Nepal

I enjoy reading about the history and culture of Nepal broadly and the Kathmandu Valley specifically.

Some themes that I have been particularly interested in:

• Nepal was closed off to the rest of the world until relatively recently (1951). Within a single life span (of say, my grandmother), every aspect of Nepali society has gone through a very rapid change as it came in contact with the rest of the world. I like reading about how the local people negotiated the effects of this transition into their lifestyles dictated by a deeply entrenched and often centuries-old views of the world. I think the fact that Nepal was never (at least, explicitly) colonized made this transition especially abrupt and has created a uniquely interesting society today. (For example, to stress the stark difference in the lives of people in Nepal to elsewhere, compare this video of porters carrying a car into Nepal in 1956 to this video of life in the US in the same time period.)
• Until relatively recently, Nepal has had a strong oral tradition of passing down stories and customs. I derive great joy from written accounts of traditions/history that have been and are rapidly being lost to time.
• The lives of the Lhasa Newar traders who traded between Lhasa and Kathmandu for centuries.
• Old maps and pictures of Kathmandu and Nepal broadly.
• Vestigial/Anachronistic customs still part of the fabric of Kathmandu/Nepal.
• Early accounts of weather, wildlife and flora, mostly to compare to what is observed today.
• The social structures of the population prior to 1950
• The lore of the Kumari

Below are some of the books on Nepal that I have on my bookshelf in Somerville, MA in no particular order. I have read only a subset of them. I have marked the books I particularly like in italics:

Bookshelf:

• Out Here in Kathmandu - Mark Liechty
• Far Out - Mark Liechty
• What Went Right - Mark Liechty
• Sex Work in Nepal - Lisa Caviglia
• School Education in Nepal - edited by Lokranjan Parajuli, Devendra Upreti and Pratyoush Onta
• The Wayward Daughter - Shraddha Ghale
• The Gurkha’s Daughter - Prajwal Parajuly
• All Roads Lead North - Amish Raj Mulmi
• मुना मदन - लक्ष्मी प्रसाद देवकोटा
• Panauti: Past - Present (1976 - 2020) - Gerard Toffin and Prashant Shrestha
• शिलान्यास - सुजिता मैनाली
• Land Where I Flee - Prajwal Parajuly
• The Hills are Burning - Anirban Bhattacharya
• Nepali Aama - Broughton Coburn
• Ayla - Santosh Shah
• An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal - Francis Buchanan Hamilton
• History of Nepal - Daniel Wright
• नेवा: संस्कृतिमा घोतालिदै - हरिशरण राजोपाध्याय (शर्मा)
• An Account of the History of Nepaul - William J. Kirkpatrick
• ऐना - रामलाल जोशी
• Syamukapu - D.S.Kansakar Hilkar
• Himalayan Households - Tom Fricke
• Fluid Boundaries - William F. Fisher
• From Goddess to Mortal - Rashmila Shakya as told to Scott Berry
• The Living Goddess - Isabella Tree
• Singha Durbar - Sagar S.J.B Rana
• Forget Kathmandu - Manjushree Thapa
• Between Queens and the Cities - Niranjan Kunwar
• राणा कालिन ऐतिहासिक दरबारहरु - पुरुषोत्तम शमशेर जबरा
• नेपालको महाभूकम्प १९९० - ब्रहम शमशेर जंग बहादुर राणा
• राजा राणा र कांग्रेस - महेशराज पन्त
• Thamel - Rabi Thapa
• Nothing to Declare - Rabi Thapa
• The Woman Who Climbed Trees - Smriti Ravindra
• Tiger for Breakfast - Michel Peissel

To read (Books):

• हिति प्रणाली - पध्यसुन्दर जोशी
• Fatalism and Development - Dor Bahadur Bista
• Anthropology of Nepal - Dor Bahadur Bista
• Mustang, The Forbidden Kingdom - Michel Peissel
• The Mountain Is Young - Han Suyin
• The Wildest Dreams of Kew - Jeremy Bernstein

To read (Articles):

• The status of traditional stone spouts in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
• Ancient Newari Water-Supply Systems in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley
• The state of traditional stone spouts in relation to their use and management in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Some works I would love to read/own:

• Makaiko Kheti - Krishna Lal Adhikari
• The works of Mahesh Chandra Regmi
• The works of Rishikesh Shah

Blogroll:

• The rare books collection of Digital Himalaya
• Martin Chautari
• Lisa Choegyal’s writings for the Nepali Times
• Rabindra Puri

To watch:

• Caravan (Movie)
• Kathmandu in 1978
• A collection of Youtube Documentaries
• Youtube Channel: Old Photos of Nepal . I found this video from 1956 of people carrying a car into Nepal particularly fascinating.
• Youtube channel: High Profile Show
• A video of Asan Bazaar from 1970