used to denote the “evil eye,” a malefic
influence that is put on people
through sight, particularly eye-to-eye
contact. The existence of the evil eye is
widely accepted among traditional
Hindus. It is warded off either by
avoiding this sort of gaze, or by per-
forming rites of protection. For fur-
ther consideration see David F.
Pocock, “The Evil Eye,” in T. N. Madan
(ed.), Religion in India, 1991.
Nepal
A small Himalayan nation on the north-
ern border of India that is deemed the
world’s only Hindu kingdom. One basis
for this claim is that almost 90 percent of
Nepal’s inhabitants identify themselves
as Hindu; the other is that since 1769
Nepal’s ruling house has been a Hindu
dynasty, the Shah dynasty. The present
monarch, Birendra Bir Bikram Shah (b.
1945), was an uncontested absolute
monarch until April 1990, when popular
discontent led to a movement seeking
the restoration of democracy in Nepal.
The king was forced to accede to demo-
cratic reforms, and since May 1991 has
governed as a constitutional monarch,
with the Nepali Parliament wielding the
real power.
Although Nepal is a small country, it
has great geographical diversity. Its three
major geographical regions are the sub-
montane lowlands, the Himalayan
foothills, and the high mountains. The
country’s uneven topography further
subdivides each of these regions. This
rugged geography has a marked effect
on the country’s economy, rendering
agriculture impossible at anything more
than a subsistence level. However, it
provides the attraction for tourism,
which is Nepal’s greatest source of for-
eign exchange.
Such great geographical diversity
promotes similar human diversity. The
people of Nepal are an amalgam of
many different groups, including people
whose historical roots lie in India and
indigenous hill tribes associated with
particular parts of the country. Most
Nepalese live in the fertile valleys of the
foothills. These are the most habitable
regions, as the climate in the mountains
is far too harsh for permanent habita-
tion, while the lowland regions are
rife with disease, particularly malaria.
In general, Nepali culture shows
many similarities with the adjoining
areas of India, and thus from a cultural
perspective is firmly fixed in the Indian
cultural orbit. Nepal is also the home to
several important Hindu pilgrimage
places (tirtha), notably Pashupatinath
in the Kathmandu Valley, and
Muktinath, at the headwaters of the Kali
Gandaki River.New Moon
(amavasya) In northern India, the new
moonusually marks the midpoint of the
lunar month, whereas in southern India
it often identifies the end. Unlike the full
moon, whose associations with fullness
and completion make it always auspi-
cious, the new moon’s associations with
darkness and emptiness make it a more
ambiguous time. One of the most
important festivals in the Hindu reli-
gious year, Diwali, falls on the new
moon in Kartik(October–November).
The new moon can also be highly auspi-
cious on certain other occasions, such
as a Somavati Amavasya, a new moon
falling on a Monday. In general, however,
the new moon is less clearly auspicious
than the full moon. Not only are there
fewer celebrations during the new
moon, but there is also a proportionately
greater number of holidays falling in the
light, waxing half of the lunar month.
The new moon and the dark, waning
half are not in themselves inauspicious,
they are simply deemed less auspicious
than the light half and the full moon.Nibandha
(“collection”) Genre of thematic com-
mentarial literature that became promi-
nent in medieval northern India. The
nibandhas were compendia of Hindu
lore, in which the compilers culledNibandha