Pokhara Biography of a Town

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This book describes in detail the history of urbanization of Pokhara town, which is the fastest growing and one of the best-known towns in Nepal. The extraordinary history of growth and change over the last four decades is covered in the book. The process of urbanization and the consequent transformations in socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental aspects of the town are described. The folk and written literature, tourism and the interaction of the town with its hinterlands are other issues covered in the book. It is hoped that this study of transformations of Pokhara should shed light on the process of urbanization in Nepal.

Jagannath Adhikari is a social scientist. He has obtained his Ph.D. from The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. He is the author of "The Beginnings of Agrarian Change and 'Decisions for Survival, and co-author of 'New Lahures' and 'Food Crisis in Nepal. He has published several research articles in Nepal and abroad. At present he is undertaking studies on socio-economic changes and environmental problems in west central Nepal, particularly Pokhara. He is a native of Pokhara.

David Seddon, Ph.D. in sociology, is a professor in the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. He is the author and co-author of several books on Nepal including 'Nepal in Crisis', 'Peasants and Workers of Nepal', 'Nepal - A State in Poverty and 'New Labures'. He has stayed in Pokhara for two years during 1974 and 1975, and conducted extensive studies in western hills and Terai.

Jagannath Adhikari, the lead author of this book (and several others on Nepal), was born in Pokhara in 1960. He grew up and went to school and college there during the 1960s and 1970s, and has his home in the area of Baidam (Lake Side) near the Phewa lake. David Seddon (whose home is in a small village just outside Norwich, in England) spent a memorable year or so, living in Pokhara during 1974 and 1975, and working throughout the hills and terai of the west central region (as it was then), on his first two visits to Nepal. He has been back on numerous occasions over the last twenty-five years and has also written (and co-authored) a number of books on Nepal.

Both authors have a special place in their hearts for Pokhara and the surrounding region, and for the people with whom they have lived and worked. Jagannath has his roots and his family there; David's first-born spent his earliest months there, and his wife worked as a doctor at 'the Shining Hospital'. But Pokhara is not just important to them for personal reasons; it is a town whose history of growth and change - is an integral and important part of the history of Nepal. Pokhara is the fourth largest town in Nepal in terms of population; but its political and economic influence and reputation makes it, in effect, Nepal's second city. It is certainly the best known - after Kathmandu to expatriates (whether tourists, scholars, - development workers, or others). Its environmental setting - beside the lovely Phewa lake, under the high peaks of the Annapurna and the striking Machapuchare (Fish Tail) - must be unique in its beauty. It has also become the major commercial and administrative centre for the entire western region of Nepal. It figures in detail in the ever- increasing number of guidebooks for visitors; yet such guides - which are by their nature more concerned with the features which might interest tourists - reveal only certain aspects of the town.

**Contents and Sample Pages**