{"id":5944,"date":"2020-03-23T18:38:27","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T18:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/?page_id=5944"},"modified":"2022-07-12T12:47:01","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T12:47:01","slug":"history-kumusic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/history-kumusic\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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The musical traditions of Nepal are as diverse as the various ethnic groups of the country.\u00a0 Arguably the most complex musical culture in the Himalayas is that of the Newar people in the Kathmandu Valley which in the course of the past two thousand years has absorbed mostly Indian influences shaping a unique musical tradition.<\/p>

In the year 1996 the Department of Music was established as an academic platform for the musicians and ethnomusicologists with the main objective of conservation and transformation of Nepalese musical heritage in the Newar town of Bhaktapur. The Newar culture flourished during the late Malla dynasty from the 15th<\/sup>\u00a0century up to the 18th<\/sup>\u00a0century.\u00a0 The Malla kings of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur were devoted patrons of the arts and competed with one another in the beautification and cultural achievements of their kingdoms.\u00a0 Many of these Malla kings excelled as musicians, dancers, poets and town planners.<\/p>

The Newar live in a Buddhist-Hindu area where the two religions coexist along with a strong influence of Tantric practices and local traditional cults.\u00a0 In the complex Newar caste system both Hindus and Buddhists have found their place. Many of these castes perform their own characteristic musical repertory and ritual duties during festivals and processions.\u00a0 Newar music and dances are always related to ritual and locality.\u00a0 A portion of Newar music is secretly performed during esoteric rites.<\/p>

Bhaktapur, a Newar farmers\u2019 town at the eastern rim of the Kathmandu Valley has been able so far to preserve much of its traditional heritage.\u00a0 In 1980ies there were still more than two hundred music and dance groups performing regularly.\u00a0 With the influx of tourism and Western and Far Eastern technologies this picture changes rapidly.\u00a0 It is conceivable that these living cultural treasures may vanish within one generation.\u00a0 For the future there needs to be an effective method for the preservation of traditional music and dance.<\/p>

Dramatic changes can be seen not only among the Newar but also among all ethnic groups of Nepal \u2013 even in areas far from the Kathmandu Valley.\u00a0 What Nepalese perceive as \u2018the loss of our culture\u2019 happens at a rapid pace and goes along with the ravaging of the natural environment, an alarming population growth, unbalanced distribution of resources, rampant exploitation and corruption, political instability and a growing desperation and readiness to solve problems not through compromise but with violence.\u00a0 Current change devastates Nepal like a wild river.\u00a0 This must be controlled and channelled into a less destructive course.\u00a0 Preservation of culture and environment is a precondition for sustainable development.\u00a0 In this context, the academic discipline of Ethnomusicology could play an important part in healing and re-uniting the society.<\/p>

The aim of the K.U. Department of Music is to train competent musicians and ethnomusicologists to document, preserve, and work creatively with the endangered musical traditions of Nepal. At present, the Department of Music is actively involved through various academic and practical concepts for the conservation and transformation of both tangible and intangible musical heritages across Nepal.<\/p><\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

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Late Gurujyu Hari Govinda Ranjitkar at Tripura Sundari on the day `2072 Gorkha Earthquake Memorial Program.\u2019<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

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The musical traditions of Nepal are as diverse as the various ethnic groups of the country.\u00a0 Arguably the most complex musical culture in the Himalayas is that of the Newar people in the Kathmandu Valley which in the course of the past two thousand years…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5944","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5944"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6677,"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5944\/revisions\/6677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kumusic.edu.np\/kumusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}