Under the Painted Eyes: A Story of Nepal (The Gurkha King, the Great Mountains Weep and the Rising Mist) An Old and Rare Book

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The three novels of "Under The Painted Eyes" are set in the shadow of the great Himalayan Mountains and against the background tapestry of Nepal's fascinating history and rich culture. Fictional and historical characters live, love, fight and worship under the watching eyes of the Adi Buddha, which are painted on the torans of the Swayambhunath and the Bodnath and other ancient temples. The novels tell of romance and love over the centuries and the happiness and tragedy they bring. There are the golden-roofed pagodas and the exotic festivals, intrigue, war and massacre, and the abuse of power and finally the successful struggle for democracy in modern times.

The author, Ferd Mahler, was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1921. An economist, he worked for many years with the International Labour Office, a United Nations' agency. During the 1980s he undertook consultancies in Nepal where he travelled widely and met many people in both towns and villages. He had the opportunity to learn much of Nepal's history and culture and its problems.

The three novels in this book relate to happenings in Nepal from the nation's beginning when the Gurkha King fought and took the Valley of Nepal in the 1760, through the tragedies and the rise of the Rana dynasty in the nineteenth century, to modern times. They are essentially historical novels, perhaps more so than some others of that genre because they are as much novels of events and places as they are of characters. I have adopted this approach because I found Nepal's culture so rich, its history so fascinating, and its successful fight for democracy of recent times so commendable. Whilst there are many books on mountaineering in the Himalayas there is a dearth of novels about Nepal. Until Nepal has more of its own authors, I hope that these three novels set in its towns and villages and on the plains of the Terai and on the border with Tibet-will, in a modest way, add a little to Nepal's cultural record. I also hope that they will help to serve the already wide interest in Nepal and add to the growing number of tourists visiting that country. Finally I would like to point out that I have attempted to write a book that is concerned with human values and these are intended to offer some challenge to the reader.