Tour Guide, Kathmandu, Nepal
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As per Kunwar (2010), tourism is not a new phenomenon for Hindus. In Sanskrit literature there is found different terms for tourism derived from the root atan, which means leaving home for some time to other places. They had different types of tourism known as Paryatan- going out for pleasure and knowledge; Deshatan-going out to other countries primarily for economic gain; and Tirthatan- going to the places of religious importance (p.2).
Tourists have been arriving in Nepal in different forms from the time immemorial. In this context, as far as the legend goes, Manjushree had made the Kathmandu valley suitable for human habitation by cutting the hill of then Nagdaha- the lake of the serpent god and thereby letting the water drain out from the valley. Manjushree is said to have come from China, yet he is regarded as the first outsider tourist ever visiting Nepal. During the early historical era, too famous visitors have been recorded as having visited Nepal. Ashoka, the Great Buddhist emperor of ancient India, too had visited Nepal on the twentieth year of his reign in 249 BC. He paid his royal visit to Lumbini, Gotihawa and Niglihawa- the birthplaces of Shakyamuni, Krakuchhanda and Kanakmuni Buddha respectively and erected the sandstone pillars after his name. He, then, entered in Kathmandu valley and constructed four Stupas in Patan- then Buddhist town.
In Nepalese history, the Lichchhavi period is regarded very significant from the tourism viewpoint. The marriage relation between Princess Bhrikuti, daughter of King Amshuvarma, and Srong-Sten Gampo, the king of the northern state Lhasa (present Tibetan autonomous region of China) in 592 AD gave rise to the establishment of special relations between the two countries (Sharma, 1976, p.95). Bidari (2010) talks about Chinese travelers’ visit to Lumbini in between 4th-8th century AD (p.27-29).
After King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the Great, started national unification of the scattered principalities into bigger Nepal, the visit of Captain Kirk Patric Mission in 1792 to Nepal also seems important. His book “An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal” helped to introduce Nepal to outsiders. After the Sugauli Treaty between Nepal and the British East India Company in 1816, there were regular visits of British nobilities in Kathmandu. Rana prime minister Jung Bahadur’s visit to Britain in 1850-51 brought the mysterious and fascinating Kingdom of Nepal into the limelight in Europe. During that time, several botanists and naturalists had visited Nepal. Similarly, King George V and the prince of Wales came to Nepal for hunting tigers in the Terai forests in 1911 and 1921 respectively (Satyal, 1988 p.32). Despite these events, the Rana autocracy isolated Nepal from external influence for a hundred and four years. During that period, Nepal was a ‘forbidden land’ for foreigners except for the small traders and Indian pilgrims.
After the political change in early 1950s, Nepal started to develop the different aspects of her social, economic and political life. Since that time, the door of Nepal has remained open to foreigners with the desire to visit Nepal in order to develop the tourist industry in the country. The role of mountain tourism is very significant in the overall tourism sector. 1950s can be considered as the most important period in Nepal’s tourism development. During the decade, the world famous 14 over-8000m peaks were successfully scaled. When, seven of the eight over-8000m peaks in Nepal were scaled for the first time. The first over-8000m peak to be conquered was Annapurna I- by French mountaineers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal on 3rd of June 1950; the world’s highest peak Mt. Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal and Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand on 29th of May 1953. The first successful ascent of these two peaks did much to publicize Nepal as a destination to the world. The visit of Swiss researcher Tony Hegen in 1950s published bulky volumes about Nepal.
Such texts introduced Kathmandu in international traveling arena and hundreds of hippies arrived here in 1960s and 70s.
Due to its natural beauty, diverse range of flora and fauna, religious tolerance, historical and cultural heritages, Nepal is getting popularity in the emerging world of tourism.
(Excerpt from university research)
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By Paras Mani Amgain, Kathmandu