About Paintings

At once a time machine and a magic carpet, Nepal sweeps you along crooked, timeworn streets flanked by irregular, multi-roofed pagodas, stupas and stone sculptures, and into rooms cluttered with horror-eyed masks, spinning prayer wheels, trippy thangka scrolls and Tibetan carpets. Muttered chants, esoteric tantric hymns and Nepalese music hang in the air, whether it be the twang of a four-stringed saringhi or the plaintive notes of a flute. Traditional folk musicians, or gaines, gather for an evening of singing and socialising; classical dancing and trance-like masked dances enliven the Kathmandu Valley and Bhaktapur regions; while no wedding would be complete without the raucous damais - Nepal's modern ensembles.
Religion is the lifeblood of the Nepalese. Officially it is a Hindu country, but in practice the religion is a syncretism of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs with a pantheon of Tantric deities tagged on. The remainder of the population that isn't Buddhist or Hindu are either Muslim, Christian or shamans.

Radio, Newspapers and magazines

                                   According to government figures, in 2003 Nepal had 3,741 registered newspapers, of which 251 were published daily. Government-owned Gorkhapatra (Gorkha Journal) had the highest daily circulation at around 75,000. Most registered newspapers were published either weekly (1,304) or monthly (1,122). Most vernacular news media are regarded as having little credibility as a result of affiliations with political parties.^[1]
Magazines and periodicals - 295



                                    Historically, radio has been the most prevalent form of mass communication in Nepal. Government-owned Radio Nepal has been the sole domestic radio provider since 1951, and by 1995 it was broadcasting in short-wave, medium-wave, and FM frequencies. Private operators can lease the FM channel, and there are plans to establish FM stations outside the capital.^[1]
Radios: 2,000,000 (2006)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 50, shortwave 1 (2006)

Television Channels in Nepal

Television programming commenced in 1985, and broadcasters include government-owned Nepal Television, which has two channels, and private broadcasters Nepal One, Shangri-La, and Space Time Network. All private television broadcasters have experienced financial losses and content restrictions. Foreign programs can be accessed via satellite or cable. Statistics on viewership are not available, but it is estimated at less than 15 percent of the population.^[1]
Television in Nepal started with Nepal Television in January 1985. It was launched as a project under the sixth development plan (1980-1985) with the slogan "Communication for Development". It was set up with a broad mission statement, "Produce and telecast programs on educational, religious and cultural conservation to promote national unity, conserve heritage and promote national interest". It was part of a research project to study the feasibility of establishing television to ascertain if this was econcomically and technically possible. It had a monopoly for over 15 years.
After 22 years Nepal has nine television broadcasters including the government run Nepal Television and NTV 2 Metro. The private broadcasters are: Kantipur Television owned by Kantipur Publication which is located at Tinkune, Kathmandu; Image Channel owned by Image Groups of Companies is situated at Lazimpat, Kathmandu; Avenues Television, a news and current affairs channel located at Tripureswor, Kathmandu, which is owned by Avenues Ad started broadcasting from July 2007. Sagarmatha Television, a new satellite channel, was also launched in July 2007 and is situated at Singhadurbar, Kathmandu. Channel Nepal is in Shantinagar, Kathmandu and the first Nepali language satellite channel, Nepal 1 is beamed from India.
They are all listed below with links offering more information about each channel. Nepal Television]], the main television Kantipur Television]] Image Channel]] NTV 2 Metro]] Avenues Television]] Sagarmatha Television]] Channel Nepal]] Nepal 1]] Young Asia Television (Nepal)

Television broadcast stations: 9(plus 9 repeaters) (2007)
Televisions: 500,000 (2006)

Cinema of Nepal

Nepal does not have a very long film history, but the industry has its own place in the cultural heritage of the country. Most Nepali films use Bollywood-style songs and narrative, and are shot on 16-millimeter film. In film industry parlance, Kathmandu, the capital and center of the Nepali-language film industry, is called Kollywood (or Kaliwood as an alternate spelling) within Nepal (not to be confused with India's Tamil-language film industry, Kollywood, based in Chennai).

History

The making of Nepali films is said to have begun with D. B. Pariyar's Satya Harishchandra, which was the first Nepali language film to be shot. It was produced from Kolkata, India, and was released on September 14, 1951. Aama (meaning mother) was the first film produced in Nepal, and was released on October 7, 1964. It was produced by the Information Department of His Majesty's Government Of Nepal (now Government of Nepal). It was directed by Hira Singh Khatri and the lead actors were Shiva Shankar Manandhar and Bhuwan Thapa, who are regarded as the first actors in the history of the Nepali film industry. The first film to be produced under a private banner was Maitighar (meaning the birth home of a girl), which was released at the end of 1966 by Sumonanjali Films Pvt. Ltd. Although it was a Nepali movie, it had many Indians contributing toward the making of the film. Mala Sinha had the lead role, along with C P Lohani, whom she later married. It had special appearances of Sunil Dutt and comedian Rajendra Nath. Directed by B S Thapa and music scored by Jaidev, a veteran music maestro, it had Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, and Manna Dey, all of them established Indian singers, doing the playback-singing along with the household names of Nepali music, like Narayan Gopal, Prem Dhoj Pradhan, C P Lohani, and Aruna Lama.
Then the government established the Royal Nepal Film Corporation in 1971. Mann Ko Bandh was the first film produced by the Corporation. Prakesh Thapa was the director of the film. Nati Kaji and Shiva Shankar were the music composers of the songs. Amber Gurung scored the background music. The film premiered in 1973 in Kathmandu. Mann Ko Bandh was followed by Kumari (the first Eastman color Nepali film) in 1977, Sindoor in 1980, and Jeevan Rekha in series. The success of these films opened up avenue for private parties to enter into filmmaking as industrial endeavor.

Conflict era

The start of the Maoist revolution was the start of the downfall of the Nepali film industry. In the era of war and conflict, only a very small number of films were made, and audiences fell sharply. That resulted in lower budgets and even lower performances, which resulted in even smaller audiences. In the later years of the conflict, the production and release of Nepali films had come to a standstill. Many actors and filmmakers left the country in search for work because there were no films being made.

Present situation

By 2006, as the situation in Nepal calmed down and with Maoists coming into mainstream politics, the Nepali film industry started to return to its previous state. Now, more and more films are being made and released. The production companies and those in the industry are enthusiastic about the country's new situation. The return of peace in the country has opened more venues for the shooting of the films, and the industry is seen to be making good use of this time to revive the image of the industry.

Film Development Board

The Film Development Board (FDB) was established by the Government of Nepal for the development and promotion of the Nepali Film Industry. But recently it has not created an environment of supporting and also the promotion of different aspects of motion-picture production in Nepal. The Board is a liaison to facilitate the conceptualization, making, distribution, and exhibition of Nepali films nationally, it is not able to promote the films in the inter national market and the main thing is that this board is not serious enough to send Nepali films into the international market. It also attempts to bridge the gap between film entrepreneurship and government bureaucracy. However, the Board is bound to take care of interests of the people and support the interest for inspiring films from the common populace. The Board is a balance between the people at large, the government, and the process of filmmaking. It is, therefore, the safeguard of the interests of the people, the watchdog of the government, and the advocate of filmmakers.

Nepal as a location

Due to its vast cultural diversity, geographical situation and its natural beauty, Nepal has been able to portray itself as one of the beautiful shooting location for film makers in the past couple of years. Many movies from India and abroad have been filmed in Nepal.The most internationally acclaimed film was the Academy Award-nominated Caravan, a film by French director Éric Valli.

Nepali art

Nepali art In Nepal, art is traditional and largely religious in nature, with Hindu and Buddhist imagery dominant. As in India, artists were part of a guild structure; the discovery of several artists' sketchbooks has shed fascinating light on the process of imagery. Nepali sculpture primarily depicts figures of deities. Although Nepali painting is also generally religious in content, many paintings integrate historical events, portraiture, cosmological diagrams, and astrological charts as well. Deities are depicted according to instructions contained in dhyana texts, so that worshipers and artists are able to visualize them more accurately. The cult of Bhairava, which is devoted to the worship of Shiva, has influenced much of the imagery in Nepali art. Nepali architecture is noted for its palaces, although the wood and brick composition of many structures in the Himalayan valley has left few pre-16th-century buildings extant. An important early Vishnu Temple is at Changu Narayan. For much of Nepal's history, its art was molded according to Indian forms and archetypes; the Gupta and Pala styles showed a perfection of technique. In the 19th cent., Nepali artists discovered the rajput and mughal styles, which resulted in an ongoing exchange of artistic theories with Tibet.