Page 124 - Social Studies 4

According to Swayambhu Puran, in the beginning, the present Kathmandu
valley was a lake. Manjushree Bodhisatwo came to Nepal from China and
cut the hill near Chobhar. Then the water passed out through the gorge
and the Kathmandu valley became suitable for settlement. The Chinese
people started to call it ‘Nipolo’. Since then, it is believed that the word
Nepal derived from Chinese word ‘Nipolo’.

In the other hand, it is said that Nepal was named after Tibetan words ‘Ne’
and ‘Pal’. In Tibetan language ‘Ne’ means home and ‘Pal’ means ‘wool’.
The joint form of these two words mean ‘home of wool’. In ancient times,
Nepal was famous for sheep and wool. It may be true that the word Nepal
originated from Tibetan language. Besides, in the Limbu language, Nepal
means a plain land. As the Kathmandu valley is a plain, it may have been

named as Nepal. Old people still understand Kathmandu as Nepal.

Glossary

motherland – a country of birth
existence – a state of being alive
origin – point of beginning
gorge – a deep narrow valley

Teaching Instruction: Explain to the students about the origin of the word ‘Nepal’ according to religions,
languages and castes.

120 Megha's Integrated Social Studies - 4