Gurkha attibutes in Pokhara

[Wmr-RHB]

We just returned from a vacation trip to mainly Nepal. Pokhara is not only a tourist place, but also a focus of Gurkhas. To begin with, we found the following in the restaurant of our hotel and it may be that members here are interested.

First page of the menu tells all about it. The subject is thus: 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

The frame at the wall of the restaurant.

The hat with the checkered flash related to the checkered band on the pillbox cap of the 2nd.

The badge on the belt. Note that it has two types of crowns!
The left half and the right half of the badge with the battle honours.

The tache (or what it is called) with the badge of the same design as the cap badge of the 2nd.

Rams head with the original (and later secondary) title of the regiment "Sirmoor Rifles".

The two other objects are shields representing 2nd Gurkha Rifles and Gloustershire ACF (with badges of The Rifles).

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We also visited the Gurkha Museum in Pokhara and I tried to take some pictures there. When there is interest I will try to post them in this thread.

[peter monahan]

Wonderful stuff, Henk. I once ate in a restaraunt in London called 'The Laughing Gurkha' but I'm pretty sure the owners were English and years ago there was the 'Empress of India' near Niagara Falls, Canada, run by an ex-IAF pilot who'd gone on the work for Freddy Laker. He had great stories, including getting shot down on Day 1 of the first Indo-Pak War by AA guns firing down on him as he and his squadron mates bombed a bridge on the border!

The two kukris on the wall are interesting - quite long and resemble, to my eye, ones I've seen in photos of the annual sacrifice of a bullock by Gurkhas. I've forgotten the festival, but the job is done with a two-handed kukri and, for luck, must be a single blow. Or that's how I remember it.

Very jealous of the trip. My wife wants to 'do' Thailand in a couple years but I suspect Nepal and the NWF are not going to make the itinerary.

[Wmr-RHB]

Originally Posted by peter monahan

The two kukris on the wall are interesting - quite long and resemble, to my eye, ones I've seen in photos of the annual sacrifice of a bullock by Gurkhas. I've forgotten the festival, but the job is done with a two-handed kukri and, for luck, must be a single blow. Or that's how I remember it.

The kukris on the wall are, like the 2GR, not of the best quality. They are just to make a bit of a show.

You can of course see (and buy) kukris in all sizes and quality in Nepal. Farmers use them for everything (from small boys to old man). BTW, those farmers will be of many different groups of the population (Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Newar, ......) and will not call themselves "Gurkhas". In Nepal the word "Gurkha" is more or less reserved for the military. In India this is different. A large and diverse group of Nepali origin will call themselves "Gorkha" and e.g. try to split of part off West Bengal as a separate state within India: Gorkhaland.

I have here in the room three kukris lying around, but nowadays, I assume that transporting them in your airplane luggage is not something to be tried.

And yes, at Dasain a lot of animals are sacrificed. A small goat meets a normally sized kukri, but a water buffalo needs something different and a powerful man also.

Originally Posted by peter monahan

Very jealous of the trip. My wife wants to 'do' Thailand in a couple years but I suspect Nepal and the NWF are not going to make the itinerary.

Well, Nepal is easy to visit, bit I would not dare to say the same for NWF of Pakistan.

[Wmr-RHB]

The Gurkha Memorial Museum: http://gurkhamuseum.org.np/.

I found the museum worth while a visit. Three stories full of Gurkha photographs (many of them I recognised from being published in books, etc.), uniform items, VC citations, short regimental histories, etc. The photo Gallery of the museum site (link above, scroll down to the Useful Links) shows a good overview of what to expect.

The whole outfit seems to be very well organised as one can expect from something to be run the Gurkha way. Clean glass to look through, media presentations that simply function, etc. And, not unimportant for western tourists, clean toilets .

Starting with the general history and the regiments of the British Indian army, it then comes to the four British regiments, but there are also sections on the modern India regiments, the Gurkhas of the Singapore Police, The (Royal) Nepalese Army and ( for whatever reason) The Jammu & Kashmir Rifles of the modern Indian army.
It then comes to more recent history with the British Gurkha Engineers, Signals and supporting services. And of course the Royal Gurkha Rifles of today (I still remember a photo of the RGR patrol north of Khandahar in ankle deep snow!)

Well done! And a lot of donations made it possible.

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I tried to take some pictures (you need an 20R ticket for the allowance) of several objects, not always easy with the spotless, but mirroring glass, and am willing to show them here if anybody is interested.

[peter monahan]

"You can of course see (and buy) kukris in all sizes and quality in Nepal. Farmers use them for everything (from small boys to old man)."

Yes, I figured the larger kukris were decorative, though as you say they are ubiqitous in that part of the world - like shovels here.

"BTW, those farmers will be of many different groups of the population (Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Newar, ......) and will not call themselves "Gurkhas". In Nepal the word "Gurkha" is more or less reserved for the military. "

The few Gurkhas I have met - all servicemen - will, on enquiry, tell you which clan/tribe they are from but as you say when soldiering self-identify as 'Gurkha'. Very friendly, as a rule, and it must be gratifying to be the object of so much admiration.

Safe travels!