Nepal Himalaya

Nepal himalaya

Nepal Himalaya is known as the rooftop of the world. The Himalayas are the highest mountains in the world. Their scenery is legendary. These mountains have had an air of mystery until recently. Even today, the vast area of the Himalaya is untouched. It has always remained a source of fascination and inspiration for people from all walks of life in the world. Himalaya (“Him” means snow and “Alaya” means abode), the abode of snow and the Gods, extends about 2500 kilometers. The Brahmaputra (Assam) in the east and Indus river in the west demarcate the length of the Himalaya. It is 300 km wide and rises nine kilometers above the sea level.

The Nepal Himalaya is in the center of the Himalayan range. Eight peaks that exceed 8000 meters including the world’s highest peak Mt Everest are the prominent members of Nepal Himalayas. It has a convergence of 1310 magnificent peaks over 6000 meters. Nepal has become famous throughout the world due to these mountains.

It is a very interesting thing to know that there was a sea (the Tethys Sea) between Indian Gondwana continent (Indian subcontinent and Eurasian continent). Around 70 and 80 million years ago, the Himalayan began to come into existence. It is a peak of each evolution only about 10 to 20 million years back. Therefore, the Himalayan is extremely young and geologically active. According to geologists, mountains are growing at a rate of 15 cm (6 inches) a year as the Indian plate is moving northward and forcing under the Eurasian plate. This process (plate tectonics) causes the earthquakes in this region. Geologists say that the collision of continents is squeezing up sedimentary rocks that were once below the sea. The mountains of Himalaya are the result of the collision of continents.

Nepal opened its mountains to all the mountaineers around the world in 1949. Only then mountaineers started coming to climb the mountains of Nepal. Especially, the 8000-meter peaks attracted most of the climbers. Afterward, climbers attempted the various untried routes without oxygen. Today, the Nepal Himalaya has been proved as a great theatre of mountaineering activity.

Why are the mountaineers or saints or philosophers or researchers or adventurers of the world attracted towards the Nepalese Himalaya? It is not just the height that gives the Himalaya their grandeur, but it is also the tremendous contrast with the deep valleys that wind between the peaks. Within these deep valleys, one can see the flow of the glacier-fed rivers that are swift, white and exiting.

The Nepal Himalaya can be divided into nine mountain regions which are as follows:

1. Everest Mountain Region
2. Kanchenjunga Region
3. Rolwaling Himal Region
4. Langtang Mountain Region
5. Jugal Himal Region
6. Manaslu and Ganesh Himal Region
7. Annapurna Mountain Region
8. Dhaulagiri Himal Region
9. Kanjiroa Himal Region
10. Far West Himal Region

Interesting Facts of Nepal Himalaya

• The word ‘Himalaya’ means the home or abode of snow.
• The Himalayas are the highest mountains in the world. The Himalayas begin where other mountains finish.
• Himalaya extends about 2500 kilometers. The Brahmaputra (Assam) in the east and Indus river in the west demarcate the length of the Himalaya.
• The Nepal Himalaya is in the center of the Himalayan range.
• According to Hindu Mythology, God Shiva resides in the Himalaya.
• There are eight peaks with a total of 19 points above 8000 meters in Nepal.
• Fourteen mountains in the Himalaya exceed8000 meters.
• Nameha Barwa peak is the easternmost and Nanga Parbat is the westernmost peak of the Himalaya
• The geological age of the Himalaya is approximately 70 million years.
• Himalayan rivers are older than the Himalayan peaks.
• Kumbhakarna is the new name of mount Jannu (7710 m)
• Ninety-five percent of earthquakes occur in mountainous regions.
• Sir Andrew Waugh announced the name ‘Mount Everest’ in 1865.
• Nepal opened its borders to the world in 1949.
• Mallory described Mount Everest from Rongbuk as, ‘a great white fang excrescent on the jawbone of the earth’.
• Why do men climb Everest? Mallory said, “Because it is there.”
• Sir Edmund Hillary led an expedition to find the Yeti in 1958.
• According to Dr. George Schaller, the existence of Yeti unknown to science cannot be ruled out at high altitude.
• Reinhold Messner climbed Everest alone.
• Tenzing buried his daughter’s red and blue pencils on the top of Everest.
• Tenzing was known as ‘Himalyan Club Sherpa No 48’.