Eden Hashish Centre
According to cultural anthropologist Mark Liechty (Far Out: Countercultural Seekers and the Tourist Encounter in Nepal, 2017), Dev Dhatta Sharma opened his world-famous Eden Hashish Centre in Kathmandu sometime around 1970. He pioneered the use of English advertising, most notably in the form of popular promotional calendars featuring sentimental images of Hindu deities. Sharma printed these by the thousands, in dozens of different designs, with an English text that read: “Let us take higher. Eden Hashish Centre, oldest and favorite shop in town serving you the best Nepalese hash and ganja (available wholesale and retail). Come visit us any time for all your hashish needs.” The Eden Hashish Centre calendars quickly became beloved souvenirs for cannabis smokers who visited the city of Kathmandu. In 1973, due to US pressure on Nepal, all hashish shops had to close down.