पथ के साथी

Monday, April 5, 2010

Kathmandu


Mahavir Singh
Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. It is situated in the hills of Himalayas in the bowl-shaped valley in central Nepal surrounded by four major mountains - Shivpuri, Phoolchowki, Nagarjuna and Chandragiri. Kathmandu is a very old and peaceful city. The population of Kathmandu is around 8 lakhs - mainly Hindus and Buddhists, however Nepal is a secular republic now Main source of Kathmandu’s economy is tourism.
Nepal has maximum number of temples as regards population vs temple density is concerned. Pashupati Nath temple is a worth visit site. There are so many other Hindu and Boddhist temples also. Hindus there are ritualistic and fundamentalist and offer a let of animal sacrifice to Gods during festivals.
Nepal is very rich in two things – second largest country as regards water resources is concerned. It receives second highest rain fall during the year – only less than Brazil, probably. However more than 95% of its water is drained out as there are no dams, and people experience a lot of water shortage through out the year. Despite a heavy rainfall Nepal produces approximately 200 mega watts of electricity – mostly hydro electricity. Basically due to lack of reservoirs the electricity generated in the rainy season itself, cannot be stored and people experience more than 12 hours power cut every day even in the capital city itself. Their total power consumption is around 800 mega watts.
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