Currently about 20,000 Germans travel to Nepal per year, with numbers steadily rising; the fascination for the mysterious, colorful country on the roof of the world is undiminished – a fact that is proven with a look at the TV program, where different documentaries compete with each other. Nevertheless, there hasn’t been a book about the history of Nepal on the German market so far.
"Kultur und Geschichte Nepals" is the first German-language history of Nepal. The volume gives an insight into the development of the cultural, social and political diversity of Nepal and does not tell one, but many stories: the history of the water, of the elephants or the shaman drum, the history of dynasties, traditions, rituals, festivals, and of crafts and arts, which remain largely unchanged until today, because in Nepal, time - and therefore history - sometimes seem to have stood still. Consequently, this book was written for readers who want to overcome superficial considerations and immerse themselves in the colorful diversity of Nepalese history and present.
The book includes chapters on Nepal’s people, ethnicities and regions, its society, statehood, economy, art and culture, the Kathmandu valley and its role in the world. It was published with Kröner Verlag.
Prof. Axel Micheals is the managing director of the Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS), and a former director of the Cluster "Asia and Europe." He was also the head of the Department of Classical Indology at the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University and is a former director of the Nepal Research Centre in Kathmandu.