Nepal is Very Rich in Culture-3

Chet Ram Paudel

Nepal has religious tolerance as secular state. The most notable feature in religious ritual is the division between purity and pollution. Religious acts presuppose some degree of impurity or difilement for the practitioner, which must be overcome or neutralized before or during ritual procedures. Purification, usually with water, is thus a typical feature of most religious action. Avoidance of the impure-taking animal life, eating flesh, associating with dead things, or body fluids is another feature of Hindu ritual and is important for repressing pollution. In a social context, those individuals or groups who manage to avoid the impure are accorded increased respect. God is the short form of generator operator and destroyer of the evils. Hence Brahma Vishnu and Maheswar are considered in the God in Hinduism. Still another feature is a belief in the efficacy of sacrifice, including survivals of Vedic sacrifice. Thus, sacrifices. Thus, sacrifices may include the performance of offerings in a regulated manner, with the preparation of sacared space, reciation of texts, and manipulation of objects. In all the religions there is honesty truth and social harmony as common theme.

The another feature is the concept of merit, gained through the performance of charity or good works that will accumulate over time and reduce sufferings in the next world. The home is the place where most Hindus conduct their worship and religious rituals. The most important times of day for performance of household rituals are dawn and dusk, although especially devout families may engage in devotion more often. For many households, the day begins when the women in the house draw auspicious geometric designs in chalk or rice flour on the floor or the doorstep. The belief and the practice of Buddhism in Nepal dates back to the time of Prince Siddharth Gautam, who was born in the southern Terai region of the country in about 543 BC. Till he was 29, the young prince led a very sheltered life in the royal palace of his father. He was completely unaware of the tragedies of everyday life. One day, he convinced his charioteer to take himm outside the walls of his palace and he was shocked to see the sight of an old man, a cripple, and a corpse. The realization that there was more to life than the lavish and luxurious life he was leading, made him abandon all the worldly pleasures and search for enlightenment and the true meaning of life. After much wandering and searching, Gautam finally attained enlightenment while meditating under a pipal tree. Henceforth, known as the "Buddha" or "the enlightened one" he began to preach "The Four Noble Truths" to all who would listen. According to this doctrine, people suffer because of their desires and the root cause of all misery is desire. These desires and consequently all problems can be totally eliminated by following the "eightfold path" - right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation. Prayers are sung and the Buddhists offer worship in all the major Buddhist Shrines such as Sweayambhu and Boudhnath. At Swayambhunath, for example millions of devout Buddhists gather to chant prayers and to burn butter lamps.

The communities with their cultural background. The Himalayan dwellers including Bhote Sherpa community especially follow the Lhosar, the Newars particularly in the valleys follow Jatras, The Tharus in Terai mainly celebrate Chhath and holi. The hilly settlers Brahmans as well as Kshetries follow Dashain Deepawali, Mahashivaratri, holi, Ramnawami, Krishnajanmashtami, Haritalika and so on. All the people whoever wherever they stay celebrate Dashain, Deepawali Father's day, Mother's day commonly. There are different traditional beliefs and practices of all the people in this world. Whoever wherever stay they have own ways of rites and ritual traditionally.

There are ample rites rituals and festivities in Nepal. If we visit to the west there is Gaura Parba for revealing the freedom of the women. Like wise there is festivities e.g. Chandi Naach Sakela Chasok, Tangnam, Shyadhar, Chasuwa along wiht Udhyauli and Ubhyauli in the Kirant society to the eastern hills which mark social harmony. The Christmas day es celebrated in Christian Society and ID is enjoid by the Muslims. The festivals maintain fraternity among each other. The concept of culture is anthropology's key concept. Besides the culture concept, however, anthropology also various other distinctive waysd of thinking about the world or about human cultures and societies. Of course this is true of any academic discipline, each of which is guided by certain models or premises concerning the world and how it approaches the phenomena it studies.

There are temples of Hindus, Monasteries for Buddhists, Mosques for Muslims and Churches for the Christians. A cross-cultural or comparative approach is central to anthropological understanding. This emphasis also makes anthropology unique among the social sciences. Unlike sociologists, psychologists, economists and political scientists, anthropologists look beyond the confines of our own society and compare it to the beliefs and practices of other societies, past and present. Where a sociologist, for example, may attempt to explain social organization with reference only to their own society, an anthropologists would almost invariably go on to compare and contrast our own patterns of social organization with other societies. Ritual world of Hinduism, manifestations of which differ greatly among regions, villages, and individuals offers a number of common features that link all Hindus into a greater Indian religious system and influence other religions as well. By the practice of religion or culture everyone can feel peace tranquility at every step of life.

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