The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya – Kathmandu, Nepal
Most Nepali youth today were born after the people’s movement of 1991 ended the absolute authority of the monarchy and established a parliamentary democracy. They were children during the years of the Maoist “People’s War” that culminated in a second people’s movement in 2006 that established Nepal as a republic. Now, as young adults, they …
Youth Deliberation on Post-federalism and Political Culture Nepal Read More »
Placemaking as a tool for urban planning has its roots in the works of urban thinkers such as Jane Jacobs who coined the phrase ‘eyes on the street’ to indicate inclusive spaces in the city (Jacobs, 1961). Central to this approach to planning is the creation of a ‘sense of place’ in which the neighborhood …
Water sprouts (Hiti) are ubiquitous build structures omnipresent in the Kathmandu Valley. For generations, people depended on these stone sprouts for their drinking water and to bath. Water and water spouts are part of religious activities and the upkeep of Hiti lies within the community. Over time, the number, size, and functionality of Hiti changed. This research contributes to …
Baakhan in Nepal Bhasa means stories. The phrase most commonly used by the older generation is “aa la baakhan ye jula ka”, which translates as, ‘all of these have become stories now!’. Once elders in Newa society told stories during family gatherings and during interactions in public spaces. However, changes in the use of public spaces …
‘Baakhan Nyane Waa’: Local Heritage Documentation for the Future Read More »
“Nestled in Nepal’s mountain villages, traditional dance-drama forms like Ghatu use trance-like methods to tell ancient stories of local people and their gods. Ghatu dancers align in perfect motion but with closed eyes, dancing an ancient royal love story on the feast of Buddha Jayanti. The entranced states, synchronized steps, and ceremonial purpose make this dance especially compelling to …
Trance-Dance & Actor-Gods: From Himalayan Storytelling to Contemporary Nepali Theate Read More »
Following the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, certain parts of the population were disproportionately affected by the destruction due to entrenched social, cultural, political, and economic inequalities. This study centralizes the experiences of widows in Nepal before, during, and after the 2015 earthquakes. It draws on interviews and focus groups with widows conducted in Gorkha and …
Reconstruction of built heritage has emerged as a central focus of post-disaster recovery in the city of Bhaktapur, Nepal, following the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake. And though form, material and technology are key concerns within heritage reconstruction, evidence from Bhaktapur suggests that these aspects are constantly negotiated and contested in very distinct ways. In this paper, …
Reconstructing Pasts and Curating Futures in Bhaktapur, Nepal Read More »
The proposed research explains the loneliness of a nationalist Madheshi writer to examine the additional features of Nepali nationalism – hill-centrism and colorism – than those already explored by the historians and anthropologists (Burghart 1984; Des Chene 1991; Onta 1996). “All amateur writers and poets, the imitators of Thakur Baba, espousing internationalist sentiment forget that …
It was at the end of the Second World War (WW-II) that decolonisation started in South Asia. The Nation-building process became an enormous task to the newly independent countries as well to those not colonised ever but affected by the colonial legacy, to build a common feeling of nationhood in a very diverse and plural …
Problems of Nation-Building and Identity Politics in Nepal Read More »
This paper is based on research carried out between 2019 and 2021 under a British Academy-funded Global Challenge Research Fund project entitled ‘Dignity Without Danger’. The project situated across three Universities with six local NGO partners explored the origins, diversity and the impacts of local, social, religious and cultural menstrual practises that fostered or denied …
Creative Visual Outputs Matter: Visualising Menstruation in Nepal Read More »