Dashain Festival 2007 Ends From Today

One of the greatest festivals in Nepal, Bada Dashain, will end today. I haven't been around to cover up the story behind the each day of those 15 days of Dashain but I will soon write about my experience with all the stories behind the most important festival that happens once a year and celebrated for whole 15 days. All the schools, colleges, and government offices remain closed for these 15 days.

Today is the last day and with it all the festivals spirit ending and people will now turn back to their work and daily lives. I am sure most of the people even going abroad have come back for this great festival and they have been with their families and enjoying their precious moment together.

I hope Goddess Durga will give me blessing and may be sooner I will be in those billionaire's list. Well I know I am asking but I love visiting Lindemann and Family page in wikipedia and viewing the billionaire list. So I am just praying hard to the Goddess Durga.

Happy Dashain to all of the Nepali people around the world!

Balaju Park (Bais Dhara Balaju)

Few decades ago, Balaju was not as beautiful as it is right now. It used to be just a village and not it has turned into a beautiful park, and there is quite dense population these days. You can get a tempo, microbus, bus, or even a taxi if you want a fast traveling with little more fare from National Theatre, Jamal. Well even if you like walking, within an hour, you will reach the destination as it is situated close to the outskirts of the northern side of Kathmandu. The industrial district around Balaju is the most important in the valley but it does not affect the quiet surroundings of the park in any way.

After you reach to the Balaju area, you will need to pay some cheap entrance fee to get inside the beautiful park. Lots of beautiful bamboos, trees, and varieties of flowers, ponds with fishes, and the twenty-two gushing waterspouts can be found inside the Balaju Park. The twenty-two gushing waterspouts also gave the park its name as “Bais dhara Balaju.” There is also a modern swimming pool where you can enjoy swimming in the sumer and a smaller image of the sleeping Vishnu at Budhanilkantha.

In front of the sleeping Vishnu a small, typically Nepalese, temple is flanked by a row of Hindu images including elephant-headed Ganesh, Buddha protected by the hood of a serpent and Bhagwati. A stupa-like structure shelters a many-armed goddess, unusual in a Buddhist stupa, and an image of Harihar – half Vishnu and half Shiva. The hands on one side hold trishul, a symbol of Shiva (weapon), while on the other side the hands hold chakra (weapon) and sankha, the sympbols of Vishnu. There is also a small phallical-shaped linga surrounded by four pillars and an image of the bullock Nandi. The site is not more than three centuries old but makes an interesting visit due to this curious juxtaposition of Hindu deities.

Kakani

This village is situated on a ridge northwest of Kathmandu and offers good views of the western and central Himalayas. Although I personally prefer the view from Nagarkot, those interested in enjoying the variety of Himalayan scenery, especially magnificent views of Ganesh Himal, should go there. It is quieter than Nagarkot but the food available has less variety and caters less to western tastes. There is a lodge run by the Department of Tourism which has the cheapest prices for the rooms available there.

To get to Kakani is not that difficult as it is a short trip from Kathmandu Valley. You can take a bus or a minibus at Sorakhutte at Kaulethan about two hours from Kathmandu on the road to Trisuli. From thee it is about one hour’s walk along a dirt road to the top of the ridge. You can find lots of Kathmandu Valley people coming there in groups to have a nice day picnic as well. I am sure this would be one hell of experience for the nature lovers who mostly love the scenery of the great Himalayas and beautiful hills seen from Kakani.

Newari Food - Mana Choyela And Its Recipe

Choyela is being popular among all people. There are two types of choyela; haku choyela (roasted choyela) and mana choyela (boiled choyela). In the ancient period, only Newari people used to take choyela as their delicacy. It is made up of buffalo meat. I too belong to a Newar family so I love having lots of choyela since my childhood. We have to celebrate guthi bhoj (guthi feast) once a year, and choyela is one of the most important food items in those feasts.

Do you want to how know to make choyela?

Today I am going to give the recipe of making choyela so that you can try and make it at your own home and taste what we Newars have as out one of the best delicacy.

First of all, you need the basic ingredient, buff meat, salt, red chili powder, garlic paste, ginger paste, jeera powder, methi, some mustard oil, and green dhania. Second, boil the buffalo meat for half an hour then cut it into small pieces and put some salt and chili powder according to your taste. You can put some jeera powder, garlic paste, ginger paste, and mash it for few minutes. Heat the mustard oil and put some methi over the oil. When the methi changes its color from brown to black, you can put the oil including methi into the choyela. Put some dhania for decoration and taste in the choyela, and then your choyela is ready to eat.

I hope you will enjoy this delicacy that we have been enjoying over many years. If you want any questions about the recipe you can always comment and ask for more details.

High Quality Stock Footage Video

I have always wondered how does the most of the documentaries, those movies, and lots of television products and other advertising agencies have made such a wonderful high quality videos. Well they must have used the traditional way of hiring professional cinematographers and sent them to the field. Well often there comes a time when you need an urgent video and I am sure most of the companies would not keep any stock footage video as a backup. In such case, you need someone who has the best professional stock footage. I have found out that AlwaysHD.com represents such professional stock footage industry.

AlwaysHD has gathered a lot of talented cinematographers and the many producers around the world into the same platform. They market High definition footage to production companies, such as advertising agencies, broadcast television studios, documentary producers, independent filmmakers, and cinema studios on behalf of its contributing cinematographers. The contributing cinematographers would then receive revenue when their footage sells. When you buy the footage, they are sold royalty free, so that you can use it worldwide for any length of time without any limitation.

Dyochhen

In the ancient times, the activities of gods and goddesses were interlinked with human being, and somehow resembled too. Like normal people, they attended jatras, attended cultural functions, accepted offerings, and lived in a house. For every individual activity, human society created separate spaces for god whom they respected the most. House created for god and goddesses were named as dyochhen where dyo means god and chhen means house. Dyochhen existed in the society from earlier period in Kathmandu Valley, and it is thought that the "devakula" represented "dyochhen" and "digvara" represented "pigan"-"peeth".

In Malla period, "Gvara" represented "peeth". This word dyochhen exists till now though there is no longer the practice of constructing them in Nepal. This might be the reason why books that categories Nepalese temples often forget to include "dyochhen." I think the government should look upon these ancient monuments and try to preserve them as it is one of our national treasures.

Dhunge Dhara

Dhunge dhara is among the magnificent pieces of art that embellish our cultural heritage. Over the centuries, Kathmandu Valley has continually witnessed the constant evolution of numerous religious and monumental buildings that punctuate the public space, providing diverse from and scale, pervading every aspect of life. Dhunge dharas are also no exception.

Its occurrence in Nepal cannot be dated precisely. Many dharas are found to be of Lichhavi period, which reveals that this has been our culture since centuries. Though, over the period of time its basic form has remained relatively unchanged, different terms have been used to represent it. In early Lichhaivi period, it was called “kriti” and it was called “pranali” in the late Lichhavi period. From Malla period onward, it was called “hiti”. Dhunge dhara are the means of water supply in the ancient time. A typical dhunge dhara is called hitigah in Newari language.

Pashupatinath

Pashupatinath is the most famous temple in Nepal and is located on the route to Boudhanath. Although non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple, you can cross the Bagmati River and view the temple from the hill on the other side. Near the entrance you will see many people selling flower,s incense, and other offerings to be made to the deity. Inside is the golden pagoda and on the river banks you can sometimes see dead bodies being cremated on platforms. The Bagmati is a holy river and there is a burning ghat.

Pashupati means Lord of the Animals and nath means god. Pashupatinath is supposed to represent Shiva and the black image inside the temple has four heads. The temple itself is about three centuries old. It was renovated when the previous structure became decrepit. The idol is 600 years old, an earlier one was broken by Moslem invaders in the 14th century.

The big bull, Shiva’s animal (ride), inside the temple was built in the last century. The small bull in front of the temple is about three centuries old. The best time for visiting the temples is on Ekadashi, a day which occurs twice a day each month, 11th day of the full and new moon. On those days, there will be many pilgrims and a special ceremony in the evening called Arati characterized by the ringing of bells. There many also will be devotional music and illuminations. In the month of February, there is a big fair at the temple to celebrate Shiva’s birthday and another fair takes place in November.

Oldest Museum Of Nepal

The Nepal museum, which is one of the oldest museum of Nepal, is close to Swayambhu, and slightly to the south, a convenient visit on the way back to the city. The museum is open from 10:15 to 15:30 in the winder and from 10:30 to 16:30 in the summer. The new building contains many beautiful carvings in wood and some especially interesting bronze idols. The old building illustrates recent Nepalese history with the uniforms and weapons of Nepalese soldiers and generals from the past centuries. A sword with Napoleon presented to a Nepalese Prime Minister and leather cannons captured during the war with Tibet in 1856 are particular attractions.

I haven’t been in the museum for over a decade or so. I even have lost the memories of the things inside in detail. I will surely be going there someday and have more details published. So until then please have some patience and wait for the moment till you read more about Nepal’s oldest and valuable museum.

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The Most I Like About Indrajatra

There are so many things happening around the Indrajatra festival. There are lots of values of this festival and lots of customs and traditions are there which just is breathtaking to watch and experience every year. There are so many gods and goddess displayed around the festival. Besides Kumari chariot, the first and my favorite would be Pulukishi. It is considered as an image of Lord Ganesh. A big basket made out of the bamboo is covered with a cloth and a big mask of Ganesh will be put as the head of the Pulukishi. It would mostly look like a elephant toy. This is the main attraction of the festival and throughout the festival it roams around houses and shops asking for the homage and gifts.

Other attractions are the Lakhes demonstrated on this festival. A person wearing a mask of a terrified feature is considered a Lakhe. It is believed that in ancient ages, these Lakhe were in real existence. The main attractive and most happening lakhe is Maipa Lakhe of Maipat. It has the most horrifying mask and considered as one of the most active Lakhe during this festival. Other most popular Lakhe is Shovavaku Lakhe which is often called Jhin-nali-sintang as the Lakhe has a music band in front of it which plays the same tune which sounds like Jhin-nali-sintang.

Other demonstration is Swet Bhairav (White Bhairav). It is situated at Hanuman Dhoka. It is hidden behind the lattice work on the temple wall. The lattice is only opened once a year throughout the Indrajatra.

Lots of other features are there in Indrajatra, and this is one of the most amazing and wonderful festival of the Kathmandu Valley.

Indrajatra 2007

Indrajatra started on from 24th of September and ended on 30th of September. With the installment of the Yashi, the Indrajatra started in Kathmandu Valley. The main action of the Indrajatra is the chariot procession of three Gods, Ganesh, Velu, and Goddess Kumari. The main attraction and importance is given to the Goddess Kumari in this festival.

On the first day, the chariots are being pulled by hundreds of people through the places namely, Basantapur, Maru, Jaisideval, Lagan, back to Jaisideval and Bhimsensthan, and back to Maru and finally rested at Basantapur where it started.

The second day, the chariots have its journey from Basantapur, Pyafal, Naradevi, Tengal, Bangemuda, Bhedasingh, Indrachowk, Hanuman Dhoka, and back to Basantapur.

After the second day there is no chariot journey for three days. On the fourth day, the final third journey begins from Basantapur, Pyafal, Naradevi, then Kilagal, Bhedasingh, Indrachowk, Hanuman Dhoka, and then finally to Basantapur.

The first and the last day, our King (ruler of the Nepal) used to visit and have the tika from Kumari. But since the republic democracy has been established in Nepal, the Prime Minister attended the ceremony in the place of the king this year. I don’t know if this is the right thing to do as there is a history where in the recent past whith dates back at least two centuries to the last Malla King of Kathmandu, Jayaprakash Malla. He once had intercourse with a pre-pubescent girl and as a result the young girl later died. The king was then told in his dreams to start the institution of the Kumari, worship her and once each year convey her around Kathmandu as penance for his sins. The institution may have existed even earlier and only the custom of the Kumari visiting the city by chariot started at this time. The last Malla king of Kathmandu was defeated on the day of the Kurari festival (Indrajatra) and the first king of the present Shah dynasty received his blessing on that same day as was customary which has now been broken as this year the Prime Minister received the blessings instead of the king.

Anyway, the Indrajatra finally ended after the procession of the chariot was completed, and the installed Yashi was put down and dragged to the Bagmati River.

Choosing Goddess Kumari For Kumari Festival

Kumari means basically virgin pre-pubescent girl in English. The Kumari of Kumari festival of Kathmandu is not born a goddess nor does she remain one all her life. She is always chosen from a caste of Newar goldsmiths (Bajracharya and Shakyas) and is usually about five years old, it is essential that she has never been hurt of shed blood. After careful screening by a number of people including the astrologer, the selected candidates, about 10 in number, are locked in a dark room where fearful-looking masks and freshly slaughtered buffalo heads are kept. Frightening noises are made from outside and the girl who shows least fear is selected. She is installed on her throne, in the same room where she lives, during the Dashain festival and the spirit of the goddess is said to enter her body after this ceremony. As soon as she reaches puberty, the Kumari becomes human once more and a new goddess must be chosen.

Some Tips For Travel Safety

I found this interesting topic in one of my magazine collection where the author has described some tips for travel safety. I thought this would be a perfect post for this travel blog of mine and would help my readers out there.

Some tips to give students/youths when traveling:

1. When off a coach bus, know how to contact the driver in case of emergency.
2. If you wear contact lenses, bring glasses for the airplane. The recycled air can dry out your eyes and make you uncomfortable.
3. In a hotel, refuse any unexpected deliveries to your room.
4. Never enter a room if it is unlocked or if you are alone and someone is following you before entering.
5. Keep any medication near your toothbrush as a reminder to take it when you brush.
6. While touring, use only authorized agents when exchanging money to avoid violating local news.
7. Keep a small amount of money in your pocket to pay for small purchases so you don’t have to open your wallet in a busy place.
8. Travel with a partner at all times and don’t stray from the group on your own.
9. Resist the temptation to buy food from street vendors.
10. In some countries, you can be detained for photographing such as police and government buildings. If you are in doubt, ask permission before taking photographs.

Budhanilkantha

The image of “sleeping Vishnu” at Budhanilkatha is probably the largest reclining image of Vishnu in the world. To get there you can take a bus or alternatively you can travel by microbus or tempo through Bansbari, the site of a shoe and leather factory set up with Chinese assistance, and walk in about an hour. The energetic could walk all the way from downtown Kathmandu in a couple of hours or, best of all, ride by bicycle.

Vishnu, sleeping on a bed of snakes, is supposed to have been carved from stone in the 11th century. According to legend Vishnu sleeps continuously for four months of each year, failing asleep with the beginning of the monsoon and awaking when it is over. Each November thousands of pilgrims come here for a big fair on the day he is supposed to wake up. The name Budhanilkantha has nothing to do with Buddha.

Another legend tells of the discovery of the image. A farmer was tilling his field one day and was terrified to find blood coming from the ground at the spot where his plough struck something. An excavation revealed the beautiful image of sleeping Vishnu.

Prayers take place here every morning around 9 am but the kings of Nepal are never allowed to go near the image. Should the king, who is himself supposed to be an incarnation of Vishnu, gaze upon his own image, it is said that he would be cursed. A smaller replica of the image has, therefore, been constructed near the swimming pool at Balaju for the king to visit if he desires. There is also a school, built with British assistance, near Budhanilkantha – it is expected to become the best school in Nepal.

Chobar Gorge

According to legend, when the valley was a lake and Swayambhu an island Manjushree, the god of wisdom, struck the rock at Chobar with his sword and released the valley’s water. With the water thousands of snakes are supposed to have been swept out of the valley – leaving behind the snake king Karkotak who still lives close to the gorge in a pond called Taudaha. The Chobar Gorge is conveniently visited en route to Dakshinkali and the beautiful temple of Pharping can also be included on the trip.

Close to the spectacular gorge is the first cement factory in the valley which has been closed now. These days the most attractive part of the Chobar has been the beautiful hill that has been crowded by couples passing their secret time there. You will also find a lot of groups of people coming for a picnic as well as the place is so close to the valley and has a spectacular view of green hills around. I myself have been there with my friends in some Saturday evenings where we enjoyed the trip and some dry foods with some drinks as well. The wind blowing through our body and the spectacular view will win anyone’s heart there.

Gokarna And Sundarijal

A pleasant couple of hours walk in the vicinity of the Boudanath stupa will take us to the old Newar village of Gokarna, north of the Royal Game Reserve From Bouthnath take the road towards the reserve and turn left on to a dirt road after twenty minutes. Another twenty minutes’ walk will bring you to the beautiful three-storied temple of Shiva called Gokarneswor, Lord of Gokarna. The courtyard has an incredible collection of stone statues of deities from Hindu mythology such as Narad, Surya the Sun God, Chandra the Moon God, Kamadeva the God of Love besides the more conventional images of Shiva and Vishnu. Although they are probably only about a century old I have never seen such a collection in one place in Nepal.

After visiting the temple you can walk up to the village which is inhabited entirely by Newars and is surrounded by the game reserve on the three sides. Although the village is so close to Kathmandu the villagers are very poor and many do not even speak Nepali. There are deer, monkeys, and peacocks in the game reserve. It is a popular picnic spot for the people of Kathmandu and there is some entrance fee to enter the premises as well.

Further down the road are the waterfalls of Sundarijal at the edge of the valley; a pleasant bicycle ride down quiet roads.

Neeti’s India Visit - Mumbai

The best thing in Mumbai was the Water Kingdom. We stayed in Mumbai just for two night and one day. This is the reason why we opted for going to water kingdom and not to the Essel World. The water kingdom has a 45 degree and a 90 degree slide. I had slided in the 90 degree slide and almost lost my breath. It was so scary. I felt like a little kid for some time. Then I enjoyed the other rides like the Black Demon, a slide which was dark but finally I wasn’t scared. Then we rode bumpy rides sitting on huge air tubes of one and pairs as well. All in all, water kingdom was hilarious and tiring at the end. I had a nice sleep that night.

Next day in the morning we went to shopping in the fashion street. I was surprised to see the level of bargaining we could handle in the fashion street. If they said a t-shirt was of Rs 500 we could casually start our bargain with Rs. 150 and finally buy the stuff in Rs. 250. Well I had shopped mostly in Mumbai and was happy I did that.

Finally, from Mumbai we had to catch a connecting train to Lucknow to return back to Nepal.

Neeti’s India Visit - Goa

Goa was a splendid place with the sea and the friends I had been with. We lodged in the southern part of Goa which is quiet. Goa was fun. We went for cycling and enjoyed the roads of Goa with colorful tourists around. The northern part of Goa is livelier and is filled with youngsters. We had dinner in Bagha beach and rushed to Teetos to enjoy the nightlife. In the southern part of Goa, we visited the Fort Aguda and Rocky Beach. Both the places were remarkable. The cruise ride of Goa was entertaining.

Let me not forget to include the water sports that we enjoyed in the beach. Paragliding, banana ride, motor boat, and early morning boating. I just did not want to return back from Goa.

We also went to the café coffee day of the place whose coffee and pastries were mouthwatering. Luckily our last night in Goa was the 14th of February, Valentines’ Day. In the last night we had camp fire, drinks, and open floor dance arranged by the small restaurant near the hotel we lodged in.

Finally, it is not that easy to explain the flood of emotions shared with my friends and with Goa’s enormous beauty. This trip to Goa will be cherished by me today and always.

Neeti’s India Visit – Bangalore

Bangalore, currently known as the city of information technology is a place with mild weather in the day and cools in the evening.

We lodged in Mayur Deluxe Lodge residing in Balepet Square. The lodge was quite congested with narrow corridors. As soon as I reached Bangalore I gave a call to my cousin who stays there. She was a great help to my pals as she guided them to shopping malls and other areas where they could find stuffs cheaper. Then I went to meet my aunt who had cooked delicious dinner for me.

The next day we went to Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace. The palace is made up of teak wood which is supposed to stay cool throughout summer. The place had some stolen memories of Tipu Sultan and his ancestors. The palace is colored black and golden and has some vibrancies that pulls you to stay longer. Later on the day we went to Lal Bagh botanical garden. The garden was huge and had fountains all around. There was a green room also. It was an exercise on the trip walking on the passages of the botanical garden.

We also went to the science museum of Bangalore. The museum was also huge and due to time lagging behind we could not comprehend the place to the fullest.

We left Bangalore soon after we visited the museum for Goa. Since, we had very less time we skipped the fountain show of Bangalore. It was a remarkable trip to Bangalore.

Neeti’s India Visit – Hyderabad

Hyderabad was a warm place with lots of posters in the city of movies. They were so huge that one could easily say that the people who resided there loved to watch movies of their local language.

We went to The Cyber Towers. It was an educational and inspiring presentation and speech given by one of the IT heads of the companies working in Cyber Towers. We had our breakfast in the restaurant of Cyber Towers. The break fast was delicious. Later we went to the the Ramoji Film Studio. The Studio was enormous with more than 50 spacious gardens and fountains. The studio also had an adventurous section where we did artificial bungee jumping, trekking, climbing, and sliding. The studio also had a room with artificial rain theme where we danced for some time. Ramoji Film Studio also has an amuzement park and a place to shop around. One of my friends sister guided us to Ramoji Film Studio. We also visited Char Minar in Hyderabad. Char Minar was a crowdie place and we were warned to double check our pockets time to time.

We had also visited the Lumbini Park of Hyberabad. The sea was calm and it was a refreshing when we bowed our heads before the statue of Lord Buddha standing in the center of the sea. We also enjoyed a 45 minute show of musical fountains as a laser show of the most attractive and important aspects of the people of Hyderabad.

We did a lot of shopping pearls in Hyderabad. The friend’s sister took us to a shop which we could rely on and the pearls were worth spending on.

The trip to Hyderabad was full of essence and the most diversified place we visited in our IT tour to India.

Neeti’s India Visit - Agra

Agra, the place where the mystic that is in the seventh wonder of the world, Taj Mahal, stands was about two hours from New Delhi.

We had to walk for fifteen minutes to the place where Taj Mahal stands. This was to protect Taj Mahal from pollution. The maintenance department has put deliberate effort to repair its surroundings. We could see rickshaws all over the place that does not need fuel.

I was seeing Taj Mahal for the second time and believe me I felt as tough it was my first trip to the place. This huge creation took my heart like it took when I saw it for the first time. I had a crush on the antique piece standing in front of me. My friends and I enjoyed the story of the Taj Mahal’s making and the true love behind its making. The guide told us in a very interesting way the history behind Taj Mahal.

We clicked a class photograph hiring a photographer. These photographer have an album with them to market their skills in front of the tourists.

It was late when we left from Agra. We did dinner in a road side dhaba where food was simple and stomach filling.

Neeti’s India Visit - New Delhi

I have never been to India as of now. The closest I have been near India is at Rakshwal which is a part of India near the Nepal-India border at Birjung, Nepal. I was chatting once again with my dearest friend, Neeti Agrawal. She then have an idea about sharing me her experience about her India Tour. She wrote this post to share her tour to me and my readers. I hope everyone enjoys it with Neeti.

The day I reached to New Delhi with my friends, it had cold weather. We had lodged in the Hotel Crown Continental in New Rohtak Road. We had not reached on the check in time so we had to wait in the waiting room for two hours. We were already tired of the journey from Nepal to India by road. As soon as we got the rooms, I called my sister who was studying in Delhi to meet me.

My friends went on the Café coffee day, the metro of New Delhi, and did some shopping, whereas I went with my sister at my uncle’s place to meet them. We went for a movie and then for the dinner in the same mall. Later in the evening, when I met my friends, we shared our activities of the day and I realized that I missed some beautiful moments with them and they as well missed the movie I saw with my uncle’s family. Still, I decided to not to leave my friends ahead in the trip.

The next day in the morning we had a minor clash with our tour operator since he was not happy with our attitude of doing things on our own. After we sorted out the things with him, we left New Delhi to visit Agra. We returned from Agra in the late eve.

The next day we visited the LaxmiNarayan Temple. The temple was very soothing on the trip. It was the day of Shivaratri. Then we went to Raj Ghat. This is the place where important politicians’ and legends’ memories are engraved after their demise. We had seen Late Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi’s visions and accomplishments engraved there. A tour to be remembered throughout my life was the trip to Raj Ghat. We went to visit India Gate and Lotus Temple. Lotus Temple was huge and again the architecture it had was just out of question. The place was had good crowd of tourists but it was still quiet.

New Delhi is no doubt the place Indians are proud of. Delhi was a place to be remembered and a place with lots of things in particular.