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The potter's choice There was once a potter, who was a great devotee of the lord Shiva. Once the lord, impressed by the potters actions granted him a wish. The potter wished that all the pots he made would never break. The lord granted him the wish, smiling mysteriously. The potter tested the promised and he found out that his wish had indeed been fulfilled. Full story

The King who did not fear death There was once a philosopher king, Yoga Narendra Malla,who believed that he was immortal. So, to convince people about his belief he installed a statue of himself in front of his palace. The statue had a naga forming a canopy over his head and a bird on top of the nagas head, which looked as if it was about to fly. The statue was devoted in prayer to taleju, the goddess of Patan state. Then the king proclaimed that as long as the bird perched on top of the naga, his subjects should know that he was still alive. Full story

Why death is not seen? It is believed that death was a visible body. When the time for one to die would come, death would come to the person and the person would accept to go to the Yamaloka (the place for the dead). Death was thus accepted and was celebrated. Full story

The folklore has it that Seti the white river, and Kali the black river, that flow from Jomsom are ... Full story

Why the moon has ascending and descending nodes? The story goes, that the moon was very handsome, attractive and enjoyed its life with 28 constellations. One day, he saw Ganesh and laughed at his appearance, but Ganesh so humiliated cursed the moon that he should be destroyed by tuberculosis. The curse worked immediately with the moon thinner and darker every day. The worried moon went to Shiva who advised him to go and apologise to Ganesh. Full story

Why the stone Ammonite fossils (shaligram), the Basil Plant (tulasi) and the Banyan Tree (pipal) are holy in Nepal? The story goes that in earliest times Britasura was a very powerful demon. He conducted a reign of terror in which the troubled people were scared to death. Even the most powerful gods including Lord Shiva were no match for him when it came to fighting. Britasura was to be killed at any cost but he wouldn t die as long as the chastity of his wife, Brinda, remained intact. Full story

Why Ganesh is elephant headed? Ganesh is the elephant-headed god who is in the forefront of all worship. As the remover of all sorts of obstacles no ritual is undertaken without worshipping him first. This is what the myth has to say about his strange looking human body. Full story

ASAN: This is a place to discover a new world of shopping in open markets. A visual feast is in Asan where rice, lentils, peas, vegetables, oils, clothes, and everyday commodities are sold. The place is usually very crowded during festival seasons such as Dashain and Tihar. Full story

Birgunj is a sub-metropolitan municipality and a border town in southern Nepal. It lies 190 km west of the capital Kathmandu. It is the biggest city of Narayani zone and headquater of Parsa district. Situated about 3 Km from the Indian northern border Raxaul, Birgunj is a main entry point to Nepal from India through Patna and Calcutta. Thus, it is also known as the gateway to Nepal. The town has significant economic importance for Nepal as a large part of goods enter Nepal through Birganj via Raxaul on the Indian side and it is a major business centre of Nepal, especially for trade with India. With many multi lingual and multi ethnic groups the population of Birgunj is about three hundred thousand (300,000). There are several languages spoken in the town including Bhojpuri, Nepali, Maithili, Newari, Marwari and Hindi. Full story

Biratnagar is Nepal’s second biggest city which is located near the south-eastern border to India. It is known by agriculture, commerce and industry. Biratnagar is well-known for Nepal's first large scale industry, the Biratnagar Jute Mills established in 1936. Today, the city has some of the largest industrial undertakings in the country. It is Nepal's second biggest city which is believed to be the capital of language, culture and politics of the country. Full story