Nepal, a small and land-locked country, lying snugly over 147, 180 square kilometers in the lofty lap of the great Himalayas, is centre of the world's attention today. It has a spectacular landscape and dramatic topography ranging from stemming forests 150 feet above the sea level in the south, to the snow-covered summit of Mount Everest, which stands 29,028 feet high. Though 280 kilometers across, it comprises broad geographical spectrum, from a strip of fertile and alluvial lowland known as the Terai in the south to the high hills and icy crest of the main Himalayan range.
Nepal is a sovereign country between India and China. Its location between two great cultures makes it very important from the strategic point of view. There are rich and variegated mixture of ethnic groups, different languages and diverse cultures. There are seventy five ethnic groups in Nepal. The Maithils and Tharus inhabit the southern malarial swamps of the Nepal Terai. There are several ancient and culturally significant places in Nepal Terai.
For example, Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, is one of the world's most important pilgrimage sites. Kapilvastu is another important 2500, year-old archaeological site near Lumbini, at Tilaurakot. It was the capital of the kingdom of the king Sudhodhan, the father of Gautam Buddha, the light of Asia.
Janakpur described in the great Hindu epic, The Ramayana, is the city where Hindu Goddess Sita, constant companion of Lord Rama and archetype of a prestine Hindu womanhood, was born and married. The main attraction of Janakpur is the marble Janaki temple which is world famous centre of pilgrimage. Simraongarh, the extensive ruins of the capital of the kingdom of Mithila, or Videha, built by king Nanyadev in the eleventh century also falls in the territory of the Nepal Terai.
Maithili culture is the second important culture of Nepal and its second language is Maithili. The cultural history of Mithila is very old but so far as the cultural history of Nepal Terai is concerned, it is not very old because it is the mixture of diverse cultures such as Maithili, Tharus, Satars, Danuwars, Rajbanshi etc. The cultural history of the Nepal Terai has been rightly pointed out here which gives a folkloristic background:
"The cultural history of the 'terai' is fairly new compared to those of the mountain and valley regions. The impenetrable malaria-infested forests of the tropical 'terai' have lately been occupied by Indian oriented inhabitants, though certain indigenous tribes, such as Tharus and Satars who belong to the same ethnic categories and have received enormous cultural influence from Hinduism, also live there.
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