Adobe and Bamboo Research Institute

Bamboo and hinduism has a very interesting connection. It is said that bamboo shoot should not be harvested by a brahmin, as it is compared to a killing child of the family. Similarly brahmins should not plant bamboo or a banana, they usually hire a people of  other caste to do so. But on the other hand, on all brahmin wedding, bamboo and a banana are mandatory, and the deads are always carried on a bamboo stretcher.

In kathmandu, bamboo should not be harvested on Sundays or wednesdays and on  a new moon night or a full moon night, while in the eastern nepal bamboo are not harvested on mondays.

On the other hand, bamboo and a banana are mandatory in a hindu wedding. One should always carry a dead body on a bamboo stretcher.

It is believed that whereever buddhism went, bamboo went along. Bamboo and buddhism were intrically associated.  As the buddhism spread, it is believed that hindus got scared and started attacking buddhist beliefs. And since buddhism was intricately tied to bamboo, they started by attacking bamboo. Perhaps that is why, the traditional skilled craftsmen of nepal are not the brahmins but of other groups.

But in the modern days, things are changing, as the caste system is being replaced by the class. Now there is a class bias against bamboo, as it is considered sign of poverty and backwardness to live in a bamboo house.

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