The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya – Kathmandu, Nepal
From macha janku or the rice feeding ceremony of infants to the funeral rites and other important events of their life, community is a very important part of Newar culture. More than just cultural activities, often rituals in Newar lifestyle too have a social aspect. Rather than being just cultural legacies, Guthis are effective means …
Guthis Abroad: Catering to the Social Needs Amongst the Newar Diaspora Read More »
In India, Dalits have long used religious conversion as rebellion against the caste system – most notably the Bhakti movements and Dr Ambedkar’s neo-Dhamma – which Professor Gail Omvedt calls “India’s Enlightenment”. Unlike in India, Nepalese Dalit movements have not called for abandoning Hinduism; to the contrary, most of the Dalit activists, including many Marxists …
This study examines the local perspective of home-stay tourism with the additional objective of how private houses and individuals are connected to global tourism and lead for cultural change. The exchanges of cultural differences between host community members and tourists have definite and observable effects. The study was carried out in Briddim village, a Buddhist …
Cultural Tourism: An Ethnographic Study of Home-Stay in Briddim, Rasuwa, Nepal Read More »
The paper portrays how the literature regarding military migration is highly gendered and so is postwar transnational mobility and citizenship where the voices of women from migrant-soldier families are lost amidst the men’s stories of wartime bravery. By building on the experiences of “silent partners,” the paper works towards theorizing the agency of women from …
The Himalayan mountains are a lived space and studies on their transcultural nature show it to be inhabited with indigenous communities with a distinct historical relation to the environment surrounding them – as trade routes, refuge (Viehbeck 2017) and the peaks were the ‘abode of gods’. Martin Conway´s expedition to the Karakorams in 1892 signaled …
Drawing on recent fieldwork undertaken in the remote Kra Daadi district of central Arunachal Pradesh – one of the least studied areas of the eastern Himalaya – this paper reconsiders the history of the Miri Mission, a ‘friendly’ military expedition launched by British colonial authorities in 1911-12 which resulted in failure and fatalities. Our research …
New Insights into Colonial Encounters in the Himalaya Read More »
There is a growing body of literature advocating researchers become more critically reflexive in the research process especially when the research process is qualitative, or action-oriented, in nature (Baxter & Eyles 1999, Davies 1999, England 1994, Greenwood 2003, Pain 2003, Pollner & Emerson 2001, Punch 1994, Rose 1997,). “Reflexivity can simply be defined as viewing …
Much media coverage and many NGOs focus on the traditional but now illegal Chhaupadi practice (seclusion in menstruation huts, unfit for human occupation), which deems menstruating women not only as ‘impure’, and polluting, but also banishes menstruating women temporarily from their home (Crawford et at 2014, PSI 2017, Standing and Parker 2018) Focusing on the …
In order to reduce the suffering, discrimination and violence against menstruating women and girls, and to promote partnership for sustainable human development, we have identified a need to work with local actors and communities. Previous research highlighted the need for a multi-sector, multi-agency, evidence based research approach in order to uncover and challenge discriminatory practices …
Sanskrit, Newari and Nepali were used as the languages of education during the Licchavi, Malla and Shaha periods in Nepal’s history (Aryal, 1970).During the Rana rule when Raja Jaya Prithvi Bahadur Singh of Bajhang advocated for use of Nepali language in the schools he was opposed by the supporters of Sanskrit and English medium of …
Controversy Over Medium of Education in Nepal: Some Milestones Read More »