Pokhara

 

                         About Pokhara

Pokhara is a metropolitan city. It is a piece of Heaven in the world. Pokhara is the largest city in terms of area and second largest city in terms of population. It is the provincial capital of Gandaki Pradesh. The city also serves as the headquarters of Kaski District. it lies in western part of Nepal. Pokhara is 200 kilometre West from Kathmandu Valley. The altitude varies from 827 metres in the southern part to 1,740 metres in the north. It is the land of differet castes is and cultural  people. The Annapurna Range, with three out of the ten highest peaks in the world, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu.  Is within 15 to 35 miles (24 to 56 km) of the valley.Pokhara is considered the tourism capital of Nepal, being a base for trekkers undertaking the Annapurna Circuit through the Annapurna Conservation Area region of the Annapurna ranges in the Himalayas.

 

The city is also home to many of the elite Gurkha soldiers. Pokhara is famous for many temples, Monastories, Museum, caves and lakes. In recent decades, Pokhara is known to be a popular tourist destination for visitors from all over the world.it is considered the tourism capital of Nepal in South Asia, mainly for adventure tourism and the base for the famous Annapurna Circuit trek. Thus, a major contribution to the local economy comes from the tourism and hospitalities industry. Tourism is a major source of income for local people and the city.  Every year, many people visit the location in order to travel to the Annapurna range and famous religious place muktinath.The tourist district is along the north shore of the Phewa lake (Baidam, Lakeside, and Damside).

It is mainly made up of small shops, non-star tourist hotels, restaurants, and bars. Most upscale and starred hotels are on the southern shore of the Phewa Lake and southeastern fringes of the city where there are more open lands and unhindered view of the surrounding mountains. Most of the tourists visiting Pokhara trek to the Annapurna Base Camp and Mustang. To the east of the Pokhara valley, in Lekhnath municipality, there are seven smaller lakes such as Begnas Lake, Rupa Lake, Khaste lake, Maidi lake, Neureni lake, Dipang lake. Begnas Lake is known for its fishery projects.

The city promotes two major hilltops as viewpoints to see the city and surrounding panorama, World Peace Pagoda, built in 1996 across the southern shore of Phewa lake and Sarangkot, which is northwest of the city. In February 2004, International Mountain Museum  was opened for public in Ratopahiro to boost the city's tourism attractions. Other museums are Pokhara Regional Museum; an ethnographic museum; Annapurna Natural History Museum which houses preserved specimens of flora and fauna, and contains particularly extensive collection of the butterflies, found in the Western and Annapurna Conservation Area region of Nepal; and Gurkha Museum featuring history of the Gurkha soldiers. 

Many medieval era temples such Tal Barahi Temple, Bindhyabasini, Bhadrakali, Guheshwari, Sitaldevi, Gita mandir, Bhimsen temples and Nepal Christiya Ramghat Church, established in 1952 (2009 BS), the first church in Nepal. These are the caves in Pokhara; Maherdra Cave, Chamero Gufa(Bat cave), Guptewar Cave, Devis Fall. These are the Buddhist monastery in Pokhara; Jampalinng, Paljorling, Tashi Ling, and Tashi Palkhel, Matepani Gomba etc. It is also called the city of lakes. Snowfall can be observed by the surrounding Hills. Pokhara is the city that receives highest amount of rainfall in the country. It is the remarkable place of natural beauty. Pokhara is one of the most popular tourist destination in Nepal.

#Brief History of Pokhara

Pokhara lies on an important old trading route between China and India. In the 17th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Kaski which was one of the Chaubisi Rajya (24 Kingdoms of Nepal, ) ruled by a branch of the Shah Dynasty. Many of the hills around Pokhara still have medieval ruins from this time. In 1786 Prithvi Narayan Shah added Pokhara into his kingdom. It had by then become an important trading place on the routes from Kathmandu to Jumla and from India to Tibet.The first settlement of the valley is theorized to have taken place when the first King of Kaski, Kulamandan Shah Khad (also called Bichitra Khan and Jagati Khan), made Batulechaur in the northern side of the valley his winter capital during the mid 14th century. 

The people settled here included Parajuli Brahmins, who were asked to look after the Bindhyabasini temple and were given some land in that locality as Birta. Dhobi Gauda was the first market center developed in Pokhara valley before the last King of Kaski brought sixteen families of Newars from Kathmandu (Bhaktapur) to develop the present day market (i.e., old market) in the 1770s. Prior to that people were settled in the peripheral hills.Pokhara was envisioned as a commercial center by the King of Kaski in the mid 18th century A.D. when Newars of Bhaktapur migrated to Pokhara, upon being invited by the king, and settled near main business locations such as Bindhyabasini temple, Nalakomukh and Bhairab Tole. Most of Pokhara, at the time, was largely inhabited by Khas (Brahmin, Chhetri, Thakuri and Dalits), Gurungs, and Magars. At present the Khas, Gurung (Tamu) and Magar form the dominant community of Pokhara. There is also a sizeable Newari population in the city. A small Muslim community is located on eastern fringes of Pokhara generally called Miya Patan. Batulechaur in the far north of Pokhara is home to the Gandharvas or Gaaineys (the tribe of the musicians).

From 1959 to 1962 approximately 3 million exiles entered Nepal from neighbouring Tibet following its annexation by China. Most of the Tibetan exiles then sought asylum in Dharamshala and other Tibetan exile communities in India. According to UNHCR, since 1989, approximately 2500 Tibetans cross the border into Nepal each year,many of whom arrive in Pokhara typically as a transit to Tibetan exile communities in India. About 50 to 60 thousand Tibetan exiles reside in Nepal, and approximately 20 thousand of the exiled Tibetans live in one of the 12 consolidated camps, eight in Kathmandu and four in and around Pokhara. The four Tibetan settlements in Pokhara are Jampaling, Paljorling, Tashi Ling, and Tashi Palkhel. These camps have evolved into well-built settlements, each with a gompa (Buddhist monastery), chorten and its particular architecture, and Tibetans have become a visible minority in the city. Until the end of the 1960s the town was only accessible by foot and it was considered even more a mystical place than Kathmandu. The first road was completed in 1968 (Siddhartha Highway) after which tourism set in and the city grew rapidly. The area along the Phewa lake, called Lakeside, has developed into one of the major tourism hubs of Nepal.

#Military & Sports and Recreation

The Pokhara region has a very strong military tradition with a significant number of its men being employed by the Nepali army.The Western Division HQ of the Nepalese Army is stationed at Bijayapur, Pokhara and its Area of Responsibility  consists of the entire Western Development Region of Nepal. Both British Army and the Indian Army have regional recruitment and pensioners facilitation camps in Pokhara. The British Gurkha Camp is located at Deep Heights in the northeast of the Pokhara city and the Indian Gorkha Pension Camp is in the south-western side of the city, Rambazar.

The sporting activities are mainly centered in the multipurpose stadium Pokhara Rangasala in Rambazar. The popular sports are football, cricket, volleyball, basketball, boxing, martial arts,tabel tennis,long tennis, etc. The Sahara Club is one of the most active organizations promoting football in the city and organizes a South Asian club-level annual tournament, The Aaha Gold Cup. Additionally, the Kaski District Football Association  organizes s Safal Pokhara Gold Cup, which is also a South Asian club-level tournament and ANFA organizes local Kaski district club-level Balram KC memorial football tournament. B-13, Sangam & LG are the power house Football club in Pokhara. There are several tennis courts and a golf course in the city. At 1100 meters, on the way, near to Sarangkot hill, high mountain sport activity, paragliding is a good attraction for tourists as well as domestic tourists for adventure activities Nearby Sarangkot hill has developed as a good attraction for adventure activities such as paragliding and skydiving. The Pokhara city marathon, high altitude marathon are some activities attracting mass participation. Adventure sports such as base jumping, paragliding, canyoning, rock climbing, bungee jumping, etc. are targeted towards tourists. 

#Economy & Education

Since the 1990s, Pokhara has experienced rapid urbanization. As a result, service-sector industries have increasingly contributed to the local economy overtaking the traditional agriculture. An effect of urbanization is seen in high real estate prices, among the highest in the country. The major contributors to the economy of Pokhara are manufacturing and service sector including tourism; agriculture and the foreign and domestic remittances. Tourism, service sector and manufacturing contributes approximately 58% to the economy, remittances about 20% and agriculture nearly 16%. Pokhara has more than eight hundred private and public high educational institutions. There are several institutions of higher learning up to the doctorate level in social sciences, business, and science and technology.