Nepal Religion

Nepal Travel Itinerary

Religion

To say that religion is an important part of Nepali life is a considerable understatement: it is life. In the Nepali world view, just about every act has spiritual implications; the gods are assumed to have a hand in every success or misfortune and must be appeased continuously. Belief and ritual form the basis of the whole social order, governing the way husbands relate to wives, parents to children and even the king to his subjects.

Three religious strands intertwine in Nepal: Hinduism, Buddhism and shamanism. In theory, these faiths are philosophically incompatible, but Nepalis, being an exceptionally tolerant lot, tend to overlook the differences. As practised by the masses, each employs superstition and rites of passage to get followers through the present life, and codes of behaviour to prepare them for the next; Hindu priests, Buddhist lamas and tribal shamans play similar roles in their respective communities. Indeed, it's really only outside observers who bother to distinguish between the religions and dwell on their outward differences - most Nepalis find such distinctions needlessly academic.

Hinduism is the

state religion of Nepal, and the government claims that 90 percent of the population is Hindu. However, there are social advantages to professing Hinduism in Nepal, and official statistics don't reflect the extent to which many Nepalis blithely combine Hinduism with Buddhist or shamanist beliefs. In general, Hinduism prevails at the lower elevations and Buddhism in the Himalaya, while shamanism is strongest among the ethnic minorities of the hills.

Charles Leech and David Reed

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