Chasing angels or fleeing demons Nepal Chasing angels or fleeing demons Subodh SJB Rana

HIPPY THEME EVENT We think of sixties as a time of peace, love, "come together" vibe era - the era of compassion, peaceful music, laid back people with carefree spirits smoking marijuana, psychedelic colors, and also a time when the greatest of music was composed, it was also a time of drugs and rock & roll!   There were two aspects to the experience of the 60s: the resistance to the war, and the "psychedelic experience", personified as political activists and hippies. The whole hippy movement started with civil rights movements in the South of America. Many young Americans experienced the draft to Vietnam War. Such factors of this decade had an impact and made a change.

A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENA Music was the heartbeat of the hippy movement. Music was the hippies' gateway to the general public in the late 1960's. The music and concerts from bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother, John Lennon and of course Jimi Hendrix got the public's attention with its new psychedelic sound and the often trippy lyrics. The music served as a soundtrack to the hippies' lives and the many events like the Human Be-In and Woodstock movement. Rock & Roll is what made the good times happen in the sixties and seventies. Rock & Roll artists like the Beatles, Beach Boys, Elvis, Doors became the anthem of the young people around the world and are still popular today. The Twist was the starring music of the 60’s.  It made people move to a certain beat. A Form of self-expression, a loosening of inhibitions. The Sixties is denoted as the Woodstock Era and continues in its popularity to date.  

NEPAL – A HAVEN FOR THE HIPPIES! They leaped across oceans and through time to pre-Christian mythologies like the American Indian, the Egyptian and the occult and pagan philosophies of Europe. They studied with Buddhists and Indian gurus, native shamans, witches and yogis. Their belief in Tarot cards or their astrological charts deepened. At this time in the sixties hippy culture came to Kathmandu in a place called Freak Street now better known as Thamel. Many young people from all over the world gathered here to form a small hippy community, which was also joined by the local youths. The hippies of Kathmandu dressed in psychedelic colored clothes with long hair, bandanas, beads, Hare Rama scarves.  During the sixties it was a fashion statement to have hashish. Every evening this multi cultural group of people gathered around Hanuman Dhoka, smoked hashish and expressed themselves with their music, group singing and dances. The hippy movement evolved, passed and yet retains a charisma, a certain flavor for most people across nations.

FLOWER POWER

Nepal was a haven for the hippies

Costumes to Recreate the mood

Atmosphere from the sixties

Music to match

Wining and dining

Jam session

A Star is Born

TILL WE MEET AGAIN Samakhushi Marg (near Children Park) , P.O. Box 2036 | Kathmandu, Nepal Tel : +977-1-4365900 | Fax : 977-1-4365488 Email: info@mallatravels.com.np