Historical review of natural and cultural heritage of paradise Pokhara

Introduction

Pokhara valley is located in the central part of Nepal, the beautiful country, tourist based country, , the beautiful country, tourist based country, . Its elevation ranges from less than 600 meters (as the lowest) at Bhimad to 1,300 meters (as the highest) at Kharapani. The valley slopes from North-West to South- East. Consequently, all the water drains out through Seti river stream towards South-East. Regarding the formation of Pokhara valley on the basis of the "Plate Tectonic Theory,” it is accepted that by 180 million years ago, lava came up between the plates pushing them apart. "Pangoea" first split into northern part (Gondana) with "Tethys Sea" in between. The two land masses continued to split forming the present continents. Of these drifting continents, the Indian plate moved towards the Asian Plate. As per public display of Annapurna Historical Museum located in Prithvi Narayan Campus in Pokhara the Himalayas were formed in this way.

Gurung (1969), referring to the work of Swiss geologist Tony Hagen, mentions that the valley is formed after the upheaval of Mahabharata Range as a form of the tectonic depression and later filled by materials downward by surface outflow of surrounding mountains. Gurung (1969-

70) further reveals that the central part of the valley floor was filled by glacio-fluviatile deposits of Late Pleistocene glaciations over the former tectonic  depression.  The  adjacent  tributaries  of  trunk  channel  wave were dammed by Seti valley Train, and numerous lakes were originated’ (Gurung 1969 as cited in Paudel 1988, p 92).

The nature of Pokhara has exposed the unique panoramic view of snow- clad mountains, lakes, gorges of Seti River, caves, green hills, and waterfalls, which make the visitors quite fascinated. Similarly, from historical, religious and cultural points of view, Pokhara is enriched with temples

and monuments, monasteries and stupas along with other interesting and important spots which provide both knowledge and recreation. The unlimited blending of both natural and cultural attractions in Pokhara has made this place one of the most favorable tourist destinations, which is often admired as the paradise in the earth. From the natural aesthetic perspective, Pokhara is known as ‘Hanging Paradise on Earth’ (Shakya

1995, p 1). Its glimpse can be viewed in figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 A sketch with various natural and cultural heritages in

Pokhara

 

Source: Developed by author

Besides the enormous potentials of natural and cultural heritages as marked in figure 2.1, the vicinity of Pokhara valley offers visitors both short trekking and longer trekking to Mustang, Manang, Baglung, Myagdi and Annapurna Base camp in the hilly and the Himalayan regions. These trekkings, no doubt, are enjoyable, romantic and recreational while watching and snapping the enchanting views of natural boon and cultural vividness. However, the principal focus of this chapter is to shade light on the natural and cultural heritages in Pokhara and its historical context. All information of this chapter is derived from the review of literature and the first hand observation of the author who is himself the native of Pokhara.