Nepal carries long history of civilization, culture, tradition,
politics and heritage. Even Kathmandu valley was thought to be
under the primordial lake. Legend goes that the Vipaswi Buddha,
a holy one, came and sat on the hill of Nagarjun to meditate.
Inspired, he planted the lotus seed in the lake. Later it
bloomed but not with ordinary blossom, a blue flame emanated
from it and illuminated the image of Swayambhu, “The
self-existent one”. Furthermore the Bodhisattwa Manjushri came
here all the way from Tibet to meditate and with his sword; he
cut the gorge at Chovar in one stroke, thus draining the water
from the valley. Its early History rested in legend and myths.
However; it was definitely inhabited long before 7 or 8 BC .from
where starts the political history of the country. Kathmandu ,
the present capital of Nepal was governed by different dynasties
. The presence of the Kirati who came from East & believed to be
of the Mongolian origin was the first record of the valley as
far as the establishment of powerful kingdom is concerned.
Then Licchavis ruled the valley for long period and they left
very good examples of their love for Arts and Crafts in the
forms of Temples and other structures. Social as well as family
life got a chance to breathe ethical air as they based the
system of the whole society on the Hindu principle of living a
pious and meaningful life. Still it is worthy to note that their
influences can be seen in each and every corners of this city
and also in the life of every person. Their love for the art
proved the model city till the date. The rule of the Mallas was
followed by rule of the Shahs from Gorkha of which the
foundation was laid by Prithivi Narayan Shah in 1768 AD with his
energetic work of Unification of this country lying in the lap
of the mighty Himalayas. The country that remained divided for
centuries got a chance to merge into one creating a unified
Nepal. It had been a tough task as the people were divided not
only politically but the main factor behind such diversity was
the ethnicity, culture, tradition, heritage and way of life. The
process of unification was started from Gorkha in 1745 AD. Now
the country is divided into different administrative regions and
the country is practicing the multiparty democracy after the
advent of Democracy in the year 1990 AD. |