Portal:Nepal

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स्वागतम् / Welcome to the Nepal Portal
Mount Everest,Koshi,Nepal

Budhanilkantha Temple in Budhanilkantha, Nepal

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point above mean sea level on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and its largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language.

The name "Nepal" is first recorded in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian subcontinent, the era in ancient Nepal when Hinduism was founded, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BC, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The centrally located Kathmandu Valley is intertwined with the culture of Indo-Aryans, and was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley's traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture. By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, under its Rana dynasty of premiers. The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and British India. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951 but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of a secular republic in 2008, ending the world's last Hindu monarchy. The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms the country as a federal parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces. In September 2025, protests against a social media ban and economic inequality caused riots, resulting in casualties and resignation of the prime minister.

Nepal's foreign policy focuses on neutrality, sovereignty, and multilateral cooperation. Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and China in 1960. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative. Nepal's foreign relations also emphasise development assistance, trade partnerships, and promoting peace and stability in South Asia. (Full article...)

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... that Anjali Lama, Nepal's first transgender model, worked with Calvin Klein in 2019?
... that the Nepali term "sukumbasi" refers to squatters, who typically avoid using the word because of its negative connotations?
... that white moths are suspected to cause seasonal hyperacute panuveitis in Nepal?

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The Fifth Deuba cabinet was the Government of Nepal from 13 July 2021 to 26 December 2022. It was formed after Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed as the new prime minister of Nepal by president Bidya Devi Bhandari following an order from the Supreme Court, which declared the dissolution of the House of Representatives on the recommendation of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli to be unlawful. The fifth Deuba cabinet was replaced by the Dahal cabinet, 2022 on 26 December 2022, when Pushpa Kamal Dahal's CPN (Maoist Centre) broke away from the electoral alliance with Nepali Congress and joined hands with other opposition parties to form a government in the aftermath of the 2022 general election.

The cabinet consisted of an alliance of political parties formed in opposition of former prime minister Oli's dissolution of the House of Representatives. It consisted of Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist) and People's Socialist Party, Nepal during formation. The Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, Nepal and Rastriya Janamorcha provides confidence and support to the government. (Full article...)

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Matrikas (Sanskrit: मातृका (singular), IAST: mātṛkā, lit. "mothers"), also called Mataras or Matri, are a group of mother goddesses in Hinduism. The Matrikas are often depicted in a group of seven, the Saptamatrika(s) (Seven Mothers). However, they are also depicted as a group of eight, the Ashtamatrika(s). They are associated with these gods as their energies (Shaktis). Brahmani emerged from Brahma, Vaishnavi from Vishnu, Maheshvari from Shiva, Indrani from Indra, Kaumari from Kartikeya, Varahi from Varaha and Chamunda from Chandi. And additionals are Narasimhi from Narasimha and Vinayaki from Ganesha.

Originally the seven goddesses of the seven stars of the star cluster of the Pleiades, they became quite popular by the seventh century CE and a standard feature of the Hindu goddesses's temples from the ninth century CE onwards. In South India, Saptamatrikas worship is prevalent whereas the Ashtamatrikas are venerated in Nepal, among other places. (Full article...)

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The Ganges, is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. The 2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is the third largest river by discharge.

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Statue of Araniko at the Miaoying Temple, Beijing

Aniko, Anige or Araniko (Nepali: अरनिको, Chinese: 阿尼哥; 1245–1306) was one of the key figures in the arts of Nepal and the Yuan dynasty of China, and the artistic exchanges in these areas. He was born in Kathmandu Valley during the reign of Abhaya Malla. He is known for building the White Stupa at the Miaoying Temple in Beijing. During the reign of Jayabhimadeva, he was sent on a project to build a golden stupa in Tibet, where he also initiated into monkhood. From Tibet, he was sent further to northern China to work in the court of the emperor Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty, where he brought the trans-Himalayan artistic tradition to China. Araniko led a team of 80 artists to China proper and Tibet to make a number of pagoda-style buildings. In his later life, he renounced monkhood and started a family.

To some confusion in translation, his name is variously written as Arniko or Araniko in old texts. A mistake made by Baburam Acharya ascribed his Sanskrit name as Balabahu. However, later he contends that Aniko might possibly be the Chinese pronunciation for the Sanskrit name Aneka. It is also plausible that his name could mean AA Ni Ka, meaning "respectable brother from Nepal". (Full article...)

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"Lāgwa" meatball (center right) and "lāpi" meat patty (center left) on a large ceremonial plate.

Chunlā (Newar: चुंला, "ground meat") is a traditional meat dish of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. It is meat finely chopped by a chopping knife or meat grinder. Chunlā is a popular dish in Newar cuisine and is similar to Qeema found in other parts of South Asia. (Full article...)

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... that Binod Chaudhary is the first Nepali to be listed on Forbes's billionaire list?
... that Nepal declared a national day of mourning after the 2019 Taplejung helicopter crash?

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Wiki Loves Nepal

The following pages at Wikimedia Commons contain a plethora of images taken in Nepal.

Wiki Loves Earth is an international photographic competition to promote natural heritage sites around the World through Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons).

Wiki Loves Earth 2019 in Nepal

2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • More information • Main category page

Wiki Loves Monuments is an international photographic competition to promote cultural monuments around the World through Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.

Wiki Loves Monuments 2018 in Nepal

2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • More information • Main category page

Provinces

Below is a clickable map of Nepal's Provinces

NEPAL

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The following are images from various Nepal-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Women in cultural costume at Ubhauli Kirati festival 2017 at Gough Whitlam Park, Earlwood (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 2Nepali traditional Pahadi dress used for dance (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 3A 1905 painting of Nepalese woman (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 4The old king's palace on a hill in Gorkha (from History of Nepal)
Image 5Statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, gilded bronze, Nepal, 16th century CE (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 6"Nēpāla" in the late Brahmi script, in the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta (350-375 CE). (from History of Nepal)
Image 7Nepali Pahadi Hindu marriage at Narayangadh, Chitawan (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 8Procession of Nepali Hindu Wedding (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 9Bhakti Thapa leading Gorkha men at Anglo-Nepalese War (from History of Nepal)
Image 10A Buddhist monastery in southern Nepal. (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 11Costumed Hindu girls of Kathmandu during festival time in Nepal (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 12Procession of Nepali Pahadi Hindu Wedding (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 13Senior offering Dashain Tika on great Nepali Hindu festival at a traditional home. (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 14A family in a Maoist-controlled valley, 2005 (from History of Nepal)
Image 15Mohar of king Prithvi Narayan Shah dated Saka Era 1685 (CE 1763) (from History of Nepal)
Image 16Ascension of King Gyanendra, 2001 (from History of Nepal)
Image 17Nepali Pahadi groom (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 18Senior offering Dashain Tika to junior (from Culture of Nepal)
Image 19Procession of Nepali Hindu Wedding; Groom being carried by a bride brother or relatives (from Culture of Nepal)

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