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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Gorkha: A Symbol of Unity & Beauty

Friends! Do you have any special wish or dream? Go to the temple of Manakamana in Gorkha and pray to the Goddess. She will make your dream come true. The cable car service from Cheres to Manakamana not only entertains us, but also gives us a lot of excitement and pleasure.
Gorkha, the ancestral home of the Shah dynasty, is situated at a distance of 131 kilometers to the west of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, at an altitude of 1135 meters. Scholars believe that the district is named after the Hindu deity Gorakhnath. According to another source, the district had many kharkas or grasslands and the name Gokha developed as a corrupted form of kharka.
The total area of the district is 3610 square kilometers. The total population, according to the National Census 2001 AD, is 2,88,134 consisting of 1,34,407 males and 1,53,727 females. In this district sourrounded by Dhading in the east Tanahun to the south, Manang and Mustang to the west, and Tibet to the north, there are 66 village development committees and one municipality.
The old Royal Palace of King Prithvi Narayan Shah is situated on the top of a hill some thirty minutes walk from the main town. The Gorkha Durbar is visible from all around amidst the panoramic views of the surrounding valleys and the Manaslu range. The small town of Gorkha is famous as the original place of the Gorkha soldiers, known throughout the world for their bravery.
The Gurung and Ghale settlements in the northern part of the district really draw the attention of the tourists. Every year, a large number of domestic and foreign tourists visit the district to view its beauty, study its history, and express their wishes to Goddess Manakamana.
The district has been blessed by nature with fertile soil and very friendly environment for the growth of fruits and vegetables. The oranges of Gorkha are world-famous.

Dr. Achhyut Mani Acharya

A medicine man, visiting seven temples in seven daybreaks? How does it sound? There is more to come. With stethoscope and surgical instruments at hand, he recites Gita and picks invaluable spiritual and philosophical teachings of the great Lord Krishna. "I don?t eat anything till I feed corns to the bevy of pigeons that visit my courtyard every morning." This is his love for souls; this is his faith in the divinity of creation.
Dr. Achhyut Mani Acharya, a sixty six years old pediatrician, is a complex book in himself. He has so many inspiring facets of his personality. This is how he recollects his early life.
"I passed my babyhood in and around Chabahil, playing with lifelong friends like Ramesh Vikal and Vinod Dhungana. I recollect how the latter stole a coin from his father and fed bread to his group, when we were studying together at Padmodaya High School. Later, his father caught and named us "Pauroti gunda" (bread pirate)

" I lost my mother when I was two. I was never intimate with my father. Till I was grown up, I never knew who my father was. Once I even beat a man for asking me about my father when I believed, I had no any father. I used to call my father Dai and did not know that he was my progenitor. Emotionally too, we were never close. My grandmother took all my care and inspired me to pine for something great in life. She is the source of all my intellectual and spiritual health. She gave me the Gita which taught me how to look at the world."
"That was a wonderful time. It was haven. Although we lived in poverty and scarcity, we all knew and loved each other. True equality prevailed then. Everyone was everyone's near and dear one. The Bagmati carried pure water, where we would swim and quench our thirst. We could even pick up coins if they fell in it. Compare it with today's Bagmati. Impossible!"

"I had a literary talent but my profession as a doctor didn?t allow me to nurture it. Bal Krishna Sama gave me an award once and called me 'future poet'. Laxmi Prasad Devkota was my teacher and I used to pass times hearing his poems. Bhimnidhi Tiwari is another name, who encouraged me in literature.
Dr. Achyt loves old people and children. A large portion of his earning goes to the orphanages and old age care centers around the city. He visits them regularly, examines and treats them free of cost, distributes food, sweets and clothing.
He does not believe in accumulation of wealth. Spiritual fulfillment is in his priority. He believes that our great cultural and spiritual legacies should not corrode. Life, like the one we see in the west, is monotonous and tedious, because it has no spirituality in it, he believes. Life is a divine gift to do something for the country, for the family and for the society. Wealth is ephemeral, earn name and fame though the service of humanity. Learn to be happy with the little you have.