The Nepalese civilization, a meeting point for the Indo-Aryan people of India and the Tibeto-Burmese of the Himalayas, can be traced back three thousand years. Today Nepal, with its population of 23 million, contains some of the most rugged and mountainous terrain in the world.
Nepal is divided into zones, Terai, Pahar, and Himalaya. Each of these zones has it's own characteristics with it's own ethnic group, lifestyle and agriculture.
Within the Himalaya zone is a region called Everest also known as the Khumbu. Aside from being home to the world's highest mountain, the Khumbu region is also famous for its Sherpa villages and Buddhist monasteries. Although the official religion of Nepal is Hinduism, most of the mountain people are Buddhists.
Religious beliefs are an important part of daily life. The majority of Sherpa homes have altars where photographs of the Dalai Lama and departed family loved ones can be found, along with offerings of rice, water and candles. Each morning an offering to the Buddha is carried out at the alter by a family member. Evidence of Buddhist practice can also be seen all around these mountain villages in the form of chortons, manni stones, prayer wheels and prayer flags. The Khumbu region also has many monasteries, the Tengbouche monastery being the most well known.
The main agricultural crops of the Khumbu are potatoes and buckwheat. The Sherpas, traditionally have been dependent on the herding of yak, cattle, and yak-cattle crossbreeds. Until the 1960's, most Sherpa were also dependent upon trade with Tibet and northern India. Trade still occurs today, with the exchange of grain, rice, maize, millet, and wheat between higher and lower altitude Sherpa families.
On Saturdays, the village of Namche Bazaar becomes a cultural trading center. People come from all over the region to trade and sell their goods at the outside market here. Some of the items available are corn, rice, eggs, vegetables, meat, jewelry, film, and souvenirs, climbing gear, goats, cheese, chocolate bars, carpets and general clothing. The market is also an important weekly social opportunity for the people who live great distances from each other.
Today, the Khumbu region and its economy have gone through many changes, due, primarily, to mountaineering and commercial trekking. The Sherpa are world famous for their ability to climb at high-altitudes and are employed as porters and guides for mountain expeditions, especially to Mt. Everest. The Sherpa culture as well as the land, have also been affected by the steady increase in mountaineering and tourism. Despite the impact from the outside world, the people of the Khumbu region, have held onto their traditions and their religious beliefs.
