Gurung Culture as A Prospect of tourism Development in Ghachok Village (A Case Study of Ghachok Village of Kaski District)

Abstract

This thesis entitled “Gurung Culture as a Prospect of TourismDevelopment in Ghachok Village” intended to focus on the village tourism being practiced by the Gurung people in the Ghachok village of Kaski district.Gurung peoples are one of the indigenous populations mostly residing in the hill areasince the historictimes. For this study, the locality Ghachok village was chosen whichis inhabited mainly by the Gurung people. Rural tourism as a phenomenon is concerned with river, nature, environment, ruralsociety and household. It represents conservation, life style, experience, adventure andabove all benefit to the local people. The main objective of rural tourism includestourists to plan a trip, immerse into the local community along with minimizing theeco-cultural impact. When an organized group of tourists reached Ghachok , thevillagers descend down the village and welcome tourist with garlands, tika, andtraditional Gurung musical bands. While music and dances are performed andtraditional farewell songs are also sung when guests depart. The Village TourismCommittee distributes the guest into the different households having the facility ofhome stay. Guests are presented to different cultural programs such as Dohari song,Gantu dance and Krishna Charita dance in the premise of community Hall. This study hasbeen conducted to assess the impact of village tourism on local culture;for which changes that have occurred or occurring these days have also observedclosely. On the other hand cultural revitalization is also directly connected to tourism.In this sense, even village tourism as modern institution plays vital role to promoteand restore the root culture. So, basically this study aims to identify the impacts ofglobalization on the Gurung cultures and the role of village tourism to revitalize thetraditional culture as a whole.