Eden Hashish Centre
Posters and Calendars
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Kathmandu Nepal, located in a beautiful green valley deep in the Himalaya Mountains, was a hippie magnet in the late 60's and early 70's. Friendly and intelligent people, great food and cheap lodging were some of the attractions, but an important reason was the local attitude towards marijuana - it was legal. Indeed Ganga, as it is called there, grows wild all over the hills, and its' more interesting properties have long been explored and respected by Sadhus - the wandering holy men of Nepal and India. The hippies fit right in.
The Eden Hashish Centre was the largest of several legal storefronts in Kathmandu that provided quality hash and grass to the tourists. Mr. Sharma, the owner, opened two shops. The original location was at 5/1 Basantpur in the famous "Freak Street" hippy district, a location that ironically now is occupied by a bank. The second shop was located at 5/259 Ombahal, in south Thamel.
In late 1973, soon after the second Edenhash shop opened, threats of the loss of foreign aid from the American administration of Richard Nixon forced Nepal to outlaw Cannabis products, including hashish and marijuana. The two Eden Hashish Centres, the Central Hashish Centre and the others closed their doors and the pot and hashish business moved underground. These days much of the hash in Nepal ("charris" in Nepali) is mixed with a type of glue, making a harsh and unappealing smoke.
The memory (if not a trace of the aroma) of the Eden Hashish Center lives on in the advertising posters Mr Sharma distributed. Extraordinary prints of Hindu gods and other subjects were overprinted with the Eden name and addresses. They were often taken home and prized by their Hippie customers.
These rare genuine posters (many had calendars attached at the bottom) are valuable collector's items today. Yet there is a universial appeal in the art of the Eden Hashish Centre that should not be reserved for those few collectors who can afford them. Enjoy this spiritual journey, and if your quest is aided by modern-day products similar to the wares offered at the Eden Center we won't mind.
We offer original Eden Hashish Centre posters for sale, visit our Sales Page.
All of the pictures on this website are from calendars and posters from the Eden Hashish Centre and have printing at the bottom similar to the above example. Only the image is shown in the remainder of the photos to save space.
A multi armed goddess with a lion, perhaps a form of Parvati. Shiva, Ganesh and I believe Ram and Vishnu are found in the smaller pictures.
Krishna playing his flute with a jeweled cow listening.
Luxmi (Laxmi), goddess of wealth, with lucky elephants and showers of coins.
Hanuman bringing pearls to the palace of Ram.
Ram pouring ghee (liquid butter) on a lingam.
Krishna playing his flute.
Below is an image of him as a child with an older musician, perhaps his teacher.
Shiva in a lotus position with cobras.
Ram and Sita placing herbs in a puja fire.
A dreamy portrait of Shiva.
We offer original Eden Hashish Centre posters for sale,
visit our Sales Page.
The Thamel shop was located on the second floor (Americian numbering)
That would be the first floor to Europeans and in Nepal
Photo: Wikipedia