The religious history of Nepal may be best observed by a comparison with the course of religion in India. It is a story mainly of contrasts. India commenced with Brahmanism and then became Buddhist. Nepal began in the same way, being first Brahmanistic, and was subsequently gathered, with India, into the fold of Buddhism. At this point the analogy ceases. India eventually rejected Buddhism, and would have none of it. Nepal compromised, combined the two cults, and in the broad sense Brahmo-Buddhism is the religion of the State to the present day. But the most striking difference between the two countries is, that whereas the one was overwhelmed by the great wave of Islamwhich swept the peninsula from end to end in the twelfth and following centuries, Nepal was never affected by this great political cataclysm. The storm, raging in the plains of India, was spent ere it reached the natural ramparts of Nepal, and only distant echoes of the Islamic turmoil reached the seclusion of the valley.

The realization of this gives the country an added interest. Nepal illustrates, as approximately as time and ordinary circum stances permit, the state of India before Islam had imprinted its indehble mark on almost every aspect of its life. The manners and customs of the people, their religion, arts and industries, the towns and the country, are practically the same as they were ten centuries ago. Unaffected by any foreign influences, undisturbed by the transitions which have taken place in the outer world, Nepal, protected by its natural position, presents an ideal picture of the Middle Ages – the Middle Ages of the East.

The story of Nepal is therefore the story of the Newars, and these people have written it profusely on every building of any importance in the valley. Apart from the ancient Sanskrit inscriptions with which the country abounds, it is, in its pictorial form, cut in stone or carved in wood, embossed in brass or cast in bronze, painted on plaster or moulded in terra-cotta, on a thousand and one shrines within the borders of the State. But even with this wealth of material the story is not easy to read, and needs some explanation. The national religion of the Newars is Buddhism, and has been so since the cult was first introduced into Nepal, two thousand years ago.

But the Newar, like his cousin in the plains of India, found this simple faith unsatisfactory, and yearned for the elaborate ritual and picturesque practices which delight the heart and stimulate the mind of the Hindu worshipper of Vishnu or Shiva. And so, as time went on, the preachings of the Great Teacher gradually drifted into oblivion, and the Newars began to adopt one by one the rites and ceremonies, and even the social distinctions, of the Brahmans. The high standard of doctrine and discipline which marked the character of the Primitive BuddhistChurch in the early history of the State has become modified, and Buddhism as maintained in Nepal has now accepted many of the popular features of Hinduism. The Buddhism of Nepal follows what is known as the Theistic system, which teaches that one universal, all-powerful, and immaterial Spirit has existed from before the commencement of time, and that it will pervade the universe throughout all eternity. This Spirit is God. He is possessed of supreme power, and is endowed with supreme intelligence. He remains, has remained, and ever will remain, in a state of perfect repose.

Can we not see the rugged disposition of the inhabitants of Western Europe in the stern but picturesque buildings of the Gothic style? And so with the State of Nepal. The story of the people, and all that is profound in their nature, is illustrated in the temples and shrines of the valley. A short account of the population of Nepal, and the influences to which they have been subjected, seems necessary before their picturesque circumstances, and particularly the full meaning of the artistic conditions of their environment, can be properly realized.

The people of Nepal resolve themselves into so many different tribes that any broadclassification appears at first sight a somewhat difficult matter. The most important of these are Gurkhas, Newars, Magars, Gurungs, Limbus, Kiratis, Bhotiyas, and Lepchas. As a result of this mixed population, the State vies with the Tower of Babel in its confusion of tongues, as at least six distinct languages are spoken within its small area. These range from Sanskrit, ” the speech of the gods,” to the gibberish of the jungle dwellers. Brian Hodgson, who spent many years in Nepal, has compiled several scholarly works on the ethnology of the Nepalese, including investigations into some of the small savage tribes living in the depths of the Terai. In connection with this research it is recorded that he approached the State authorities with a view to securing one of these wild aborigines for the purposes of an inter- view. His request was courteously acceded to, and a short time after the individual was solemnly produced in a cage.

For all ordinary needs it may suffice to refer to the two principal races of the State. These are the Gurkhas and the Newars, the rulers and their subjects, the victors and the vanquished. The original inhabitants of the valley are the Newars, while the present ruling race are the Gurkhas, who conquered the country in 1768. For a sound and sympathetic administration and an ideal system of military organization the methods of the latter must be studied, but for the arts and industries, the architecture of the houses and temples, for all that is picturesque and historic in the valley, the present generation is indebted to the Newars.