Description : Lomanthang (Nepali: लोमान्थाङ) is a rural municipality in Mustang district in Gandaki Pradesh of western Nepal. It is located at the northern end of the district, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and Dalome rural municipality of Mustang in the south. Lo is the northern two-thirds of Mustang district, culturally and linguistically influenced by Tibet, while the southern third is called Thak, the homeland of Thakali people who speak a different language and have a synthesis of Tibetan and Nepalese culture. Recently a series of at least twelve caves were discovered north of Annapurna and near the village, decorated with ancient Buddhist paintings and set in sheer cliffs at an elevation of 14,000 feet (4,300 m). The paintings show Newari influence, dating to approximately the 13th century, and also contain Tibetan scripts executed in ink, silver and gold and pre-Christian era pottery shards. Explorers found stupas, decorative art and paintings depicting various forms of the Buddha, often with disciples, supplicants and attendants, with some mural paintings showing sub-tropical themes containing palm trees, billowing Indian textiles and birds. Lo Manthang was the walled capital of the Kingdom of Lo from its founding in 1380 by Ame Pal who oversaw construction of the city wall and many of the still-standing structures. After the Shahs of Gorkha forged Nepal out of numerous petty kingdoms in the 18th century, Lo became a dependency but kept its hereditary rulers. This arrangement continued as long as Nepal remained a kingdom, until the country was declared a republic in 2008 and Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista (c.1933–2016) was stripped of his title. His protector King Gyanendra suffered the same fate, however the raja or gyelpo of Mustang was 25th in a direct line of rulers dating back to 1380 AD. Gyanendra was only the eleventh Shah ruler since Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered Kathmandu in 1768. More prosaically, Lo Manthang became a village development committee in Mustang district of Dhawalagiri zone. The 1991 census counted 876 people living in 178 households in the VDC. The population includes ethnic Lhobas.
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