Religion, culture, and water in Nepal

Presented byRupa Devkota 25th January 2006

Nepal and its people

Hindu:80% Buddhist: 15%Muslim:3%Others:2%

Hindu religion

Brahma (centre-top) emerges from a lotus flower.Brahma (centre-top) emerges from a lotus flower.Brahma (centre-top) emerges from a lotus flower.

• Many gods • Gods exist in

living beings such as banyan tree, cow, snakes, etc.non-living things such as sun, moon, air, water, fire, stones, etc.

Hindu temple and Banyantree in Bhaktapur, Kathmandu

Hindu religion and water

• God Shiva made Ganges• Ganges flows from his

head down into the world below.

• It has power to elevate the dead soul towards heaven

God Shiva

Hindu religion and water

• Water is used in different steps (16) for worshipping god such as

Inviting godWashing feet and

hands of godFor rinsing his

mouthFor bathing god

etc.

People are worshipping in river

Hindu religion and water

River and cremation of dead bodies

Hindu religion and waterCremation is generally perceived as the most auspicious funeral practice in Hinduism. The deceased is cremated at holy riverbanks and the corpse is returned to the river as ashes. The ashes immersed into the river will float to Ganges and further on to Varanasi, and the deceased will attain salvation.

Hindu religion and water

Budhanilakantha: A Hindu god in water

• People offer rice, fruits, colored powder • These things finally go to water

Water and daily life

People from different places carrying water in different ways according to their culture

People and water

A women washing cloths

People and water

• Tube well as water source in low land region

• More people living, poor construction of tube well

• In a case study, arsenic concentration is 2600µg/leven higher than in Bangladesh (highest

1600µg/l)

People in Himalayas region

People in mid-land region

Small farms cannot feed the families adequately

People in low land region

Tharu women fishing in river, Nepal

Summary

• Nepal has multiethnic groups, multi religions and multi languages• Life-style from the stone age in far west and high hills to the jet age of Kathmandu

• Different ways of utilization of water resources in Hinduism

• Different culture in different places