Dolpo
Dolpo
डोल्पो • དོལ་པོ | ||
|---|---|---|
District Dolpa District | | |
Dolpo (
The Dolpo are generally adherents of Bon, a religion whose origins predate Buddhism but whose modern form is officially accepted as a fifth school of Tibetan Buddhism. The remote region has preserved its Tibetan culture in relatively pure form, making it attractive to Westerners. Dolpa was the location for the 1999 Oscar-nominated film Himalaya and more recently for the German documentary Dolpo Tulku.
In spite of the near inaccessibility of the region and tourism restrictions for the more remote parts, Dolpa is a popular destination for
Geography
Dolpo is geologically part of the sedimentary Tibetan-Tethys zone. It is surrounded by Himalayan mountain chains including the Dhaulagiri (8,172 metres (26,811 ft)). These cloud barriers cause a semi-arid climate, with reported annual precipitations of less than 500 millimetres (20 in).[1]: 20
The region is historically divided into four valleys: Tsharka ("good growing-place"), Tarap ("auspicious excellent"), Panzang ("abode of monks"), and Nangkhong ("innermost place").[1]: 1 They constitute four of the seven village development committees (VDCs) that were created in 1975.[1]: 114 The valleys south of the watershed drain into the Bheri River. The VDCs in this area are (roughly from east to west):
The northern valleys between the watershed and Tibet drain westward by the Langu River, a tributary of the
Dolpo can be roughly divided into four valleys, each of which is represented since 1975 by a village development committee (VDC): Dho (Tarap Valley), Saldang (Nankhong Valley, the most populous[1]: 114 ), Tinje (Panzang Valley), and Chharka (Tsharka Valley).[1]: 105 There are also smaller VDCs at Bhijer, Mukot and Phoksundo.[2]
Agriculture is possible at heights of 3,800 to 4,180 metres (12,470 to 13,710 ft) (villages of Shimen Panzang Valley and Chharka, respectively) but often requires irrigation.
Dolpo makes up the greatest part of the area of the Dolpa District, but the district's population is concentrated in the lower southern parts, where also most of the VDCs are located.
Trade
Local products are not sufficient to guarantee survival. The Dolpo traditionally trade salt from Tibet to the lower parts of Nepal, where they maintain netsang (literally "nesting place") relationships, first described by Kenneth M. Bauer.[1][4] According to Bauer, each family in Dolpo has netsang partners in most villages of Dolpo District, a network that facilitates travel as well as trade.[1]: 41 In return for salt, the netsang provide grain and shelter. The netsang partners trade with each other on preferential terms, based on family relations that may last for several generations. Recent changes such as the easy availability of salt from other regions and the closed border with Tibet have put the netsang system under pressure.[4]
History
Dolpo appears in historical records since c. 8th century. In the time from the 6th century to the 8th century the Tibetan
During the reign of the Ya-rtse king A-sog-lde around 1253 both Dolpo and Serib were lost to the ruler of Gungthang, mGon po lde. The latter then reunited both the Dolpo and Serib and classified them among three provinces of mNga' ris. It is also known from historical documents that Mongolian troops reached Dolpo to conquer this province when they conquered many parts of Tibet and finally handed over the power to the ruler of the
In the 14th century Dolpo fell under its eastern neighbor the
For some time between the 15th century (1440?) and the 16th century, Dolpo was temporarily independent and ruled by a king from the Ra nag dynasty.
In 1769, the Gorkhas conquered Kathmandu and established the Kingdom of Nepal, which would soon reach more or less the country's modern extent. In 1789, Nepal swallowed the Lo kingdom and with it Dolpo. The kingdom's attempt to wrest nominal suzerainty over Tibet from China ended in a massive Chinese intervention that left Nepal paying tribute to China.
The region in film
The 1999 French-Nepalese movie Himalaya, which gives insight into the local customs, was the first Nepalese film to be nominated for an Oscar award and also a huge success in Nepal itself, drawing the country's attention to the region. Kenneth M. Bauer notes that the film's authenticity was in large part artificial, as dialogues mixed the standard Tibetan of the professional actors with the villagers' local dialects and all external influences in the region (such as clothes, Maoists and tourists) were hidden. He also describes the impact which the film had on the region as an employer.[1]: 169–186
The 2009 documentary
Notable people
- Orgyan Chokyi, hermitess[6]
- Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Bauer 2004.
- ^ a b Discover Dolpa Region – Great Himalayan Trail Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Map of Nepal – Dolpa District.
- ^ a b Bauer 2002
- ^ dolpa tulku – film website.
- ISBN 0-19-515298-0.
Bibliography
- Bauer, Kenneth M. (2002). "The cultural ecology of yak production in Dolpa, West Nepal". In Jianlin H.; Richard C.; Hanotte O.; McVeigh C.; Rege J.E.O. (eds.). Yak production in central Asian highlands. Proceedings of the Third International Congress on Yak held in Lhasa, P.R. China, 4–9 September 2000 (PDF). Nairobi: International Livestock Research Institute. pp. 87–94. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011.
- Bauer, Kenneth M. (2004). High frontiers : Dolpa and the changing world of Himalayan pastoralists. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12390-7.
- Matthiessen, Peter (1978). The Snow Leopard. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-14-310551-0.
- Snellgrove, David L. (1967). Four Lamas of Dolpa: Tibetan Biographies. London: Bruno Cassirer. ISBN 978-0-85181-024-9.
- Schaeffer, Kurtis R. (2004). Himalayan Hermitess: The Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Nun. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515299-9.
- Stearns, Cyrus (1999). The Buddha from Dolpa: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpa Sherab Gyaltsen. Albany: SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-4192-3.
- Pauler, Gerda (2015). Dolpo – People and Landscape. Sheffield: Vertebrate Graphics. ISBN 978-1-898573-96-8.
External links
- People of Dolpo – a photo blog on the people of Dolpo.
- Through the Land of Dolpa: A Trek in Western Nepal
- From Rara lake to Phoksumdo: A trek through Dolpo.
- Upper Dolpa: High Passes to Magic Places – travelogue by Carsten Nebel (2008), with link to a gallery.
- Upper Dolpo Trek
- carstennebel's channel on YouTube– includes several high-quality short videos showing various aspects of Dolpa's culture and landscape.
- Himalayan Dolpa Healing Project.
- Dolpa Society – Nepal-based organization for the preservation and development of Dolpa.
- Dolpo Tulku Return to the Himalayas on YouTube– film trailer with impressive views of landscape and religious ceremonies.