Religious Competition and Political Change in Nepal (original) (raw)

As Nepal lies between Indian and Tibetan culture, the religious culture of Nepal comprises of three major components: a clear Tibetan component in the Himalayas, a rather modern Indian component in the plains, and a tribal animistic shamanistic component in the mid-hills well mingled with the mediaeval Indian or Tibetan component. Finally the syncretic component in the Kathmandu Valley could be regarded as the fourth; here Mahayana Buddhism harmonises with the archaic as well as mediaeval forms of Hinduism. In fact, Nepalese religious culture is characterised by an ongoing mutual interaction of Hinduism, Buddhism, animism and shamanism. Such an interaction is diversely affected by an introduction of a new component or shift in the state policy caused by political change. Here I elaborate this phenomenon briefly, with a focus on Hindu-Buddhist relation.