Articles

  • 'SAFE PASSAGE UP & BACK DOWN'

    'SAFE PASSAGE UP & BACK DOWN'

    On 30 July 2026, a devastating avalanche on Broad Peak, Pakistan, claimed the lives of ten mountaineers, including Nirmal Purja, aka Nims-dai. How and why did this tragedy happen? Read Louisa Kamal's account after piecing together all the pieces of this sad puzzle.

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  • THE LEGACY OF H.E. 25th CHOGYE TRICHEN RINPOCHE

    THE LEGACY OF H.E. 25th CHOGYE TRICHEN RINPOCHE

    On the northern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, high above Budhanilkantha, on the wooded lower slopes of the Shivapuri National Park, is a large Buddhist stupa. A favourite picnic spot and TikTok site for young Nepalis, few of them are aware of its correct designation—Jamchen Vijaya Chorten—or its significance. Click on the link to learn more!

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  • PITRI PAKSHA: FORTNIGHT OF THE ANCESTORS

    PITRI PAKSHA: FORTNIGHT OF THE ANCESTORS

    According to Hindu mythology, Yama, the god of death, takes the soul of a person on the point of departing this world to pitri loka, where they remain for three generations. Once a year, Pitri Paksha (‘fortnight of the ancestors’), aka Sorha Shraddha (‘sixteen [days of] devotion’), provides an opportunity for families to pay homage to their ancestors, either in their homes, in a temple, or at a revered pilgrimage site.

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  • blowing-the-pheri

    JOGI & BLOWING THE PHERI

    The lives of the Jogi, an extreme minority ethnic group in Nepal, are intertwined with an instrument made from a blackbuck horn, known as a pheri. The Jogi believe that the spirits of their ancestors reside in the pheri and that they have a duty to 'blow the pheri' in Spring and Autumn to drive away evil and ensure good fortune in the homesteads that they visit. Read more to learn more!

    Thumnail image courtesy of Mayamitu Neupane, Global Press Journal, Nepal.

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  • guge

    NGARI TRIPTYCH PART 3: GUGE - THE LOST KINGDOM

    Part 3 of a blog, chronicling an unforgettable journey I made to three iconic locations in the Far West of Tibet in the Autumn of 2016: The Lost Kingdom of Guge. Lasting for seven centuries, at its height the Guge-Purang Kingdom spread along the whole length of the swathe to the south of the Himalayas, from Kashmir in the west to Assam in the east, and saw the ‘Second Diffusion’ or ‘Second Advancement’ of Buddhism in Tibet. Read the article to learn more about this mysterious place.

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