Nepal is a small, mountainous kingdom 550 miles long by 90 to 150 miles wide with a population of around 18 million people. Roughly rectangular in shape, the country follows the line of the Himalayas from southeast to northwest. India that makes it one of the few landlocked countries in the world borders Nepal on the north by the Tibetan Autonomous region of China and on the east, south and west. Nepal is divided into 14 zones that are further divided into 75 development districts. The official language is Nepali and the currency is Nepalese Rupee.

Nepal calls itself the world’s only Hindu Kingdom. Nearly 90 % of the population claims to be Hindu though in Nepal there is only a very thin line between Hinduism and Buddhism. Overlaying both these religions is the practice of Tantrism. Tantrism is a set of prescribed formulas to understand the percepts such as meditation, yoga and magic formulas to understand the interconnectedness of spiritual and physical existence.