Nepal is often described, by travelers and scholars alike, to be a country of diverse religious practices and a site of Shangri-La. Buddhism is believed to be born in the Himalayan foothills. People travel from afar as pilgrims and as religious scholars to experience Nepal as the cradle of Buddhist history. Yet, Nepal's legal constitution proclaims it to be a solely Hindu nation. The country's vast majority of the population is Hindu (90%), and out of other 10%, 5% are Buddhist, 3% are Muslim and 2% are other.

Buddhist influences are evident in the culture of Nepal, including that of many Hindu and Animist castes. Due to Nepal's close proximity to Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism is the most widely practised form. the Newar practice Vajrayana Buddhism, which is another name for Tibetan Buddhism. Many Buddhist groups are also influenced by Hinduism.

Ethnic groups that live in central Nepal, such as Gurung, Lepcha, Tamang, Magar, Newar, Yakkha, Thami and Chepang, are also followers of Buddhism. These ethnic groups have larger populations compared to their northern neighbours. They came under the influence of Hinduism due to their close contacts with the Hindu castes. In turn, many of them eventually adopted Hinduism and have been largely integrated into the caste system.

Hinduism is one of the major religions of the world. There are nearly 800 million Hindus today. It is several thousand years old and holds the distinction of being the most ancient of the world's living religions.

Hinduism has a basic trinity of three gods- Brahma, Bishnu and Maheshwor or Shiva. Brahma represents the Hindu principle of origin or creation. Vishnu is the principle of preservation or nurturing and Shiva represents the principle of dissolution or destruction.

Hinduism is over 3000 years old, although elements of the faith are much older. It has no founder, no single teacher, nor prophets. Hinduism is not a Single Religion. Hinduism is not a term which identifies a single set of beliefs or ways of worship. Hinduism is the practices of a variety of different religious groups which come out of India.

The word "Hindu" was coined by the Muslims to refer to those persons who lived on the other side of the Sindu river. The actual word is the "Vedic Religion", the religion based on the Vedas. The Vedas are the ancient scriptures of India. The Vedic religion exists eternally in the spiritual world. It was revealed to the first created being in this universe, Lord Brahma, at the very beginning of this universe some 311 trillion years ago. Through an unbroken line of saintly teachers it has continued to exist in its original pure form up to the present day.

In the Hindu faith followers worship one God, but they have many manifestations of God. Many people perceive, however, that Hindus practice idolatry.

Hindus also believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, governed by Karma. Karma is the cause of our particular destiny, the law of nature that ensures that we become what we think or do. Misfortunes in our present life are the result of acts that we have committed in the past. Suicide, according to the law of karma, is not therefore an option: karma cannot be escaped or deferred and its effects will only be worse if we try to avoid it.

Beliefs and practices of Buddhism in Nepal date back to the time of its founder, Prince Siddhartha Gautam who was born in Lumbini in the southern Terai region of the country in about 543 B.C. Up to the age of twenty-nine, the young prince led a very sheltered life in the royal palace of his father, completely unaware of the problems and suffering of everyday life outside of the palace walls.

One day, he convinced his charioteer to take him outside the palace and was shocked at the sight of an old man, a cripple and a corpse. The realization that there was much misery and unhappiness in the world persuaded the prince to abandon his luxurious life in the royal palace in order to search for enlightenment and the real meaning of life.

For many years, Gautam wandered from place to place looking for a solution to the problems he saw all around him. Finally, while meditating under a Pipal tree, he became spiritually enlightened. Henceforth known as Lord Buddha or the " the enlightened one," began to preach the "Four Noble Truths" to all who would listen. According to this doctrine, people suffer because of their attachment to things and people; in other words, the root of all the problems is desire. These desires and consequently, all problems and sufferings, can be totally eliminated by following the "eightfold path"-right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort right mindfulness an right meditation.

Buddha journeyed from place to place, teaching and converting hundreds of followers and died at the age of eighty. However, his many disciples continued spreading his teachings. At the same time Buddhism splitted into two main schools of thought: Hinayana and Mahayana. The Followers of Hinayana do not worship idols of Buddha as the enlightened prince taught against idolatory. Very few other Nepalese Buddhists have adopted the Hinayana school of thought, choosing rather to follow Mahayana teachings. One of the central beliefs of Mahayanists is that one can achieve nirvana by following the example of Bodhisattvas, Bodhi meaning enlightenment and Sattva meaning essence.

Both Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal have been strongly influenced by the beliefs and practices of Tantrism. " Tantra" is a Sanskrit word referring to the basic warp of threads in weaving. Difficult to define due to its varying types and forms, Trantrism is a religion of moral percepts, meditation, yoga, mantras and a philosophy that believes in interwovenness of all things.

Tantrism has greatly influenced Nepalese Buddhism by creating the path of Vajrayana, the Path of the Thunderbolt. The main object used in Vajrayana Buddhist rituals is a small thunderbolt-like sceptre that is said to represent the infinite in three dimensions. A large thunderbolt, or Vajra as it is commonly referred to, can be seen at the entrance of Swayambhu temple at Katmandu on the top of a long flight steps.

There are basically two types of Tantric gods and goddesses: Dharmapalas and Yidams. The former is often depicted with flaming red hair, several arms, legs or heads and three eyes. Yidams are tutelary deities often found depicted in thangkas; like their Dharmapala counterparts, they are ferocious deities with many hands and fiercesome weapons.

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