Khaptad National Park is a protected area in the

Far-Western Region, Nepal The Far-Western Development Region ( Nepali: सुदुर पश्चिमाञ्चल विकास क्षेत्र, ''Sudur Pashchimānchal Bikās Kshetra'') was one of Nepal's five development regions. It was located at the ...

that was established in 1984. Stretching over the four districts of Bajhang,

Bajura Bajura District ( ne, बाजुरा जिल्ला ), a part of Sudurpashchim Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Martadi (today part of Badimalika municipality) as its district headquarters, c ...

Achham Achham ( ne, :ne:अछाम जिल्ला, अछाम जिल्ला ) is a district located in Sudurpashchim province of Nepal. It is one of the nine Districts of Nepal, districts of the Sudurpashchim, province. The district, with M ...

and

Doti Doti ( ne, डोटी), also known as Doti region, Dotigarh (डोटीगढ़) as used in the Jagar (folk tales; जागर), in the Farwestern region of Nepal (Sudurpashchim Province), is a region situated between River Kali bordering ...

it covers an area of and ranges in elevation from to .

History

Khaptad Baba moved to the area in the 1940s to

meditate Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

. He spent about 50 years as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

and became a renowned spiritual saint.

Vegetation

The landscape consists of moorland, steep slopes, and streams. 567 species of

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

have been recorded in the protected area. Vegetation types include chir pine-

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

forest,

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

forest and Himalayan fir- hemlock-oak forest and alder forest in riverine areas.

Fauna

Current checklists include 23

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s, 287

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, and 23

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s and

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s. Mammal species symbolic of the park are

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

, Himalayan black bear,

wild dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...

, and

musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all seven, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, but rather their fa ...

. Bird species symbolic of the park include the impeyan pheasant,

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

, and

white-rumped vulture The white-rumped vulture (''Gyps bengalensis'') is an Old World vulture native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000, as the population severely declined. White-rumped vultures di ...

Khaptad Baba Ashram

Khaptad Baba Ashram lies inside Khaptad National park. Khaptad Baba lived in Triveni located inside the national park and was known as a

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

, and

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

. File:Khaptad Baba.jpg, An effigy of Khaptad Baba at his Ashram. File:Baba hermitage.jpg, Khaptad Baba Ashram File:Khaptad Baba Ashram 2.jpg File:Khaptad Baba Ashram.jpg

Gallery

File:Khaptad, Khaptad National Park, Nepal.jpg, A stream in Khaptad File:Khaptad Lake - Khaptad National Park, Nepal.jpg, Khaptad Lagoon File:Meadows of Khaptad National Park, Nepal.jpg, Walking in the meadows of Khaptad File:More Meadows in Khaptad.jpg, A view of the meadows File:Meadows in Khaptad.jpg, Sunset view of meadows File:त्रिबेणी मन्दिर.jpg, Triveni Temple after snowfall File:हिउँ परेको.jpg, Snow at the Triveni Temple area in Khaptad File:गंगादशहरामा लागेको मेला.jpg, Ganga Dushera Festival in Khaptad File:खप्तड दह(ताल).jpg, The lagoon at Khaptad File:Bucci Flower.jpg, Wild flowers in Khaptad File:The Triveni Temple at Khaptad.jpg, Triveni Temple File:Triveni Dham.jpg, An older temple near the Triveni Temple

References

External links

*
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal : ''Khaptad National Park''
{{authority control National parks of Nepal 1984 establishments in Nepal