Hinduism in Nepal

Nepal held the unique status of being the world’s only Hindu kingdom until the collapse of its centuries-old Hindu monarchy in 2006. The idea of Nepal as the asal Hindustan, or “pure land of Hindus” (Stiller 1989, cited under Hindu Monarchy, Polity, and Collapse), was promoted by the political unifier of modern Nepal, Prithvi Narayan Shah, in the eighteenth century but the seeds for this were planted much earlier. Such claims, which persisted well into the modern period, were grounded in the fact that Nepal was geographically and politically isolated, the latter being reinforced by its rulers’ strict policy of isolationism. Nepal thus avoided both Muslim and British rule, which transformed much of the rest of the Indian subcontinent. In contrast, in the oft-quoted words of the French Indologist Sylvain Lévi, Nepal was “India in the making” (Lévi 1905–1908, p. 28, cited under General Overviews). That is, Nepal preserved ancient features of Hindu, Buddhist, and tantric religion that were lost or otherwise transformed elsewhere on the Indian subcontinent. These included animal sacrifice, tantric rituals that abound in the Kathmandu Valley, and the unique syncretism between Hinduism and Buddhism, all of which remain in ample evidence in Nepal today. Historically, Nepal referred only to the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding environs. This was the domain of the Newars, the indigenous inhabitants of the Valley’s medieval Three Kingdoms (Kathmandu, Lalitpur/Patan, and Bhaktapur). Newars are urban dwellers with their own dual caste system that recognizes a hierarchy for both Newar Hindus and Buddhists, who are not readily categorizable as such because many Newars worship both Hindu and Buddhist deities and participate in a variety of rituals. Newar religion is also strongly influenced by Tantrism and tantric Hindu Śākta (Goddess) elements and practices permeate the Kathmandu Valley, where numerous fierce goddesses figure prominently. In contrast to Newar Hinduism and these tantric influences, there is another form of Hinduism practiced in Nepal known as Parbatiyā Hinduism. Parbatiyā (also known today as Khas-Arya) refers to the Dalit and high-caste Hindus (Brahmins and Kshatriyas, locally known in Nepal as Bahuns and Chetris) who hail from the hills outside of the Kathmandu Valley, often referred to in English nowadays as Hill Hindus. With Gorkha king Prithvi Narayan Shah’s defeat of the Valley in the eighteenth century, Parbatiyā Hindus introduced a more Brahmanical form of Hinduism into Nepal that is derived from and parallels Brahmanical Hindu formations in India. Parbatiyā and Newar forms of Hinduism are neither identical nor entirely distinct. Parbatiyā Hindus and Parbatiyā Hinduism—namely, the ruling elite and their religion, which has been fundamental to legitimating their rule—have hegemonic status in modern Nepal. The declaration of Nepal as a secular republic in 2006 after the collapse of the Hindu monarchy in the aftermath of the Maoist insurgency (1996–2006) affords a new opportunity and lens through which to examine Hinduism in Nepal and its role in Nepali society, culture, and politics moving forward.