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Concept
Buddhism in Nepal
Summary
Buddhism in Nepal started spreading since the reign of Ashoka through Indian and Tibetan missionaries. The Kiratas were the first people in Nepal who embraced Gautama Buddha’s teachings, followed by the Licchavis and Newar people.
Buddha was born in Lumbini in the Shakya Kingdom. Lumbini is considered to lie in present-day Rupandehi District, Lumbini zone of Nepal.
Buddhism is the second-largest religion in Nepal. According to 2001 census, 10.74% of Nepal's population practiced Buddhism, consisting mainly of Tibeto-Burman-speaking ethnicities, the Newar. However, in the 2011 census, Buddhists made up just 9% of the country's population.
It has not been possible to assign with certainty the year in which Prince Siddhartha, the birth name of the Buddha, was born; it is usually placed at around 563 BCE. In Nepal's hill and mountain regions Hinduism has absorbed Buddhist tenets to such an extent that in many cases they have shared deities as well as temples. For instance, the Muktinath Temple is sacred and a common house of worship for both Hindus and Buddhists.
Buddhism is currently experiencing a decline in Nepal with latest census showing 8.21% of Nepal's population professing Buddhism, a decline of 2.5% from 2001. A surge of Christianity among native population may be the cause of this decline.
In Nepal, the majority of people identify as Hindu. However, Buddhist influences are pervasive in most aspects of the culture of Nepal to an extent that Buddhist and Hindu temples are shared places of worship for peoples of both faiths so that, unlike in other countries, the distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal is not always clear. During the reign of King Amshuverma, the Nepalese princess Bhrikuti played a significant role in spreading and developing Buddhism in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist architecture has long been influenced by Nepalese artists and sculptors like Araniko. The sacred Buddhist texts in Mahayana Buddhism are mainly written in the Ranjana alphabet, the script of the Newars, or scripts like Lantsa, which are derived from Ranjana.
Official source
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