RxPG News XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!  

Medical Research Health Special Topics World
 
  Home
 
 Careers 
 Dental
 Medical
 Nursing
 
 Latest Research 
 Aging
 Anaethesia
 Biochemistry
 Biotechnology
 Cancer
 Cardiology
 Clinical Trials
 Cytology
 Dental
 Dermatology
 Embryology
 Endocrinology
 ENT
 Environment
 Gastroenterology
 Genetics
 Gynaecology
 Haematology
 Immunology
 Infectious Diseases
 Metabolism
 Microbiology
 Musculoskeletal
 Nephrology
 Neurosciences
 Obstetrics
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Paediatrics
 Pathology
 Pharmacology
 Physiology
 Psychiatry
 Public Health
 Radiology
 Rheumatology
 Surgery
 Urology
 Alternative Medicine
 Medicine
 Epidemiology
 Sports Medicine
 Toxicology
 
 Medical News 
 Awards & Prizes
 Epidemics
 Health
 Healthcare
 Launch
 Opinion
 Professionals
 
 Special Topics 
 Ethics
 Euthanasia
 Evolution
 Feature
 Odd Medical News
 Climate
 
 DocIndia 
 Reservation Issue
 Overseas Indian Doctor

Last Updated: May 20, 2007 - 10:48:48 AM
News Report
Nepal Channel

subscribe to Nepal newsletter
Nepal

   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Trans-Himalayan highway threatens Nepal's Buddhist legacy
May 2, 2007 - 11:42:12 AM
'Development can't be denied. So we have to look at the best compromise,' said Acharya. That, according to him, means launching a full-fledged mission to discover the caves and then to document the treasures.

Article options
 Email to a Friend
 Printer friendly version
 Nepal channel RSS
 More Nepal news
[RxPG] Kathmandu, May 2 - A priceless treasure trove of Buddhist teachings, manuscripts, paintings and other historical artefacts lie under grave threat, ironically from the advent of development in remote northern Nepal.

Nepal's frontier Mustang district - once part of an ancient Tibetan kingdom - has been safeguarding thousands of caves, some of which are nearly 3,000 years old, full of paintings and manuscripts in ancient Tibetan scripts.

Archaeologist Sukra Sagar Shrestha, who specialises in high-altitude archaeology and has been associated with excavation and restoration projects in Mustang, estimates there are over 10,000 such caves, most of them undiscovered.

Some of the caves are multi-storeyed, with different layers used for residence, imparting religious education to monks and nuns, and burial sites. Written in at least four different Tibetan scripts, the manuscripts, once deciphered, are likely to provide a wealth of historical data about the ancient Tibetan kingdom, its relations with China, Nepal and India, and perhaps even about the Buddha himself.

Between 15th and 17th centuries, Mustang - a corruption of Lo Manthang, meaning the 'southern plains of aspiration' - was an independent, rich and powerful kingdom whose rulers dominated the trans-Himalayan trade between Tibet and India.

A walled city, it was enriched by a constant flow of scholars, painters and artisans, giving rise to a treasury of art, architecture, religious education and historical archives.

In the 18th century, when Nepal went to battle against Tibet, Lo Monthang allied itself with Nepal and was soon annexed by Nepal. But this saved its Buddhist cultural legacy from destruction, a fate suffered by Tibet after it was invaded by communist China.

The remoteness, near inaccessibility and freezing climate of Mustang combined to protect and preserve the ancient Buddhist heritage.

'The caves, where the temperature is never more than eight degrees Celsius, provides the best natural preservation for the relics,' said Shrestha. 'Add to it the sparse population. If you walk throughout the day, you'll hardly meet over four people.'

However, now the advent of an ambitious trans-Himalayan highway - planned for connecting India, Nepal and China as well as other Asian cities - is threatening the hidden treasures.

Besides the influx of outside population it will bring to the kingdom once closed to the outside world, the highway will also pass through an archaeologically rich area.

'During the course of the highway, the land is so soft in a part of northern Nepal that it has to make a detour,' said Shrestha. 'The detour is through an area where there are thousands of such caves.'

Nepal's director-general of archaeology Kosh Prasad Acharya is, therefore, appealing to the international community for help to preserve this unique heritage.

'Development can't be denied. So we have to look at the best compromise,' said Acharya. That, according to him, means launching a full-fledged mission to discover the caves and then to document the treasures.

'It is an expensive matter and we need help,' he added. 'We ask the international community to help in any way it can - by providing funds, expertise and information.'





Related Nepal News
Nepal deity 'sweats' -- bad times ahead?
Two years after tobacco ban, Bhutan still awaits law
Jimmy Carter to discuss polls with Nepal PM
UN top refugee envoy to visit Nepal
Bangladesh censors Nepal magazine
Bhutanese refugees brace for Indian crackdown
Nepal gays ask UN to save arrested peers in Iran
US home offer sparks tension in Bhutanese refugee camps
World Bank warns Nepal over engineer's murder
Three Asian climbers die on Everest

Subscribe to Nepal Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 Feedback
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 
© All rights reserved 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us