RATO MACHINNDRANATH BEING TOWED SATURDAY

RATO MACHINDRANATH CHARIOT BEING TOWED SATURDAY

Kathmandu, 7 May: The chariot of Rato Machindranath is being towed from Phulchowk in Lalitpur to Gabahal in Patan Saturday.
The chariot procession will end at Jawalakhel where a
A vest will be displayed at the end of the country’s longest festival.
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SEARCH FOR LORD BUDDHA’S MATERNAL HOME

Kathmandu, 7 May: With the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) and the Department of Archaeology (DoA) having jointly initiated a trial excavation in Devdaha in Lumbini, the palace of the maternal uncles of Gautam Buddha is likely to be unveiled soon, Ankit Adhikary reports in The Kathmandu Post., .
The matter has been shrouded in mystery since the fifth century after an archaeologist called Fasyan first mentioned in his travelogue that the Kwaliyar state (now Devdaha) was the place where both Buddha and his father Suddhodhan, the king of Kapilvastu, were married to.
As cross-cousin marriage was popular then, some archaeologists have also said both Buddha's mother Mayadevi as well as his wife Yasodhara came from the same family in Kwaliyar. Kwaliyar, as mentioned in ancient scriptures, was a neighbourig state of Kapilvastu that covered the area between Lumbini's Rohini river in the east and Narayani river in the west.
Although archaeologists including Fasyan (fifth century), Wehn Sang (seventh century) and Dr Hoey (1962), among others, have said Kwaliyar was the maternal home of Buddha, no inscriptions or coins have been found in the area so far to prove those statements. Neither do people have any records of excavation works carried out in the area so far.
The “unverified ruins” of old bricks and foundations can be found in four different locations at Devdaha. The places are Kanyamai, Bairimai, Bhawanipur and Khayar Danda, all worshipped as religious shrines by the Buddhists these days. However, according to a senior archaeological officer at the DoA, Prakash Darnal, locals of all the four places have been claiming the particular area to be the palace of the old Kwaliyar kings, who were also the maternal uncles of Buddha.
However, as there cannot be four palaces in such a small area, Darnal mentions that all four locations have equal chances of coming out as the palace of Buddha's maternal uncles. “Others may be the ruins of other monuments and monasteries,” he added.
Out of the four locations, excavation was carried out only at Kanyamai this time. The excavation was conducted by digging two squares of 10/10. Although the excavation did not go below one metre, Darnal said they unveiled two important structures and brick foundations.
“We unveiled two important square structures moving horizontally,” he said. “Findings only within one metre depth clearly indicate there is something more. However, because of sporadic rainfall, we could not continue with the excavation work. The work will resume next winter from Kanyamai.”
According to Darnal, the exact palace of Buddha's maternal uncles can be found with evidences only after successful excavation in all the four locations. “Excavation is a slow process which may take years,” he said, adding that though the palace would be only one, all four ruins could have equally important historical importance. “What lays underground at all four places is still a tentative mystery.”
This year's excavation, which started on March 14, was halted on April 24. LDT itself is bearing the cost of the excavation. The budget for the initial phase this year was Rs 301,300.
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TREKKER COUNT DOWN

Kathmandu, 7 May: The number of trekkers has gone downhill despite a significant rise in tourist arrivals, The Kathmandu Post reports.

According to the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), the number of trekkers did not rise as expected although the country received a healthy number of tourists in the first four months of 2011. International tourist arrivals to Nepal swelled 18.4 percent to 168,958 during the period January to April.

“The number of tourists coming for adventure trekking has declined compared to the number recorded in the same period last year,” said Bachhu Narayan Shrestha, first vice-president of TAAN. Trekking in Nepal is an all-season activity. It is possible at any time of the year depending on where one goes. However, the most popular seasons are spring (February-May) and autumn (September-November).

With more than 132,000 visitors going trekking and mountaineering in 2009 and the government’s announcement of Nepal Tourism Year 2011, trekking entrepreneurs had been encouraged to develop new products.

Trekking agencies and the government have unveiled new trekking trails and upgraded old ones for Nepal Tourism Year in an effort to prolong tourist stay in Nepal. “However, things have not happened as we expected,” Shrestha added.

Since the trekking routes are at least seven days long, it is one of the major tourism products that helps to lengthen visitor stay and increase spending in remote areas. On Sept. 27, TAAN had unveiled the Panch Pokhari-Bhairav Kunda route in Sindhupalchok, the Dhorpatan route in Baglung and the Galeshwor route in Myagdi aiming to diversify tourists to these destinations. Similarly, various other treks were developed with the joint effort of the private sector and the government. Trekking agencies said that increased attraction for pilgrimage and tour packages had resulted in a decline in the number of trekkers. Meanwhile, the number of free individual trekkers has increased compared to group trekkers, which is also a major reason for the drop in the number of trekkers, said agencies.

About 120,000 trekkers visit the Annapurna, Langtang and Everest regions annually. Of the total number of foreign tourists visiting Pokhara, 60-70 percent go trekking in the Annapurna area. “We have also seen a drop in the number of trekkers in the Khumbu and Annapurna regions in the last four months,” Shrestha added. European, American, Australian and Canadian visitors make up most of the foreign trekkers in Nepal.
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