The Nepal Weekly 
July 26, 2022
Since a decade, Kora has been a used term for environment activists and bicycle riders in Nepal. So as ‘Highs and highs of Kora’ is an annual cycling event organised in Nepal. The organisers mention that this has been going global now.
Kora is a Tibetan word that means “circumambulation” or “revolution”. Kora is both a type of pilgrimage and a type of meditative practice in the Tibetan Buddism or Bon traditions. A Koraa is performed by the practitioner making a circumambulation around a sacred site or object, typically as a constituent part of a pilgrimage, ceremony, celebration or ritual.
Raj Gyawali is the conceptualiser of Kora Kathmandu. He and his friends started the vent in 2011. The annual cycling event that he started with the aim of raising awareness about cycling, and it’s benefits including health and environment.
Gyawali says that he wanted to build a community of cyclists in Kathmandu. The number of participants is growing year by year. The enthusiasts from other cities are also increasing as well.
This year, Bhaktapurorganised the official Kora for the first time. That event took place on Saturday July 16, 2022.The event was participated in by a number of cyclists. The participants were divided into 50, 75 and 100 kilometres respectively.
The Kora was started from Bhaktapur Durbar Square and passed through Bode, Changunarayan, Nagarkot, NalaGumba, Gamcha, Doleshwar, Balkot, and Sano Thimi and ended at Durbar Square.
Moreover, the Kora organisers based in Bhaktapur intend to promote cycling within the city. They are looking for the city pedestrian-friendly and peddle-friendly.In addition this can turn to be a tourism product in the long run.
As there are a lot of uphills and most of the trail are off-road quality Kora in Bhaktapur has different features and seems to be more challenging than Kathmandu.
Raj Gyawali and Sailendra Dongol connected to Cycle City Network, who played an integral role in organising Kora .It has now extended to some other cities counting nearly 20 cities in Nepal.
They do not put restrictions on anyone who is interested in hosting Kora in their city. The only restriction is people have to register themselves on their website or app and the organisers of the city cannot take any money from the participants.
The event has come a long way since it started in 2011. The number of riders has increased from 35 in 2011 to 3,200 in 2019. However, it declined in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. Nevertheless, now with the pandemic looking subsided, the team is looking at over 3,000 participants who will cycle not just in Kathmandu but all over the world, the leading campaigners mention.
