Dolpo
Encyclopedia
Dolpo is a high-altitude culturally Tibetan
region in the upper part of the Dolpa District
of western Nepal
, bordered in the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region
of China
. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park
. The sparse, agro-pastoral
population, known as Dolpopa in standard Tibetan
and Dhol-wa in the local dialect, is connected to the rest of Nepal via Jufal
airport, which can be reached in three days by horse. There are no precise population numbers for the region, with estimates including less than 5,000 and 18,000
The Dolpopa are generally adherents of Bön, a religion whose origins predate Buddhism
but whose modern form is officially accepted as the fifth school of Tibetan Buddhism
. The remote region has preserved its Tibetan culture in relatively pure form, making it attractive to Westerners. Dolpo was the location for the 1999 Oscar-nominated film Himalaya
, and more recently for the German documentary Dolpo Tulku.
In spite of the near inaccessibility of the region and tourism restrictions for the more remote parts, Dolpo is a popular destination for trekking tourism.
(8172 metres (26,811 ft)). These cloud barriers cause a semi-arid climate, with reported annual precipitations of less than 500 millimetres (19.7 in).
The region is historically divided into four valleys: Tsharka ("good growing-place"), Tarap ("auspicious excellent"), Panzang ("abode of monks"), and Nangkhong ("innermost place"). They constitute four of the seven village development committees (VDCs) that were created in 1975. The valleys south of the watershed drain into the Bheri River
. The VDCs in this area are (roughly from east to west):
The northern valleys between the watershed and Tibet drain westward by the Langu River, a tributary of the Karnali River via the Mugu Karnali. The VDCs in this area are:
Dolpo can be roughly divided into four valleys, each of which is represented since 1975 by a village development committee (VDC): Dho
(Tarap Valley), Saldang
(Nankhong Valley, the most populous), Tinje
(Panzang Valley), and Chharka
(Tsharka Valley). There are also smaller VDCs at Bhijer
, Mukot
and Phoksundo
.
Agriculture is possible at heights of 3800 to 4180 m (12,467.2 to 13,713.9 ft) (villages of Shimen Panzang Valley and Chharka, respectively) but often requires irrigation. Apart from barley
, crops include buckwheat
, millet
, mustard
, wheat
, potatoes, radish
es, and spinach
. Similar to transhumance in the Alps
, the population migrates between villages and high-lying (4000 to 5000 m (13,123.4 to 16,404.2 ft)) summer pastures, in a lifestyle referred to as samadrok (roughly "farming nomads").
Dolpo makes up the greatest part of the area of the Dolpa District, but the district's population is concentrated in the lower southern parts, where also most of the VDCs are located.
dynasty conquered most Tibetan-speaking territories. This seems to have caused a southward migration towards Dolpo and the peripheral areas along the upper Kali Gandaki River (Lo and Serib). In 842, Tibet fell apart, and Dolpo fell under the kingdom of Purang
. Purang and Dolpo became temporarily part of the kingdom of Guge
in the 10th century, but soon became separate again when King sKyid lde Nyi ma mgon divided Guge among his three sons.
During the reign of the Ya-rtse king A-sog-lde around 1253 both Dolpo and Serib were lost to the ruler of Gungthang, mGon po lde. The latter then reunited both the Dolpo and Serib and classified them among one of three provinces of mNga' ris. It is also known from historical documents that Mongolian troops reached Dolpo to conquer this province when they conquered many parts of Tibet and finally handed over the power to the ruler of the Sakya
period.
In the 14th century Dolpo fell under its eastern neighbor the Kingdom of Lo, which controlled the trans-Himalayan trade route through the Kali Gandaki Gorge
. The Dolpopa had to pay tax and travel to Lo Monthang to provide manual labor.
For some time between the 15th century (1440?) and the 16th century, Dolpo was temporarily independent and ruled by a king from the Ra nag dynasty.
In 1769, the Gorkha
s conquered Kathmandu and established the Kingdom of Nepal, which would soon reach more or less the country's modern extent. In 1789, Nepal swallowed the Lo kingdom and with it Dolpo. The kingdom's attempt to wrest nominal suzerainty over Tibet from China ended in a massive Chinese intervention that left Nepal paying tribute to China.
, which gives insight into the local customs, was the first Nepalese film to be nominated for an Oscar award and also a huge success in Nepal itself, drawing the country's attention to the region. Kenneth M. Bauer notes that the film's authenticity was in large part artificial, as dialogues mixed the standard Tibetan of the professional actors with the villagers' local dialects and all external influences in the region (such as clothes, Maoists and tourists) were hidden. He also describes the impact which the film had on the region as an employer.
The 2009 documentary Dolpo Tulku accompanies Sherap Sangpo (born 1981 in the Tarap Valley) on his journey from India back to his home region and his first steps as a Buddhist spiritual leader of the Dolpopa. At the age of ten, he had pilgrimaged to India and after meeting the Dalai Lama had decided to become a monk. In Ka-Nying Monastery
in Kathmandu he was soon recognized as the reincarnation of Lama Nyinchung and sent to Namdroling Monastery
in Karnataka
. After 16 years in southern India his education was finished, and in 2008 he returned to his home region to take over the responsibilities of his predecessor as a Buddhist spiritual leader of the Dolpopa and in particular the monasteries in Dho-Tarap, Namgung and Saldang.
Tibetan culture
Tibetan culture developed under the influence of a number of factors. Contact with neighboring countries and cultures- including Nepal, India and China - have influenced the development of Tibetan culture, but the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinctive local...
region in the upper part of the Dolpa District
Dolpa District
-Geography:Dolpa is the largest district of Nepal covering 5.36% of the total landmass of the country. Located between 28°24’ N - 29°43’ N latitude, and 82°24’ E - 83°38’ E longitude, the elevation in Dolpa ranges from above sea level...
of western Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, bordered in the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....
of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park
Shey Phoksundo National Park
Shey Phoksundo National Park is the largest and only trans-Himalayan National Park in Nepal. It covers an area of in the districts of Dolpa and Mugu in the northwestern part of the country....
. The sparse, agro-pastoral
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
population, known as Dolpopa in standard Tibetan
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
and Dhol-wa in the local dialect, is connected to the rest of Nepal via Jufal
Jufal
Jufal or Juphal is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 1,513 persons living in 300 individual households....
airport, which can be reached in three days by horse. There are no precise population numbers for the region, with estimates including less than 5,000 and 18,000
The Dolpopa are generally adherents of Bön, a religion whose origins predate Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
but whose modern form is officially accepted as the fifth school of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
. The remote region has preserved its Tibetan culture in relatively pure form, making it attractive to Westerners. Dolpo was the location for the 1999 Oscar-nominated film Himalaya
Himalaya (film)
Himalaya , also known as Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef and as Caravan, is a 1999 Nepalese movie directed by Eric Valli and was funded through France-based corporations. It was the first Nepalese film to be nominated in the Best Foreign Film category at the 72nd Academy Awards.Himalaya is a story...
, and more recently for the German documentary Dolpo Tulku.
In spite of the near inaccessibility of the region and tourism restrictions for the more remote parts, Dolpo is a popular destination for trekking tourism.
Geography
Dolpo is geologically part of the sedimentary Tibetan-Tethys zone. It is surrounded by Himalayan mountain chains including the DhaulagiriDhaulagiri
Dhaulagiri is Earth's seventh highest mountain at ; one of fourteen over eight thousand metres. Dhaulagiri was first climbed May 13, 1960 by a Swiss/Austrian expedition....
(8172 metres (26,811 ft)). These cloud barriers cause a semi-arid climate, with reported annual precipitations of less than 500 millimetres (19.7 in).
The region is historically divided into four valleys: Tsharka ("good growing-place"), Tarap ("auspicious excellent"), Panzang ("abode of monks"), and Nangkhong ("innermost place"). They constitute four of the seven village development committees (VDCs) that were created in 1975. The valleys south of the watershed drain into the Bheri River
Bheri River
The Bheri River is a major tributary of the Karnali River draining the western Dhaulagiri range in western Nepal. It has three important upper tributaries. Sani Bheri drains southern slopes of this range while Thuli Bheri drains northern slopes. Another tributary Uttar Ganga drains Dhorpatan...
. The VDCs in this area are (roughly from east to west):
- ChharkaChharkaChharka is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 552 persons living in 101 individual households....
(Tsharka Valley) - MukotMukotMukot is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 638 persons living in 124 individual households.-External links:*...
- DhoDhoDho is a village in Dho VDC of Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 703 persons living in 146 individual households....
(Tarap Valley) - PhoksundoPhoksundoPhoksundo is a village development committee located at the village of Ringmo in the Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 457 persons living in 94 individual households....
.
The northern valleys between the watershed and Tibet drain westward by the Langu River, a tributary of the Karnali River via the Mugu Karnali. The VDCs in this area are:
- TinjeTinjeTinje is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 1013 persons living in 215 individual households.-External links:*...
(Panzang Valley) - SaldangSaldangSaldang is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. Saldang lies in Nankhang Valley, the most populous of the sparsely populated valleys making up the culturally Tibetan region of Dolpo. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census Saldang had a...
(Nangkhong Valley) - BhijerBhijerBhijer is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 400 persons living in 87 individual households.-External links:*...
.
Dolpo can be roughly divided into four valleys, each of which is represented since 1975 by a village development committee (VDC): Dho
Dho
Dho is a village in Dho VDC of Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 703 persons living in 146 individual households....
(Tarap Valley), Saldang
Saldang
Saldang is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. Saldang lies in Nankhang Valley, the most populous of the sparsely populated valleys making up the culturally Tibetan region of Dolpo. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census Saldang had a...
(Nankhong Valley, the most populous), Tinje
Tinje
Tinje is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 1013 persons living in 215 individual households.-External links:*...
(Panzang Valley), and Chharka
Chharka
Chharka is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 552 persons living in 101 individual households....
(Tsharka Valley). There are also smaller VDCs at Bhijer
Bhijer
Bhijer is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 400 persons living in 87 individual households.-External links:*...
, Mukot
Mukot
Mukot is a village development committee in Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 638 persons living in 124 individual households.-External links:*...
and Phoksundo
Phoksundo
Phoksundo is a village development committee located at the village of Ringmo in the Dolpa District in the Karnali Zone of north-western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 457 persons living in 94 individual households....
.
Agriculture is possible at heights of 3800 to 4180 m (12,467.2 to 13,713.9 ft) (villages of Shimen Panzang Valley and Chharka, respectively) but often requires irrigation. Apart from barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, crops include buckwheat
Buckwheat
Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...
, millet
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
, mustard
Mustard seed
Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about 1 or 2 mm in diameter. Mustard seeds may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are important spices in many regional foods. The seeds can come from three different plants: black mustard , brown...
, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, potatoes, radish
Radish
The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that was domesticated in Europe, in pre-Roman times. They are grown and consumed throughout the world. Radishes have numerous varieties, varying in size, color and duration of required cultivation time...
es, and spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
. Similar to transhumance in the Alps
Transhumance in the Alps
Transhumance in the Alps, or seasonal migration between valley and high pastures is a traditional practice that has shaped much of the landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below 2000 m would be forests.While tourism and industry contribute today much to Alpine economy, seasonal...
, the population migrates between villages and high-lying (4000 to 5000 m (13,123.4 to 16,404.2 ft)) summer pastures, in a lifestyle referred to as samadrok (roughly "farming nomads").
Dolpo makes up the greatest part of the area of the Dolpa District, but the district's population is concentrated in the lower southern parts, where also most of the VDCs are located.
Trade
Local products are not sufficient to guarantee survival. The Dolpopa traditionally trade salt from Tibet to the lower parts of Nepal, where they maintain netsang (literally "nesting place") relationships, first described by Kenneth M. Bauer. According to Bauer, each family in Dolpo has netsang partners in most villages of Dolpa District, a network that facilitates travel as well as trade. In return for salt, the netsang provide grain and shelter. The netsang partners trade with each other on preferential terms, based on fictitious family relations that may last for several generations. Recent changes such as the easy availability of salt from other regions and the closed border with Tibet have put the netsang system under pressure.History
Dolpo appears in historical records since c. 8th century. In the time from the 6th century to the 8th century the Tibetan YarlungYarlung
Yarlung can refer to:*Yarlung Kingdom, see also: Tibetan empire*Yarlung Dynasty, see also: List of emperors of Tibet*Yarlung Valley, formed by the Yarlung River and refers especially to the district where it joins with the Chongye River, and broadens out into a large plain about 2 km wide, before...
dynasty conquered most Tibetan-speaking territories. This seems to have caused a southward migration towards Dolpo and the peripheral areas along the upper Kali Gandaki River (Lo and Serib). In 842, Tibet fell apart, and Dolpo fell under the kingdom of Purang
Burang Town
Burang, known as Purang in Tibetan, is the main town in Burang County in Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is situated to the south of Mount Kailash, near the borders with India and Nepal. The town lies at an altitude of 4755 metres...
. Purang and Dolpo became temporarily part of the kingdom of Guge
Guge
Guge was an ancient kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, within Ngari Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, China. At various points in history after 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast area including south-eastern Zanskar, Upper Kinnaur,...
in the 10th century, but soon became separate again when King sKyid lde Nyi ma mgon divided Guge among his three sons.
During the reign of the Ya-rtse king A-sog-lde around 1253 both Dolpo and Serib were lost to the ruler of Gungthang, mGon po lde. The latter then reunited both the Dolpo and Serib and classified them among one of three provinces of mNga' ris. It is also known from historical documents that Mongolian troops reached Dolpo to conquer this province when they conquered many parts of Tibet and finally handed over the power to the ruler of the Sakya
Sakya
The Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug...
period.
In the 14th century Dolpo fell under its eastern neighbor the Kingdom of Lo, which controlled the trans-Himalayan trade route through the Kali Gandaki Gorge
Kali Gandaki Gorge
The Kali Gandaki Gorge or Andha Galchi is the gorge of the Kali Gandaki in the Himalayas in Nepal, by some measures the deepest gorge in the world....
. The Dolpopa had to pay tax and travel to Lo Monthang to provide manual labor.
For some time between the 15th century (1440?) and the 16th century, Dolpo was temporarily independent and ruled by a king from the Ra nag dynasty.
In 1769, the Gorkha
Gurkha
Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
s conquered Kathmandu and established the Kingdom of Nepal, which would soon reach more or less the country's modern extent. In 1789, Nepal swallowed the Lo kingdom and with it Dolpo. The kingdom's attempt to wrest nominal suzerainty over Tibet from China ended in a massive Chinese intervention that left Nepal paying tribute to China.
The region in film
The 1999 French-Nepalese movie HimalayaHimalaya (film)
Himalaya , also known as Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef and as Caravan, is a 1999 Nepalese movie directed by Eric Valli and was funded through France-based corporations. It was the first Nepalese film to be nominated in the Best Foreign Film category at the 72nd Academy Awards.Himalaya is a story...
, which gives insight into the local customs, was the first Nepalese film to be nominated for an Oscar award and also a huge success in Nepal itself, drawing the country's attention to the region. Kenneth M. Bauer notes that the film's authenticity was in large part artificial, as dialogues mixed the standard Tibetan of the professional actors with the villagers' local dialects and all external influences in the region (such as clothes, Maoists and tourists) were hidden. He also describes the impact which the film had on the region as an employer.
The 2009 documentary Dolpo Tulku accompanies Sherap Sangpo (born 1981 in the Tarap Valley) on his journey from India back to his home region and his first steps as a Buddhist spiritual leader of the Dolpopa. At the age of ten, he had pilgrimaged to India and after meeting the Dalai Lama had decided to become a monk. In Ka-Nying Monastery
Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling
Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Boudhanath, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal. It has ties to both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools, hence the combined name Ka-Nying....
in Kathmandu he was soon recognized as the reincarnation of Lama Nyinchung and sent to Namdroling Monastery
Namdroling Monastery
The Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery is the largest teaching center of Nyingmapa – a lineage of Tibetan Buddhism – in the world....
in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. After 16 years in southern India his education was finished, and in 2008 he returned to his home region to take over the responsibilities of his predecessor as a Buddhist spiritual leader of the Dolpopa and in particular the monasteries in Dho-Tarap, Namgung and Saldang.
External links
- Scoundrels in the Sky – travelogue with many photos.
- Through the Land of Dolpo: A Trek in Western Nepal – travelogue by Chris Townsend.
- Upper Dolpo: High Passes to Magic Places – travelogue by Carsten Nebel (2008), with link to a gallery.
- Gallery Dolpo to Mustang – 70 more photos by Carsten Nebel (2000). – includes several high-quality short videos showing various aspects of Dolpo's culture and landscape.
- Himalayan Dolpo Healing Project.
- Dolpo Society – Nepal-based organization for the preservation and development of Dolpo. – film trailer with impressive views of landscape and religious ceremonies.