Bandipur - a Quaint Town of Nepal

Bandipur is one of the most beautiful towns, where there is a living museum of Newari culture. A village where there is a crowning ridge and its main street lined with the traditional row houses. There is a lot of preserved Newari cultures with the cafes and lodges. It is famous for historical temples with the attractive 18th century architecture and outdoor dining which has got distinctly European feel.

Bandipur is a hilltop town which is located in Tanahu District, Gandaki zone of Nepal. Bandipur is famous for the preserved, old time cultural atmosphere. It has increasingly dragged the attention of tourist. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census, it had a population of 9952 people residing in 1929 individual households. Bandipur was the trade by Newari traders from Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu valley.

There are many places which can be visited in Bandipur Bazaar. Like the famous historical Temple khadga Devi which is one of the most revered temples in Bandipur. It is opened once in a year on the day of Phulpati during the festival of Dashain. Another famous place is the Bindabasini temple which is located on the main bazaar area and it is constructed in the pagoda style. On the New Year the Newari community worship this goddess and wish to be happy for the upcoming future. There are also many temples like Chandithan, Mahalaxmi temple, Narayan Temple etc. the other places like Tundikhel, surrounding areas, Paharpani Mahadev, Purano kot and Tandrang Tundrung are some of the most beautiful places makes Bandipur the most attractive one.

Bandipur is also famous because we can experience our old culture which has been lost in this 21st century and to enjoy the natural beauty of Nepal and lifestyle of the ethnic newar community. It also allow us to observe how people are living in such situation where there is no such technology available. It provides the quality accommodation in hotels and resort in Bandipur. Those who are the budget travelers, home stay is available in several old newar homes that provide bed and breakfast. Bandipur is most important place for tourist to visit.

ETHNIC NEWARI COMMUNITY IN BANDIPUR

As, Many Newari people lives in Bandipur they have their own cultural values, norms, tradition, rules and regulations. Newari community distinct from all the other ethnic groups of Nepal. Newars are from linguistic and cultural community. In Bandipur, the Newars are primarily farmers and traders as the Bandipur valley had the fertile land which are mainly suitable for rice cultivation and also trade between India and China. The culture used in newar is called Nepal bhasa, commonly known as Newari and has its own rich literature. The people living in Bandipur are Buddhist who follow their main religion Buddhism. The highest class is obviously the priest classes that are Shakya and Bajracharya. The people living in Bandipur follows all the traditions which are included in Newari Community.

In Bandipur, the people celebrates all the festival very joyfully and lovingly. The main Festival is Dashain when they worship the goddess Durga. In Newar community, all the people love to get together with their relatives and friends. They like to have the feeling of the belongings, brotherhood and friendships. Mostly the newar community people like to have alcohols like beer, the special drink named CHYANG which is made by the rice and another special drink THO. These types of drinks are served in the special occasions like get-together and other festivals like Dashain, Tihar etc. in each and every special occasion they celebrate and throw a party called BHOJ. The main type of party is Sukuli Bhoj. One of the most special festivals of Newari community is Indra Jatra which is celebrated by worshipping the living Goddess Kumari where the God Ganesh and the god Bhairav are also worshipped. It is one of the most special festivals celebrated among the Newari community. In this festival mainly, the Kumari are from the Shakya community.

There are many foods which are mainly made in the special occasion like Bara, Samaya baji, Chhoela, Chatamari etc. These are mainly famous in Bandipur Bazaar where each and every famous dishes are prepared by every restaurants. Every tourist like to taste the special dishes in Bandipur. The women there prepare delicious foods which is loved by every visitors. In Bandipur there are lots of Riverside so the fishes are also special called sukeko maccha. These all are the special dishes which are really delicious and good for the health. And lots of the tourist love the food which are famous in Newari community.

OBJECTIVES

1. To know about social factor and economic environment.
2. To fulfil the requirement for field, visit according to the curriculum.
3. To perform a survey regarding to topic.
4. To enhance personal skills.
5. To create mass awareness.
6. To empower youth forces for creating social engagement.
7. To add awareness among the youths on importance of technical skill sets for individual growth.
8. To arrange pre-program orientation to village students.
9. To study the nature, scope, extension and magnitude of case work in the organization.

METHODOLOGIES:

Survey

Survey is the act to examine some specific purpose and to inspect or consider the reviews and survey research is the collection of data attained by asking individuals questions by direct contact with peoples, through questionnaire or through online. Conducting survey is the primary research, where first step is to collect the first hand data. The information collected may also be accessed subsequently by other parties in secondary research. Survey research is used to gather the opinions, beliefs and feelings of selected groups of individuals, often chosen for demographic sampling. These demographics include age, gender, ethnicity or income levels. Common types OD surveys include interviews and questionnaires, which comprises of multiple choice questionnaires, opinions and polls. Now-a-days questionnaires are distributed through mails surveys, group administered questionnaires or in -person drop-offs. Interviews can be hold in person or over the phone and are often a more personal form of research than questionnaires. Survey research is used academia, government and business. Governments use research surveys to learn about their population to help better serve its citizens, while political candidates use survey research to gauge the preferences and opinions of voters. In academic, surveys are applied in fields like demographics, statistics and social research.

Field Visit

A field trip is an excursion which is carried out for educational and observational purpose such as museum, a factory, or a historical site. It is an expedition as by group of students or research works, to study something at first hand. It is a trip away from the classroom to permit the gathering of data at first hand. Field visit is very important for the students and for every people's life.

Students are likely have an educational experience that they never could have had in the classroom. Field trips help students interact with what they are learning. The experience goes beyond reading about a concept; students are able to see it, manipulate it or participate in it physically. Students are able to see elements with their eyes rather than reading about it and believing what they are told because it's in print. Visiting a farm and milking a real cow is much more powerful than reading about milking a cow. Field trips provide entertainment for students. They often serve as a powerful motivator for students, stirring up excitement as the trip nears. Breaking away from the routine provides kids with a refresher that might make them more focused back in the classroom. Learning and fun make a great combination. Field trips take the book learning from the classroom and extend it to life. Students often question the importance of topics they study in class.

While field trips take a great deal of work and energy, broadening the horizons of the students is worth it. In our country ever school should organize educational tours so that it can practically enhance the skill of students.

Observation

Observation is one of the process of methodologies which is most essential while preparing report. Observation is a systematic data collection approach. Researchers use all their senses to examine people in natural settings or naturally occurring situations. Observation of a field setting involves: prolonged engagement in a setting or social situation.

There are six types observation which are required for every report making. These observation helps to define our objective and what we have we observed through the activities. The main types of observation are listed below:

1. Casual and scientific observation: An observation with the casual involves observing the right thing at right place and also at the right time by a matter of chance or by luck whereas a scientific observation means the use of the tools of the measurement.
2. Natural Observation: In this type of observation no efforts are made to bring any type of change in the behavior of the observation. It involves the behavior in the normal setting in this type of observation.
3. Subjective and Objective observation: All the observation contains the two main components which are subject and the object. The subject refers to the observer whereas the object refers to the activity or the type of operation which is being observed.
4. Direct and Indirect observation: In direct method of observation the persons come to know how the observer is physically present in which type of situation is he present. Here indirect observation involves studies of mechanical recording by some of other means like electronic or photographic.
5. Controlled and Non Controlled observation: Controlled observation means the type of observation in which some of the external forces influence and such observation rarely lead to some of the improvement in the precision research results. Non controlled observation are made in the natural environment and reverse to the controlled observation.

Activities

Three places were selected as the sites of the field visit conducted by college management: Ghale gaun, Bandipur, Gorkha. Due to the heavy rainfall we could not visit Ghale gaun and Gorkha because of high risk of landslide. In this field visit, I was assigned to do various activities for the student welfare in Bandipur village. I got chance to expose my talent, skill and knowledge fulfilling the curriculum requirement of our course. As field visit is very important for every student life and every students should go in different places every year.

In Bandipur, first day we went to silkworm industry. There we learned the process of how silk is made and what are the different stages for producing silk. We also learned about the products made out of silk which is one of the source for the economic activities in that village. Second day, we went to shree bhanu primary secondary school where we set up library for the student, painted the classroom and distributed them with the new notebooks which are required for the studies. We conducted various activities which are related with entertainment and studies. We also conducted basic hygiene classes including techniques for brushing, washing hands and personal cleanness. We were also involved in recreational activities with the student by engaging them in outdoor games like football and different ice-breaking games.

In simple words, it can be said that theory without practice is empty and practice without theory is meaningless.

Learning

An important part of learning is writing down the findings, experiences, ideas, and other thoughts during the course in a so-called learning report. A learning report thus supports your professional learning and personal growth.

Our visit to bandipur village taught us a great deal about the miserable lives of the students residing there. In this field visit I learned many things on various factor which are the social factor and the economic factor of the people living in that valley. As the social factor includes the factors which affects the lifestyle such as religion, family or wealth. These can change over time. In Bandipur the social factor has influenced individual personality, attitudes and lifestyle.

When we talk about the growth of a country, we take various factors into consideration and education is one of them. Being a part of this educational visit, I was given a chance to teach and interact with the village children. In bandipur, I went to shree bhanu higher secondary school of Bandipur where I came to know that there is only one private school and many government school. There is less education facilities and most of the time children are demotivated to attend school on regular basis because of distance. The lack of basic equipment and facilities necessary in schools is also a major drawback.

We visited to silk worm industries and learn the process of how silk is manufactured.

The primary aim of this visit was to create a knowledgeable and empowered rural Nepal through education and as a student this helped me gain a lot of knowledge and new experiences. We even distributed new textbooks to the students there to enable them study. Infrastructure also plays a very significant role in the learning process. None of us can study in untidy surroundings. So to take a step forward towards this we painted the rural classrooms and gave them a completely new look so as to create an environment and bring in the students the enthusiasm to study.

It was altogether an amazing and wonderful experience that was very knowledgeable.

CONCLUSION

After conducting the survey, I get to understand more about the education and knowledge about small scale industries. In Bandipur, we visited silk worm industry and other educational institution. There are different industries that runs with in purpose to accomplish certain tasks or to achieve the goals. Every industries have its own structure and each members are assigned with their roles according to their experience and qualifications.

In Bandipur, we also visited shree bhanu secondary primary school which was established in 1950s. There is only one private school and different government school. The lack of equipment and education facilities is a major drawback which bring obstacles in development of bandipur. Lack of proper transportation facilities demotivate the children to go school in regular basis. There is no proper connectivity from one place to another. But with the proper implementation of government plans and local participation there can be increment of progressive changes.

Hence, it was a great pleasure to do social activities at Bandipur as it was favorable place for our report.