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Newar
Newar (; , endonym: Newa; , Pracalit script: ), or Nepami, are primarily inhabitants in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and its surrounding areas, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Page 15. Newars are a distinct linguistic and cultural group, primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities, who share a common language, Nepal Bhasa, and predominantly practice Newar Hinduism and Newar Buddhism. Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilisation not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills. Newars have continued their age-old traditions and practices and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture and civilisation of Nepal. Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine. Today, they consistently rank as the most economically and socially advanced community in Nepal, according to the annual Human Development Index published by UNDP. Newars are ...
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Newar Language
Newar (; , ) is a Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The language is known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa, a name that has been historically used for the language. The term "Newari" is also used to refer to the language, although the Indic ''-i'' suffix is considered inappropriate by some Newar speakers. The language served as the official language of Nepal during the Malla dynasty (Nepal), Malla dynasty since the 14th century till the end of dynasty in 1769 during which the language was referred as "Nepal Bhasa", a term which literally means "Nepalese Language". However, the language is not the same as Nepali language, Nepali, an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language and the current official language of Nepal, which only got the name Nepali in the 1930s. Newar literature, Literature in Newar is one of the oldest i ...
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Newa Art
Newar (; , ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The language is known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa, a name that has been historically used for the language. The term "Newari" is also used to refer to the language, although the Indic ''-i'' suffix is considered inappropriate by some Newar speakers. The language served as the official language of Nepal during the Malla dynasty since the 14th century till the end of dynasty in 1769 during which the language was referred as "Nepal Bhasa", a term which literally means "Nepalese Language". However, the language is not the same as Nepali, an Indo-Aryan language and the current official language of Nepal, which only got the name Nepali in the 1930s. Literature in Newar is one of the oldest in Nepal, dating back to at least 600 years ago. From the start of the Rana dynasty in the 1840 ...
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Lhasa Newar
Lhasa Newar (alternate name: Lhasa Newah) () refers to the expatriate Newar traders and artisans who traveled between the Kathmandu Valley and Tibet from centuries ago. These Nepalis, Nepalese merchants conducted trade between Nepal, Tibet and Bengal, India over the Silk Road, and acted as a bridge for economic and cultural exchanges between South Asia and Central Asia. Along with the merchants, there were colonies of artisans in various parts of Tibet who were engaged in creating Buddhist art. They were major players in the exchange of art styles across the Himalaya. The thousand-year-old Lhasa Newar tradition came to an end after the caravan route linking India and Tibet through Sikkim was shut down by the Sino-Indian War in 1962. Subsequently, the merchants and craftsmen based in Tibet closed up shop and returned home to Nepal for the last time. History According to folklore, Singha Sartha Aju was the first merchant to travel to Tibet. The history of the Lhasa Newars officiall ...
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Newari Literature
The Newar language of Nepal has the fourth oldest literature tradition among the Sino-Tibetan languages (after Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese). The earliest known document in Newar is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates from 1114 during the Thakuri period. The earliest dated stone inscription in Nepal Bhasa is dated Nepal Sambat 293 (1173 AD). From the 14th century onwards, an overwhelming number of stone inscriptions in the Kathmandu Valley, where they are an ubiquitous element at heritage sites, are in Nepal Bhasa. The first books appeared in the 14th century. * ''Haramekhalā'' (Devanāgarī: हरमेखला, a medical manual written in 1374 * ''Nāradsmṛti'' (नारदस्मृति) a law book written in 1380 * ''Amarkośa'' (अमरकोश), a Sanskrit-Newari dictionary written in 1381 * ''Gopālarāja Vaṃśāvalī'' (गोपालराज वंशावली), a history of Nepal written in 1389 The first story book is ''Tantrākhyā ...
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Newar Buddhism
Newar Buddhism is a form of Vajrayana Buddhism practiced by the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It has developed unique socio-religious elements, which include a non-monastic Buddhist society based on the Newar caste system and patrilineality. Its caste system has a non-celibate religious clergy caste formed of vajracharya (who perform rituals for others) and ''shakya'' (who perform rituals mostly within their own families). Other Buddhist Newar castes like the Urāy act as patrons. Urāy also patronise Tibetan Vajrayana, Theravadin, and even Japanese clerics. Although there was a vibrant regional tradition of Buddhism in the Kathmandu Valley during the first millennium, the transformation into a distinctive cultural and linguistic form of Buddhism appears to have taken place in the fifteenth century, at about the same time that similar regional forms of Indic Buddhism such as those of Kashmir and Indonesia were on the wane. Avalokiteśvara, Nepal, 16th c ...
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Tibeto-Burman Languages
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages, Burmese and the Tibetic languages, which also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 12th and 7th centuries respectively. Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail. Though the division of Sino-Tibetan into Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman branches (e.g. Benedict, Matisoff) is widely used, some historical linguists criticize this classification, as the non-Sinitic Sino-Tibetan languages lack any shared innovations in phonology or morphology to show that they comprise a clade of the phylogenetic tree. History During the 18th century, several scholars noticed paral ...
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Kathmandu Valley
The Kathmandu Valley (), also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley (, Newar language, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः), National Capital Area, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayas, Himalayan mountains of Nepal. It lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of the Indian subcontinent and the broader Asian continent, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Buddhism, Buddhists. The valley holds seven World Heritage Sites within it. The Kathmandu Valley is the most developed and the largest urban agglomeration in Nepal with a population of about 5 million people. The urban agglomeration of Kathmandu Valley includes the cities of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Nepal, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Changunarayan, Budhanilkantha, Tarakeshwar, Gokarneshwar, Suryabinayak Municipality, Suryabinayak, Tokha, Kirtipur, Madhyapur Thimi, and others. The majority of offices and headquarters are locat ...
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Newa Cuisine
Newa cuisine/नेवा: नसा (also referred to as ''Newari'' cuisine) is a distinctive subset of Nepalese cuisine that has developed over centuries among the Newars of Nepal Mandala region in Nepal. Newa cuisine is the most celebrated food variety in the country and consists of over 500 dishes. It is more elaborate than most Nepalese cuisines because the Kathmandu Valley has exceptionally fertile alluvial soil and enough wealthy households to make growing produce more profitable than cultivating rice and other staples. Food is an integral part of Newar culture. Different kinds of foods are prepared for different occasions, considering the climate and nutritional needs of the body. Newars are renowned for their sumptuous feasting. Dishes served during feasts and festivals have symbolic significance. Newa cuisine is renowned for its extraordinary variety and is recognized as one of the oldest food cultures in South Asia. Its rich diversity reflects not only the daily cons ...
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Newar Hinduism
Newar Hinduism is a form of Hinduism followed by the Newar people in Nepal. Newar Hinduism is based on Kaula or Vamachara concept. Dance Newar dance consists of sacred masked dance, religious dance without the use of masks known as Dyah Pyakhan, a dance performed as part of a ritual and meditation practice known as Chachaa Pyakhan () (Charya Nritya in Sanskrit) and folk dance. There are also masked dance dramas known as Daboo Pyakhan which enact religious stories to the accompaniment of music. Masked dances are performed on stone dance platforms that exist at all major city squares. They are the highlight of religious festivals. Most dances are held annually while certain dances are performed once every 12 years. The performances are organized by dance societies in which membership is hereditary. The history of these traditional dances goes back centuries. Festivals and events Newa Hinduism and Newar Buddhism share the festivals of each other. Kachhala (कछला) *Saki ...
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Nepal Mandala
Nepal Mandala () is the ancient geographic division of Nepal into different regions. It was characterized by three major divisions: “ Purwanchal” (Eastern Region), “ Madhyamanchal” (Central Region), and “ Pashchimanchal” (Western Region). These divisions were further subdivided into smaller areas known as “Mandals.” The concept of Nepal Mandal has historical significance, reflecting the administrative and cultural organization of the region in earlier times. It is marked by cultural, religious and political boundaries that lies in present-day central Nepal. It consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding areas. The rule of the indigenous Newars in Nepal Mandala ended with its conquest by the Gorkha Kingdom and the rise of the Shah dynasty in 1768. According to the Outline History of Nepal, Nepal consisted of three kingdoms during the early medieval period: Khas in the west, Karnatak in the south and Nepal Mandala in the center. Bhaktapur was the capital of ...
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Pracalit Script
Prachalit, also known as Newa, Newar, Newari, or Nepāla lipi is a type of abugida script developed from the Nepalese scripts, which are a part of the family of Brahmic scripts descended from Brahmi script. It is used to write Nepal Bhasa, Maithili, Sanskrit and Pali. Various publications are still published in this script including the ''Sikkim Herald'' the bulletin of the Sikkim government (Newari edition). Consonants Vowels Symbols Numerals Unicode Prachalit Nepal script was added to the Unicode Standard in June, 2016 with the release of version 9.0. The Unicode block for Prachalit Nepal, called Newa, is U+11400–U+1147F: See also * Nepalese scripts References Further reading * Covers Prachalit, Ranjana and Bhujimol, development, current use, information about and drawings of character formation. * External links ScriptSourcepage on Prachalit Nepal script Fontsfor Prachalit, Ranjana and Brahmi Brahmi ( ; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is ...
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Nepali Language
Nepali (; , ), or ''Gorkhali'' is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official and most widely spoken Languages of Nepal, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a ''lingua franca''. Nepali has Languages with official status in India, official status in the Indian state of Sikkim and in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration of West Bengal. It is spoken by about a quarter of Bhutan's population. Nepali also has a significant number of speakers in the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Uttarakhand. In Myanmar it is spoken by the Burmese Gurkhas. The Nepali diaspora in the Middle East, Brunei, Australia and worldwide also use the language. Nepali is spoken by approximately 19 million native speakers and another 14 million as a second language. Nepali is commonly classified within the Eastern Pahari group of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages, Northern zo ...
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