Waling
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Waling Municipality वालिङ नगरपालिका |
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| Municipality | |
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 Waling Municipality
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| Coordinates: 27°59′20″N 83°46′3″E / 27.98889°N 83.76750°ECoordinates: 27°59′20″N 83°46′3″E / 27.98889°N 83.76750°E | |
| Country |
 Nepal
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| Development Region | Western |
| Zone | Gandaki Zone |
| District | Syangja District |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 24,006 |
| Time zone | NST (UTC+5:45) |
| Area code(s) | 063 |
| Website | walingmun.gov.np |
Waling Municipality, the heart of Syangja, is a small valley covered with hills formed on January 27, 1997 by merging of the then three VDCs namely Waling, Dhanubase and Pekhubaaghkhor. It is a town and municipality in the western hilly region of Nepal. It is in the Aadhikhola valley in Syangja District, Gandaki Zone of Nepal.
Waling bazaar is at the height of 800 meters from sea level while the municipality's height extends from 731 to 1596 meters and extends from 28 degrees latitude on the East to 83.45 degrees longitude. The municipality have two electoral constituencies, 3 DDC ilaka and 11 municipal wards.
The total area of Waling municipality is 34.76 sq km. According to the 2011 national census, the municipality population is 24,006 with 1.7 percent population growth rate. The literacy rate is 81.71 percent, however, the municipality have already been declared full literate.
There are a number of stories about origin of the word Waling. One of them mentions it to be derived from the word wali - the monsoon folk songs sung by women in fields while planting paddy. Waling is famous for its unending paddy fields on the plains along banks of Aandhikhola River and the undulating terraces in mountain slopes that are crisscrossed by numerous creeks. Many people used to come to watch these festive women groups singing wali and planting paddy beautifully in unison in the monsoon drizzle.
The town itself is on the banks of river Aandhikhola that flows west along the valleys and gorges in the western lesser himalayan mountains to meet the famous Kaligandaki river. Mythology dates back the origin of Aandhikhola to the ancient time of Dwapar Yuga described in Hindu Puranas during the period of King Dasharatha, the father of Lord Ram of Ramayana. During that time, a pious and aged blind couple had a devoted son named Shrawankumar. The old couple wished a pilgrimage before their death and Shrawan Kumar was on journey carrying them on his shoulder to fulfill their desire. On the way in a forest near Himalaya, his parents became very thirsty. He left them in a comfortable tree shade and rushed to a nearby river promising to return soon with water. As he hurriedly plunged his pitcher in the water, it produced a noise like that of a wild animal. King Dasaratha was hunting nearby and happened to hear the sound. The king could shoot his target without seeing the target only with guidance of sound.He assumed the sound to be of a wild beast and shot his arrows in the direction. As he arrived, he saw a young man lying dead with his arrow piercing his chest. He then saw the pitcher and immediately realized his mistake. The guilt-ridden king quietly carried water to the old couple but they demanded to know about their son before drinking it. When he told them about his mistake resulting in their son's death, they began to cry and died in the spot leaving behind a pool of tears which transformed into a small lake. A stream began to flow from this lake. The term 'Aandhi' means 'blind' and 'khola' means 'river' in nepali language. Thus this new river got its name as Aandhikhola referring to tears of Shrawan Kumar's blind parents.
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Wikipedia