In May 2020, India inaugurated a strategic link road connecting a disputed part of Nepal’s Kalapani region to Tibet via Lipu Lek Pass. This triggered protests in Nepal, and Parliament passed Nepal’s new map. India has since fast tracked the project and is looking at completing the link road by 2024 allowing Indian pilgrims easier access to the holy <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16604#.ZEjoi3ZByJA">Kailas-Mansarovar</a> pilgrimage route, completely bypassing Nepal. Even so, the link through Hilsa is more convenient if Nepal can get its act together. Nepal is one of the primary gateways for Indian tourists on the pilgrimage to Mansarovar Lake and Mt Kailas in Tibet. Until Covid ended the route, tens of thousands of Indian pilgrims transited Nepal to either fly to Lhasa, or fly to<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/faith-to-reality"> Hilsa</a>. Each pilgrim paid anything between $2,500 to $3,500. But even as China plans to reopen the Hilsa border post in Humla starting 1 May, there is an alternative: the Lapcha Bhanjyang. The Indian yogi Sadhguru in 2021 visited Limi-Lapcha in northern Humla two times with his followers to pay his respects to Kailash-Mansarovar, the only accessible point in Nepal from which the holy lake and mountain are visible.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230426120456_a075abad4a4f09ffe9da0f7f4c69ff71aede6b7d304c3d995859e2342aa681a2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230426120456_a075abad4a4f09ffe9da0f7f4c69ff71aede6b7d304c3d995859e2342aa681a2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="mansarovar nt 2"> <figcaption>Local Tibetans and visitors circumbulating the outer kora of Mt Kailas</figcaption> </figure>  It takes four days on foot to reach Limi-Lapcha valley from Simkot, the district headquarters of Humla. During the first leg of the trip, unofficial homestay services are available but after that pilgrims manage their own tents and food.&nbsp; On top of the direct economic benefit to the travel companies, hotels, transport services and tour guide en route to Humla, the pilgrims also benefit the locals in Pashupati, Boudha, Swayambhu or Budhanilkantha which they visit in Kathmandu before departing for Kailas-Mansarovar. But the biggest draw for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalganj-gets-moving">the Nepal route</a> is that, unlike Indian tour companies, their Nepali counterparts are exempt from the Indian quota system. Any number of pilgrims of any nationality can visit Mount Kailas and Lake Mansarovar through Nepal if they can acquire Chinese visas and permits.&nbsp; By contrast, the agreement between the governments of India and China had stipulated that only 1,080 Indian pilgrims in 18 groups of 60 each could visit the sacred site in Tibet Autonomous Region through Lipu Lek every year before the road was built.&nbsp; This was before 2015 when a new route to Tibet via the Nathu La in Sikkim was opened, making the journey significantly safer and more comfortable, although longer. The Lipulek route at 5,500m meant pilgrims had to trek at high altitude, cross over to the Chinese side to take buses to the circumambulation. When the border road is finished next year, things could be easier.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230426110420_be521d653e54b38389ba90f7db0df01e77df3977bb075a4e5d67543bb1d3f9bf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230426110420_be521d653e54b38389ba90f7db0df01e77df3977bb075a4e5d67543bb1d3f9bf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1769" height="973" loading="lazy" alt="kailas-mansarovar map"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230426120456_24d19a700526da31a590668b9d23e7954f738ad36199dc506857473f6e829655.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230426120456_24d19a700526da31a590668b9d23e7954f738ad36199dc506857473f6e829655" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="mansarovar nt 3"> <figcaption>Stone near Dolma La pass where the picture of the dead are kept in remembrance and reverence</figcaption> </figure>  The new agreement to open the Nathu La pass allowed at first for 250 pilgrims in five groups of 50 each to visit <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/north-of-the-border">Mount Kailas and Mansarova</a>r, and then 500 people in 10 groups of 50 each soon after.&nbsp; Many Indian pilgrims, however, say that they find it preferable to travel to the sacred site through Nepal. And if Nepal can improve roads and facilities, it could get much more of the pilgrim traffic. Then the quota system set by the Chinese government means that there is a lucky draw and they must also pass the various health-related criteria at each stage of the selection. If a family wishes to visit Kailas-Mansarovar together, the chances of everyone passing and winning the lottery are slim. However, private companies operate the tour on Nepal and China sides for all pilgrim groups. &nbsp; &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230426120456_0b0625268aa018973bb2b4291bd13b3b9630124bc4803cd41555e1c13f49153c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230426120456_0b0625268aa018973bb2b4291bd13b3b9630124bc4803cd41555e1c13f49153c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="mansarovar nt 4"> <figcaption>Mt Kailas from the south face</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230426120456_c9ebfe48c38eb4419a1939ee141a4fbe28d44c89855be7069c42174b9db3abbc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230426120456_c9ebfe48c38eb4419a1939ee141a4fbe28d44c89855be7069c42174b9db3abbc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="mansarovar nt 5"> <figcaption>A view of Mt Kailas from Lake Mansarovar</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal can use its geographical location and geopolitics with long historical and cultural relationships with both countries to its advantage. India and China have had border disputes for a long time, with violent skirmishes at the border. However, the two countries depend on each other for trade.&nbsp; Nepal stands in a unique position to perform facilitative roles between the world’s two biggest economies. Connecting the followers of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bön faiths to the spiritually sacred Mount Kailas and Lake Mansarovar is one such opportunity, which Nepal is yet to tap adequately. &nbsp; The Department of Immigration in Kathmandu does not even keep a record of Indian pilgrims visiting Tibet through Nepal because ‘Kailas-Mansarovar does not fall within Nepali borders’ — even though these visitors were bringing in millions of dollars every year. Nepal will not always have this advantage. After the Indian and Chinese governments signed an agreement in 2015 to develop trade and pilgrimage to Kailas-Mansarovar through <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Lipu Lek</a>, the Indian authorities inaugurated a link road in the disputed region in May 2020. If China relaxes quota restrictions on Indian pilgrims, New Delhi may also impose restrictions on its citizens going via Nepal. It is urgent that Nepal think how best it can reap economic and geopolitical benefits of the Hilsa route with better connectivity and facilities.&nbsp; Nabraj Lama is a research scholar and his work focuses on geopolitics, indigenism, international affairs. <a href="mailto:mail@nabrajlama.com" target="_blank">mail@nabrajlama.com</a> Read also:&nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/northwestern-tip-of-nepal-Humla,3430">Remote corner of Nepal’s remotest district</a>, Bharat Bandhu Thapa <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/setis-gorgeous-gorges">Seti's gorgeous gorges</a>, Hermann Warth <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/trails-less-travelled/" target="_blank">Trails less travelled</a>, Joy Stephens <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/a-survival-strategy-for-nepal">A survival strategy for Nepal</a>, Kunda Dixit

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The geopolitics of pilgrimage

<img width="600" height="430" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904a79c7e80680e037d35jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>With a six-lane highway joining the city to Kohalpur, plans to upgrade to a Metropolis, international flights starting soon from its expanded airport, a railway station connecting to India, and new hotels and casinos coming up, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5885#.W4fVwM4zaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepalganj</a> feels like a town on the move.Adding to the excitement is the city’s can-do mayor, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10282#.W4J_8GaB1TY of the RPP" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-wplink-url-error="true">Dhawal Shumsher Rana</a>, who was re-elected last year and immediately set about improving Nepalganj’s crumbling roads, drainage and its poor image.The city suffered an economic setback when it lost out to Butwal as the capital of Province 5, but Mayor Rana is lobbying hard to declare Nepalganj a Metropolitan City by merging with Kohalpur.“Come back in a few more months, you will see a different Nepalganj,” says Rana proudly as he supervised a road widening on a recent rainy Saturday.Feeding the boom is Nepalganj’s emergence in recent years as one of the most popular gateways to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5392#.W4fXhs4zaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kailash in Tibet</a> for Indian pilgrims. (See map). Devotees from all over the world travel to one of Hinduism’s holiest sites, and the easiest route is through Nepalganj. Pilgrims also fly via Kathmandu and Lhasa, cross at Kerung, or go via India.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GprdlTsLdck&amp;feature=youtu.beThe Nepalganj route entails taking a plane to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/northwestern-tip-of-nepal-Humla,3430" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Simikot</a> , changing to a helicopter to Hilsa on the Tibet border, and then driving by SUV to the sacred Lake Mansarovar. Half the 15,000 Indian pilgrims to Tibet every year take the Nepalganj route, and this week, hotels here were full of pilgrims waiting for flights to Simikot delayed by bad weather.“Indians prefer to go via Nepal because the trip is smoother, the routes through India are very basic,” says Yash Thakur of Explore India Tours, which organises pilgrimages for Hindus from India, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, the United States and Britain. “If there is more support from Nepal, we can take 20,000 more pilgrims to Kailash via Nepal every year.”Prakash Shrestha of Explore Kailash has been arranging pilgrimage packages since 1996, and says if infrastructure bottlenecks are fixed, a lot more Indian tourists would prefer the Nepal route because they can also visit Pashupati or <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/going-to-jomsom-in-the-off-season,3878" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Muktinath</a>.“There aren’t enough helicopters, the weather delays flights, Nepalganj has good hotels, but there are few facilities in Simikot or Hilsa,” says Shrestha.There is also anticipation in Nepalganj about Buddha Air flights from Delhi starting in January which are expected to bring Indian tourists to the city’s new casinos, as well as Indian trekkers to Rara and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/Stairway-to-heaven-Dolpo-trek" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dolpo</a>, which have air connections from Nepalganj.“Nepalganj is going to be a multiple hub. We are going to expand Nepalganj airport, extend the runway and apron and upgrade the terminal building,” says Mayor Dhawal Rana, “and in a few years we will also have a railway station connecting to India.”

Kunda Dixit

Nepalganj gets moving

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

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Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art