Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Devghat

Devghat is a town located at the junction of the Sapta Gandaki and Krishna Gandaki rivers in Central Nepal and is one of the holiest places in Hindu mythology as well as a holy place for Hindu gods. Lying 7 kilometres from the city of Narayangarh, 20 kilometres from Sauraha and 150 kilometres southwest of the capital Kathmandu. The area boasts many natural features due to its geography and climate including tropical forests, wild animals and birds.  Dev ghat is home to various temples and caves of Hindu gods, goddesses, and saints including Goddess Sita's cave, Bashistha Cave, Radha Krishna Temple, Galeshwor Temple, Sita Ram Temple, Laxmi Narayan Temple, Shankaracharya Temple, Bageshori Temple, Laxmi Narayan Divya Dham, Maula Kalika Temple, and Bishwa Shanti Dharmashala among others. Mahesh Sanyas, Hari Hara, Sharana Gati, Galeshwor, Radha Sarbeshwor Bhajan and Yogi Narahari Nath are ashrams where various religious activities are performed all year round. In Makar Sankranti, hugemelas (gatherings) are observed each year making it one of the largest religious melas in Nepal. The date when this festival started remains unknown. Hindu pilgrims bathe at the junction of the Krishna Gandaki river well-known for its rare 'Saligram Sheela (holy stone), which Hindu devotees worship as Lord Vishnu which are in India. 

Devghat is in a modern transitional stage of development. It has three high schools, one post-graduate college, three retirement home projects, one ayurvedic health station, part of Bharatpur medical college, the guest house of B P Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital etc. Volunteers from various health organizations provide free health check up camps on a regular basis. A historic suspension bridge connects the Tanahun and Chitwan districts of the town.
The government of Nepal has established Devghat Area Development Committee for the integrated development of this area while the non-resident Nepalese Association has established a project to construct 200 retirement homes in the Chitwan district of the town.
A proposed Saptagandaki hydropower plant is in the pipeline for construction. It is expected that living standards in the area will improve if the project goes ahead.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Sarangkot

Sarankot or Sarangkot is Village Development Committee in Kaski District in the Gandaki Zone of northern-central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 5,060 persons residing in 1,010 individual households.
The village is located on a mountainside ridge at an altitude of 1600m with panoramic Himalayan views. From Sarankot, on the northern direction we can see Dhawalagiri in the far west . Annapurna range is visible when the weather is clear on the same side. On the southern direction the village overlooks the city of Pokhara and its lake on the north-western outskirts of the city.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Lukla


Lukla is a town in the Khumbu area of the Solukhumbu District in the Sagarmatha Zone of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at 2,860 metres (9,383 ft), it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Everest to arrive. Although Lukla means place with many goats and sheep, few are found in the area these days.
Lukla contains a small airport servicing the region, and a variety of shops and lodges catering to tourists and trekkers, providing western-style meals and trail supplies.
From Lukla, most trekkers will take two days to reach Namche Bazaar, both an interesting village and an altitude acclimatization stop for those continuing on.
Lukla is served by the Tenzing-Hillary Airport. Weather permitting, twin-engined Dornier and Twin Otters make frequent daylight flights between Lukla and Kathmandu. Lukla Airport has a very short and steep airstrip, often compounded by hazardous weather, resulting in several fatal accidents. It has been called the most dangerous airport in the world.