The spectacular snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas are, of
course, one of Nepal’s primary visitor attractions. The range takes its
name from two Nepali words: hima means snow, and lava means abode. Abode of the
snow, the tallest peaks on earth.
To the people of Nepal, they are also the abode
of the gods–many peaks are sacred to Hindus and Buddhists alike. Folk tales
and legends of the gods and their high altitude antics abound. There are plenty of stories too about the high altitude capers
of humans in these great mountains.
For decades mountaineers dreamed of scaling
the peaks, and finally, in 1950, the French expedition led by Maurice Herzog
managed to get to the top of Annapurna 1 (8,091 meters). This was the first
time anyone reached the summit of an 8,000-meter peak. The group had four-and-one-half
tons of equipment and one-and-onehalf tons of food with them. Can you imagine
how manyporters they needed? The ascent of Annapurna I marked the beginning of what has been
called the “Golden Decade of Nepal'’s 8,000 Meter Mountains”.
The really big deal, as we all know, took place in 1953, and this year we celebrate
the 46th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa’s
successful assault of Mt. Everest, which at 8,848 meters is the highest point
on earth (any school kid will tell you that).Even as this is being written, the Himal are still growing. It’s
said they’re rising at a rate of fifteen centimeters (six inches) a year.
If you’re into the theory of plate tectonics, you know that the Indian
subcontinent crashed into Asia some one-and-one-half million years ago. Geologically
speaking, this is recent history.Before the big event (if you think the 1934 earthquake was bad,
you would not have wanted to be around back then), the great rivers which flow
through Nepal merrily made their way to the Sea of Tethys. The rivers did not
let the upstart mountains get in their way, but kept to their original courses
– the mountains simply had to grow up around them. But the Sea of Tethys
did not fare as well. In fact, it disappeared. And where did it go? For the
answer we must turn to the Hindu religion.
