Amber Bamjan Tamang

Ban Jhakri (Shaman of the Wilderness) yet another mysterious being in the Himalaya Many  stories and beliefs one encounters in the Himalaya includes Yeti the snowman, Wind Horse, Holy Mountain, self arisen deities in the rocks which once used to spoke and many other supreme phenomenon  that inspire some people and sounds mere story to some others.   Among such mysterious belief system based on a supernatural being is the belief of 'Ban Jhakri' which literally means 'shaman of the wild'.  Nepal, poor and politically very fragile country of current time is an oasis of different cultural groups that includes priestly tribe Bramhin of Hindus to untouchable groups and few dozens of Routes who don't have permanent homes and makes living in the nature by hunting and wandering in the jungles.  There are the Buddhist groups of Tibetan origin and Kirats who follows nature and ancestor worship cult defined in recent times as Kirant Religion.  Despite the difference if thei

Tamang People A Vanishing Buddhist Community of the Himalayas With the help from Janet Levine on editing The Tamang people for centuries were considered as semi untouchables; enslaved and sold like an animal by their masters the ruler caste known as Ranas and some other upper caste groups. This privilege was given to the higher caste people by the first civil code of Nepal which enforced in 1853.  As the result of the state's brutal discrimination one of the largest ethnic groups in Nepal almost lost its identity.  Even in democratic Nepal today, Tamang is one of the more backward communities among more than 60 different ethnic groups of this small Himalayan country.  An Old Tamang Village (Gatlang Langtang) Photo - Amit Khadka Tamangs are believed to be one of those ancient people who migrated from Tibet to Nepal in around 7 th   century in search of better conditions than those of their dry, cold, deserted homeland.  Researchers have found that they were among the fir

Climbing Everest - 2011 Spring Photos By : Karna Tamang Most of my friends are aware with KB's recent Everest climb which almost ended in fatal accident due to his client's short availability of time to complete the expedition.  Normally an expedition to Mt. Everest ends in 50 days to 70 days maximum.  But KB and his client's schedule was less than a month.  KB of course reached the base camp much earlier than his client but his client's schedule was too short, too quick and too dangerous as he arrived in Kathmandu 2 nd of May, Reached the base camp 12 of May, and reached the summit on 19 th May!  As his fingers were frost bitten he reached back home in Europe before May 25.  So they completed the expedition in less than half the time as everybody else does.   Here are some of the select pictures KB was taking while he had spare time and opportunity to look around Everest Base Camp Spring 2011 Welcomed 250+ Foreign Climbers and over 500 of Their Support Staff

An Experience of Studying in Government School in Nepal As a matter of fact Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world which is clearly visible in the daily life of Nepali people including the educational facilities provided to its' people.   So it's not surprising even today that we read the news of some schools in remote places having unbelievably poor facilities.   My school in Kamalakhoj 'Ladavir Secondary School' was one of such schools of those days that it could be showcased as one of the poorly managed institutions.   Even though compared to rugged Solukhumbu plain land of Kamalakhoj is considered as less remote, but the school we had there in Kamalakhoj was much poorer than the one we had back in Solukhumbu.    The school had to serve as regional secondary school for whole of Kamalakhoj valley resulting it to be one of the most crowded school of the entire district. For grades one to three we didn’t have separate class rooms for a long time. There

As I had stated earlier, this is the second part of the story why my grandfather was so special for me.  One of the very touching experiences with him was his devotion to educate me.  One day, only he and I were at our house back in Solukhumbu and he was trying hard to teach Nepali numbers 1-100.  We were trying to copy the letters printed on the pages of the book possibly someone earlier must have taught us that's the number from 1-100 in that particular page.  Suddenly a vendor selling cloths came to our courtyard where we were and my grandfather asked him to help us and in return he might buy the cloth.  He certainly taught us and he had long chat with my grandpa afterward.  rare pictures of our village students in late 80s found at one of my relatives album; I'm 4th from right on the back row. After I was admitted in to the school, he continuously supported me to go to school despite extreme financial problems.  Those days the schooling was not free, we had to buy books

This is possibly the most valuable moment of writing for me because the story I am going to share here is about my grandfather – the most adorable person of my life.  I have told pieces of the story to most of my trekking friends / clients in the off trekking chats because it comes to discussion when they ask about my family background, study and career.  While sharing the stories about him, each time I have found myself in difficulty to hide the sorrow and tears within me. However it's always the moment of pleasure at least to recall his love, kindness and guidance which have brought me to this moment. So I always feel pleased, proud and fortunate to have him as my guardian and equally pleased to share the story about him through this blog.   Grandpa's only faded picture re skateched by a painter When I was 6 years or so, my parents and grandfather wanted me to take to the village school which is situated in about half hour's walk.  One day, my father went to the scho