Annapurna Sanctuary

The Annapurna Sanctuary is “high glacial basin lying forty kilometers directly north of Pokhara, Nepal's second city.” [ [http://www.neatadventure.com/annapurna_sanctuary_trek.php] ] This oval-shaped plateau sits at an altitude of over 4000 meters [Ortner, Jon. "Where Every Breath is a Prayer: A Photographic Pilgrimage into the Heart of Asia". New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. p. 29] , and is surrounded by a ring of mountains, the Annapurna range, most of which are over 7000 meters. [ [http://www.neatadventure.com/annapurna_sanctuary_trek.php] ] With the only entrance a narrow pass between the peaks of Hiunchuli and Machapuchare, where run-off from glaciers drain into Modi Khola River, the Sanctuary was not penetrated by outsiders until 1956. [Ortner, Jon. "Where Every Breath is a Prayer: A Photographic Pilgrimage into the Heart of Asia". New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. p. 29] Because of high mountains on all sides, the Annapurna Sanctuary receives only 7 hours of sunlight a day at the height of summer. [Ortner, Jon. "Where Every Breath is a Prayer: A Photographic Pilgrimage into the Heart of Asia". New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. p. 29] The unique combination of heights and depths in the Annapurna Sanctuary give rise to an extraordinary variety of ecosystems. The south-facing slope are “covered in dense tropical jungles of rhododendron and bamboo”, while the north-facing slopes, in the rain shadow, have “a drier colder climate similar to that of the near-by Tibetan Plateau.” [Ortner, Jon. "Where Every Breath is a Prayer: A Photographic Pilgrimage into the Heart of Asia". New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. p. 29]

The entire sanctuary was held as sacred to the Gurung people, the only people to inhabit it before the 20th century. [Ortner, Jon. "Where Every Breath is a Prayer: A Photographic Pilgrimage into the Heart of Asia". New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. pp. 29-30] They believed it was the repository of gold and various treasures left by the Nāgas, the serpent-gods known in India. [Bernbaum, Edwin. "Sacred Mountains of the World". Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. p. 20.] The sanctuary was believe the home of several deities, from Hinduism and Buddhism as well the older animistic religions. [Bernbaum, Edwin. "Sacred Mountains of the World". Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. p. 20.] The peak of Machapuchare at the entrance was believed the home of the god Shiva, and the daily plumes of snow were thought the smoke of his divine incense. [Ortner, Jon. "Where Every Breath is a Prayer: A Photographic Pilgrimage into the Heart of Asia". New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. p. 30] Until recently, the local Gurang people forbade anyone to bring eggs or meat into the Annapurna Sanctuary, and women and untouchables were prohibited from going there as well. [Bernbaum, Edwin. "Sacred Mountains of the World". Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. p. 20]

In recent years, the number of trekkers to the Sanctuary has increase substantially, in part because the Sanctuary forms the base of one of the major routes to the peaks of the Annapurna range. The Annapurna Sanctuary is now part of the [http://www.south-asia.com/Kingmah/tonproj.htm#1 Annapurna Conservation Area Project] , which place restrictions on number of outside travelers, gathering of firewood, and domestic animal grazing. [Ortner, Jon. "Where Every Breath is a Prayer: A Photographic Pilgrimage into the Heart of Asia". New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. p. 30]

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