Education and Culture

Because Nepal never got colonised it developed an own preserved culture mainly influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism.

Education and Schooling
About two thirds of female adults and one third of male adults are illiterate. Net primary enrolment rate was 74% in 2005. It is currently at about 90%. In 2009 the World Bank has decided to contribute a further $130 million towards meeting Nepal's Education for all goals. Nepal has several universities.

Cultural places
The National Museum (opened since 1928) in Kathmandu contains many cultural and historical collections.
The most important libraries are in Kathmandu as well.

Food
A typical Nepalese meal is dal-bhat-tarkari. Dal is a spicy lentil soup, served over bhat (boiled rice), and served with tarkari (curried vegetables) together with achar (pickles) or chutni (spicy condiment made from fresh ingredients). Momo (Tibetan cuisine) is popular. The Newar community, however, has its own unique cuisine. It consists of non-vegetarian as well as vegetarian items served with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Mustard oil is the cooking medium and a host of spices, such as cumin, coriander, black peppers, sesame seeds, turmeric, garlic, ginger, methi (fenugreek), bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, chillies, mustard seeds, etc., are used in the cooking. The cuisine served on festivals is generally the best.

Music and Dances
The Newari Music orchestra consists mainly of percussion instruments, though wind instruments, such as flutes and other similar instruments are also used. String instruments are very rare. There are songs pertaining to particular seasons and festivals. Paahan chare music is probably the fastest played music whereas the Dapa the slowest. There are certain musical instruments such as Dhimay and Bhusya which are played as instrumental only and are not accompanied with songs. The dhimay music is the loudest one. In the hills, people enjoy their own kind of music, playing saarangi (a string instrument), madal and flute. They also have many popular folk songs known as lok geet and lok dohari.

The Newar dances can be broadly classified into masked dances and non-masked dances. The most representative of Newari dances is Lakhey dance. Almost all the settlements of Newaris organise Lakhey dance at least once a year, mostly in the Goonlaa month. So, they are called Goonlaa Lakhey. However, the most famous Lakhey dance is the Majipa Lakhey dance; it is performed by the Ranjitkars of Kathmandu and the celebration continues for the entire week that contains the full moon of Yenlaa month. The Lakhey are considered to be the saviors of children.

Folklore is an integral part of Nepalese society. Traditional stories are rooted in the reality of day-to-day life, tales of love, affection and battles as well as demons and ghosts and thus reflect local lifestyles, cultures and beliefs. Many Nepalese folktales are enacted through the medium of dance and music.