Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, April 22:

Since its establishment in 1990 ‘Nepathya’ has won its way to people’s hearts with outstanding melodious track that are based in folk music. From “Barashat Ko Mausom”, “Chekyo Chekyo”, “Eouta Chitthi”, “Jomsome Bazar Ma”, “Chari Mario Shisai Ko Goli Le”, “Resham” to the latest “Bheda Ko Oon” and “Sa…Karnali” they have grown in popularity.

For music lovers throughout the country this is an opportunity to catch ‘Nepathya’ live. nepa-laya is taking Nepathya on a tour of major cities and towns throughout Nepal. Starting from April 27 the band is hitting the road and travelling to 15 places with the message ‘Education for Peace’. Nepathya will appear in concerts across the country from Dhangadi in the far west to Dharan in the East. The tour is set to commence from Tulsipur, Dang and then move on to Dhangadi, Nepalgunj, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Pokhara, Palpa, Birgunj, Dharan, Dulabari, Damak, Janakpur, Hetauda and Narayanghat before finally returning to Kathmandu on May 28.

The primary objective of the tour is to use the medium of music to heal in these disturbed times. Nepathya will tour the country as ambassadors for peace and to promote a sound environment for education. Amrit Gurung, band leader and vocalist of Nepathya says, “I wish there was peace and I did not have to advocate for it…”

This is Nepathya’s third national tour. In 2002 they travelled to five cities — Pokhara, Narayanghat, Hetauda,

Biratnagar and Kathmandu — with a nationwide peace campaign initiated jointly by the band and napa-laya with the slogan ‘Shanti Ko Lagi Sikshya’ (Education for Peace). All funds collected approximately 4,00,000 was donated to public schools in the venue cities for building libraries.

In 2003, they teamed up with five other artists — Deep Shrestha, Kunti Moktan, Prem Rana ‘Autari’, Ram Thapa, Sapana Shree and Sukmit Gurung — to make ‘Sundar Shanta Nepal - The Travelling Peace Concert’ a success. Live radio broadcasts will be carried by

local radio stations in most of the venues except in Dhangadi, Nepalgunj, Janakpur and Damak, where there are no local radio stations.

Nepathya currently has Amrit Gurung on vocals, Dhurba Lama on drums, Daniel Don Karthak on bass, Hari Maharjan on guitars, Nikhil Tuladhar on percussion and Suraj Thapa on keyboards. Nepathya has always been a platform for talented musicians. Formed in 1990 by Deepak Rana (now a chopper pilot), Bhim Rana (now settled in Hong Kong) and Amrit Gurung, Nepathya has in these 14 years provided a platform to many musicians. It has seen 18 new faces come and go in the band but the name ‘Nepathya’ and its popularity remain consistent.