Vibrant Culture of Beautiful Nepal

PART 2

By Srimal Fernando

The Gurkha Memorial Museum is one of the most recognizable places to visit in Pokhara. It is a living testimony to the history of the kukriwielding Gurkha soldiers who won many battles for Nepalese and for Britain. On the way to Pokhara is Manakamana, a Hindu temple situated on a hill, which is nearly thousand meters high a place worth seeing. The temple can be reached through a cable car.

Nepali Culture is very unique in terms of its social and ethical values. The art and architecture of country is deeply influenced by the two religions Hinduism and Buddhism. Singing and dancing is a part of everyone’s life. Music of Nepal has an everlasting and all encompassing appeal for the listeners. The music and dance styles of Nepal may be divided into three categories, classical, folk and modern. Most prevalent of folk songs and music traditions include Sharpars ,Tharus ,Tamangs, Gurung, Nawars ,Thakali, Margars ,Manangi, Chhetris, Thakuris and Nomadic tribes. Lyrists have enriched the tradition of folk songs of Nepal. Several musical instruments, some of them of indigenous origin, are used in the county. The country’s music comprises a long tradition of religious and secular themes. Paahan chare music is probably the fastest played music where as the Dapa is the slowest. Dhimay and Bhusya are the most popular musical instruments played by Nepali performing artists. The dhimay music is a lively music with an upbeat tempo. The performance of Saarangi is perhaps the most unusual music variety sung by the people from the hills. The Nawari music orchestra consists mainly of drumming instruments, though wind instruments, such as flutes and other similar instruments are also used.

The dance culture of the country including the colourful array of costumes reflects the diverse ethnic make up of Nepal. The country has developed its own distinct dancing styles, for example Newar is one of Nepal’s most breathtakingly beautiful performance arts. This dance can be broadly classified into masked dances and non-masked dances. The most representative of Newari dance

is Lakhy dance.