkhet, have developed their own ways of life, customs and traditions. Kathmandu valley, in particular, has developed a different culture of its own, known as the ‘Newari culture’. In addition, being a metropolitan city and the capital of the country, Kathmandu also possesses a mixed culture as many different people from various places have come to live here. The western culture is also influencing our young generation to a great extent, particularly in big cities like Kathmandu and pokhara.

iii)     Himalayan Region: The social life of the Himalayan region is influenced by Mongolian culture, civilization and custom. The Himalayan region lies at the Snow Belt from east to west, bordering Tibet and China. The people living there have dealings with Tibetan people. So, they practice more often a Tibetan style of life and culture. It is very cold during winter so they wear warm woolen clothes and work hard to keep themselves warm.

WELCOME - FOR TOURISM

Religious

2011-07-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

When we examine the structure of Nepalese social life from the religious point of view, we find that the whole social organization is divided into two major blocks: the Hindu and the Buddhist. There are certain other religious groups like Christian, Muslim, Jains, though the Hindu and Buddhist ways of life play a dominant role.

The modern trend of our democracy is towards secularism. Since the democratic government has been set up in our country, the number of followers of other religions has increased tremendously. The followers of all religions believe in peace, co-operation and co-existence. As such there is no religious clash and the social order has never been disturbed.

Economic

2011-07-06T20:28:00.001-07:00

Nepalese social life is also determined by economy. In the past, there were two distinct blocks: capitalists and workers. Exploitation was the basis of this classification. The capitalists motive was to exploit the workers and the workers had to resists the exploitation and suppression by the capitalists. In due course of time, another class appeared between the capitalists and workers, known as the middle class people.

Today, even in this democratic situation, there are three classes of people in Nepalese society: rich, poor and middle class people. There are very few rich people, more in the ‘poor’ class and many more in the ‘middle’ class. In spite of these divisions, there is harmony, and clashes between two classes are rarely found, heard or seen in the Nepalese society.

political

2011-07-06T20:26:00.001-07:00

From the political point of view, the structure of Nepalese social life consists of two blocks, i.e. the ruler and the ruled. The political history of Nepal reveals that the king used to be the leader, guide, protector and administrator of the country. The executive, legislative and judicial powers were centralised in the hands of the king. On the other hand, the people lived for the king and survived under his mercy. It was believed that people would not survive without the king.

Today, at the advent of democracy, this situation does not exist any more. People have made the king a titular monarch. His powers are limited, the administration is run by the people’s representatives. The elected leaders of the people or those who have a higher status get extra attention, respect and special treatment from the people.

Conservation of Cultural Heritages

2011-07-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Cultural heritage reflect the traditional activities and development of human civilization. These heritages are unique in themselves. Therefore, they attract the people from many parts of the world. Historical monuments, buildings, literatures, art, costumes. They are also the major part of our socio-cultural environment. For the preserve religious and cultural heritages. These heritages, being the identity of our country, should be preserved at any cost. Some of the measures of conservation of cultural heritages are listed below:

1. Demolished heritages should be repaired in time and their originality should be maintained.

2. They should be protected from being stolen.

3. Different clubs can be established by the youth in the community to conserve these heritages.

4. The surrounding of the heritages should be kept clean.

5. Regular inspection of the heritage sites should be done.

6. Collective effort should be made for the conservation of cultural heritages.

7. Everyone should understand the importance of such heritages and public awareness should be raised.

Buddhanath Stupa

2011-07-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Bouddhanath stupa, the biggest stupa in Nepal, lies about 7 km east of the capital. The Bouddhanath stupa, also called by many as Khasti Chaitya, is one of the oldest stupas in the country. After 1959, many Tibetans arrived and settled in Bouddhanath area. The stupa, a wess-known Buddhist pilgrimage site, is included in World Heritage Cultural site list by UNESCO. With diameter of about 100m and 40m height, Buddhanath holds its place among the largest stupas in the world.

Lumbini

2011-07-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Lumbini, birthplace of Lord Buddha, is the centre of holy faith for the millions of Buddhists all over the world.
Located in south-western Nepal, Lumbini holds several reminders of Lord Buddha. One of the most important historical sites in Nepal is endowed by nature with rich natural beauty. The garden is foremost attraction in Lumbini tourism. The fact that Lord Buddha had taken berth in Lumbini garden makes it a place of reverence.

Pashupatinath Temple

2011-07-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Pashupatinath temple, with its astonishing architectural beauty, stands as a symbol of faith, religion, culture and tradition. The most sacred temple of Hindu Lord Shiva, in the world, pashupatinath temple’s existence dates back to 400 A.D. The richly-ornamented pagoda houses the sacred linga or phallic symbol of Lord Shiva. Thousand to this temple, which is also known as ‘The Temple of Living Beings’.

Swayambhunath

2011-07-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

The Buddhist temple of swayambhunath, situated on the top of a hill, west of Kathmandu is one of the most popular, holy and instantly and instantly recognaizable symbols of Nepal. The temple is colloquially dnown as the ‘monkey temple’ because of the large tribe of roving mankeys who guard the temple. Swayambhunath stupa is a golden spire crowning a conical woode hill. It is the most ancient and enigmatic of all the holy shrines in the Kathmandu Valley. It has a lofty white dome and a glittering golden spire that are visible from all sides of the valley.

Changu-Narayan Temple

2011-07-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

Change-narayan temple, the oldest temple in the Kathmandu valley came in existence in 4^th century. The temple is adorned by some of the best specimen of stone, wood, and metal craft in the valley. The temple stands as the epitome of culture, religion, history and faith of the Kathmandu Valley. Inside the changunarayan temple, there is an esteemed figure of garuda. The status is offered sweets by the devotees every year on nagpanchami. This is done in remembrance of the epic struggle with the great snake taksaka.

Patan Durbar square

2011-07-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Patan durbar square complex, situated in the center of Patan city, also known as Lalitpur house the residence of the former patan royal family. Patan durbar square and its surrounding the are good specimen of ancient Newari architecture. There are three main courtyards in the palace: Mul Chowd, Sundari Chowk and Keshav Narayan Chowk. Mul Chowk, the oldest one, is at the centre of Patan square.

Bhaktapur Durbar Squre

2011-07-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Bhaktapur durbar squre is an assortment of pagoda and shikhara-style temples ground around a fifty-five-window palace of brick and wood. The square is part of a charming valley as it highlights the idols of ancient kings perched on top of stone monoliths, the guardian deities looking out from their sanctuaries, the wood carvings in very place-struts, lintels, tympanums, gateways and windows-all seem to form a well orchestrated symphony.

Kathmandu Durbar Square

2011-07-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

Listed as one of the eight Cultural World Heritage site by UNESCO, Kathmandu Durbar Square is a cluster of ancient temples, palaces courtyards and streets that date back to the 12th and 18th centuries. The square is known to be the social, religious and urban focal point of the capital city. The palace complex was the royal Nepalese residence until the 19th century and is the site of important ceremonies, such as the coronation of the Nepalese monarch. Many tourists visit it and Kathmandu metropolitan city earns money through entrance fees.

Teej

2011-07-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Teej is a festival of women. It is celebrated on the third day after the full moon day of Bhadra. On this day, they fast throughout the day even without drinking water and perform puja in the evening. The previous day, i.e. on the second day after the full moon day, they take a heavy meal which consists of various items. They eat the special meal twice, in the evening and at night because the next day they do not eat anything. This special meal is called ‘Dar’. All members of the family, including small children, enjoy the ‘Dar’. The married women are called back from their in-laws home by their parents and brother to celebrate Teej together.

In a religious book of the Hindus called Bratark, it is written that parbati, the daughter of Himalaya, had observed fasting on this day and performed puja of the ‘Shivalinga’ in the evening. She wanted to marry Lord Shiva. As a result of the celebration of Teej, her wish was fulfilled. Therefore, the unmarried girls perform this festival to get a suitable husband. And the married women celebarat it for the long life of their husbands. In this way, the festival of Teej signifies a happy, long-lasting married life.

The fifth day after the full moon day of Bhadra is celebrated as ‘Rishi Panchami’. Again on this day, women fast throughout the day and perform puja in the evening. They worship ‘Arundhati’ and ‘Sapta Rishi’. The girls after their menstruation period, are allowed top perform it. They take bath early in the morning in the nearest river, pond or well. It is written in the religious book Bartrak the they have to clean every part of their body 360 times. They brush their teeth with 360 pieces of wood called ‘Datiwan’. Wearing red colour saries, they sing and dance throughout the day. They also visit Shiva temples. There is a huge crowd in the Pashupatinath temple at Kathmandu on this day. As this is a women’s festival, the third and the fifth day are declared holidays for the working women by his Majesty’s Government of Nepal.

Impact of Tourism, Cinema and Television

2011-07-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

We learn from the visitors many things including their ways of life. It is also true that not all the visitors are of good character. Many of them try to influence us with their bad habits like smoking, drinking wine, taking drugs and inducing our women for prostitution. It is a fact that people learn bad things more easily and quickly than the good ones. Looking at their habits and luxurious way of living, our people, particularly the young generation, have strayed away from their path and forgotten the norms and values of our rich tradition. Cinema and television programmes are the other factors that have left a profound influence in our life. Sex and violence that are shown in the film pollute the minds of our youngsters and they try to copy the same in real life which always make them end up in disaster.

Excessive Migration

2011-07-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

Internal migration is very common nowadays. People move from one part of the country to another. Due to urbanization and advancement, people are attracted to urban areas. People move to towns for education, employment and trade. The outlying areas of the country have become comparatively lass populated. The terai belt has been invaded during the last two or three decades form the people of the hill areas and also from India. In this way, big towns like Kathmandu, pokhara, tansen and the terai region as a whole have become over population. Whereas, the hill areas and the outlying northern borders have dearth of skilled human power. Due to international migration, a lit of problems have come up in town areas. Insufficient drinking water, lack of sanitation, problems of housing and the rise of crimes are the ones that our cities have been facing. The fertile land of the valleys and terai region have been occupied by houses and the green forest of terai which is called ‘Charkose Jhadi’ is being cleared to house the increasing population. This causes environmental disbalance.

Giving up Traditional Occupations

2011-07-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, many of us have started discarding the occupations of our forefathers. Most people in our country either seek employment or engage in trade and business. The traditional occupations like agriculture, cottage industries, animal rearing and using animal products such as ghee, cheese, leather goods, etc. have been diminishing day by day. Celebration of local festivals, performing rites and rituals, using priests to perform rituals, using traditional musical instruments on the occasion of marriage, etc. are also in the diminishing stage. There are very few people who are engaged in traditional art and craft to produce carpets, clay work, wood work, etc. our tradition is our identity, our culture and our civilization. In the name of advancement, if we discard all such values and norms of our life, we will be nowhere.

Expensive Way of Living

2011-07-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

We have been following certain evil practices like the dowry system, spending a lot of money in festivals like Dashin, Tihar, etc. and performing ceremonies like marriage, ‘pasni’, ‘Bratabandha’ etc. with a great pomp. Many people do this by borrowing money from others. They cannot repay the debt even after working throughout the year. In the villages, the rich people take undue advantage from such things. They give loans to the poor people, charge a high rate of interest and the poor people can never recover the debt. Ultimately, they have to leave the village giving their house and land to the landlord who occupies their property. Wearing gold ornaments beyond their capacity by women is another practice in our society. This gives an economic burden to their husbands. Similarly, there are many people in town areas who want to show off by copying others who have a bery high standard of living. For those who can afford, it is easy. But those who have limited source of income cannot cope with the high standard.

Our Festival

2011-06-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

Festivals represent culture, religion and way of life of the people. We celibrate a number of festivals in a year. There is hardly any month without a festival. Most of the festivals are based on religion, some on social customs and tradition, and some to celebrate different seasons of the year. Some of the festivals are celebrated at the national level by all the people, at all places. Whereas, there are regional festivals which are celebrated by a particular caste or group of our main festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Buddha Punima, Chhat, Lhosar, id and Christmas. Now, set’s study about some other main festivals that are celebrated in our country. Described the any one festival is given below.

Social Problems

2011-06-26T05:39:00.000-07:00

In the previous lesson, we talked about the social aspects of our life. We also pointed out the problems that our society faces. Now, let us discuss some of the major problems that we face and try to find ways and means to overcome them.

Depending on other

To do one’s own work without depending on others is called self-reliance. In developed countries of the world, children no longer depend upon their parents after they reach 16 or 17 years of age. They are free to choose their own course of study, profession and even life partners on their own. The courses of studies are such that they themselves create solutions to problems, instead of learning by heart from books. This is one of the reasons why people in the developed countries are always active, responsible and reliable. They have formed a habit of finding solutions to problems from their childhood.

We are fare behind in this respect with the habit of looking towards another’s for our work. We are not less than others in any sort of work. What we lack is the idea of self-reliance. Thus, we will be progressive citizens when we grow up and would not look for foreign-aid. Instead, we would be able to utilize our own resources to bring peace, progress and prosperity in the country.

Religious Tradition

2011-06-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

We Nepalese practice different religious according to our own tradition, social customs, norms and values. The religious processes and ways we have been practicing also differ. The process and ways of observing religion for the Hindus are based on the religious texts like Veda, Upanished, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Geeta, Purana and smriti etc. The temples of each houses are decorated with the idols and photos of Gods and Goddesses. Omkar is always respected. The process of worshipping like panchopachar, Dashopachar, Sodashopachar etc. are used. There is the tradition of reciting stotar and worshipping.

Gautam Buddha founded Buddhism. His teachings to his disciples are collected in the story book entitled ‘Jatak Katha’, ‘Tripitaka’ which is classified into three parts is an anthology that contains the teachings for prieeses, philosophers and common people. Truth and non-vionence are the principal secrets of Buddhism. People pray in Bihar, Stupa and Monasteries. Charity is the main characteristic feature of this religion. The founder of Islam religion is Hazarat Mohammad. Quran is the religious bood of the people who follow Islam religion. In Islam religion idols or statues are not worshipped. They worship the God by praying and reading Namaz. ‘Id’ is their main festival. They also believe in Charity (donation). Item donated in this way is called ‘Fitra’.
Jesus Christ is the founder of Christianity. Their religious text (scripture) is Bible. The Christians protect their tradition and culture on the basis of this text and express good wishes among themselves. They worship Jesus Christ at Church. They also don’t have the tradition of worshiping the idols statues. They also don’t have the tradition of worshiping the idols statues. Besides that there are many people who follow Kirant, Shikha, Jain, Bahai feligion. They celebrate their own festivals.

Change in Cultural Heritage

2011-06-09T04:34:00.000-07:00

The attitude, behave, value like code of conduct are the key factors to conduct on a community. Since the ancient time with the trial and error methods different rules are there in every society. The member of the societies or communities is determined by such cultural heritage. The cultural heritage of the Kathmandu Valley is illustrated by seven groups of monuments and buildings which display the full range of historic and artistic achievements for which the Kathmandu Valley is world famous. The seven sites include the Durbar Squares of Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu), Patan and Bhaktapur, the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath, and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan.

Our society and life

2011-06-09T03:47:00.000-07:00

Our social life is based on the Aryan culture and Hinduism, on the one hand, and the Mongolian culture and Buddhism, on the other. Both Aryan and Mongolian cultures have mingled together into one and moulded and shaped the structure of our social life. Similarly, Hinduism and Buddhism do not seem to be different religions but the two aspects of the same religion. Followers of both religions live together in harmony and mutual co-operation. Factors that influence our social life are given below.