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Activities
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Nepal
>>
Activities >>
Sight Seeing |
 Bhaktapur
Bhaktapur means "the city of devotes" in
the Sanskrit language. It is also known
as Bhadgaon and was founded by in 889 AD
by King Anand Dev. Today it covers an
area of four square miles and is flanked
by Khasa Khusung and Hanumante Rivers.
The palace complex in the middle of the
city portrays the prosperity of the
Malla years and the details at which the
craftspeople then worked. The Palace of
Fifty-five Windows stands in the square
and it was home to many kings of
Bhaktapur. They even ruled over
Kathmandu and Patan from the twelfth
century to the 14th century. The massive
gate to the square was made by King
Bhupatindra Malla (1696 to 1722) who
took pride in his own engineering and
building skills. His skills must have
been impressive indeed as the gate,
though it looks small now, was among the
biggest in the valley and daunted many
an enemy. It is sturdy even now and
stands firmly. Among the other monuments
in Bhaktapur are the big bell, the
Golden Gate, the five-tiered temple of
Nyatapola, the Bhairab Temple, and the
Dattatreya Square with its woodcarving
and metalwork museums. Surrounded by
beautiful farming area, the traveler to
Bhaktapur will easily fall in love with
the city. Bhaktapur is perhaps the most
popular of the three Newar towns of the
Kathmandu Valley. Newar art and
architecture here rival the best
craftsmanship of the Malla period (from
the 12th to the 18th century). Though a
massive earthquake of 1934 destroyed
many temples, bahals (monastery
courtyards), and residences, the city is
still a living proof of the highest
craft standards in this part of the
world. As the visitor wanders through
narrow brick paved streets, many alleys
will show hidden shrines and statues.
Clay craftsmanship as well as cloth
weaving is still practiced here very
much as in the past. Fourteen kilometers
east of Kathmandu, this peaceful,
conservative town stands in sharp
contrast to the bustle of its two
adjacent cities. |
 Patan
The ancient city is situated on the
southern bank of the river Bagmati and
is about five kms southeast of
Kathmandu. The city is full of Buddhist
monuments and Hindu temples with fine
bronze gateways, guardian deities and
wonderful carvings. Noted for its
craftsmen and metal workers, it is known
as the city of artists. Patan is the
oldest of the three ancient
city-kingdoms of the Kathmandu valley
which once ruled by the mallas. Patan is
still populated mostly by Newars,
two-thirds of them being Buddhist. As in
Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, a fusion
prevails between Hinduism and Buddhism.
Also, as in those cities, Patan has a
Durbar Square and a labyrinth of winding
lanes. The square boasts of many famous
sites and unique architecture. Krishna
Mandir in the Patan Durbar Square was
built to honor an incarnation of Vishnu.
Krishna fought by the side of the
Pandavs in the Mahabharat war to assure
that truth would prevail. This temple is
the best example of stone architecture
in Nepal. Scenes from the Mahabharat,
Asia's greatest mythological war, are
carved on the temple's wall. The Bhimsen
Temple which honors Bhim - great
wrestler, brother of the Pandavs, and a
deity to Nepalese businessmen - contains
fine samples of metal craft. The best
place, however, to see metal sculpture
is the Hiranya Varna Mahabihar, the
"Golden Temple". It is a Newar monastery
which contains wall painting ,
fourteenth century statues, and
scriptures. Other sites including the
Mahabouddha Temple and Uku Bahal are
only a few minutes walk away from the
square. The streets in this area are
home to metal sculptors of the present
day. Many more temples dedicated to
Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, Shiva,
Narsingha, Taleju, and others are
situated in the Patan Durbar Square. |
 Pashupatinath
Pashupatinath is Nepal's holiest Hindu
Pilgrimage site (followed by the remote
Muktinath in the Himalaya). Like
Varanasi in India - although on a much
smaller scale - it is a time-warp of
temples, cremation ghats, ritual bathers
and bearded, half-naked sadhus
(religious mendicants). Dedicated to
Lord Shiva (one of the Hindu trinity),
the shrines and temples of Pashupatinath
straddle the now-polluted Bagmati river
which, like the Ganges, is considered
sacred by the faithful. To die and to be
cremated here is to be released from
samsara (the cycle of rebirth in this
world). This wooded ravine near the golf
course and airport is considered to be
one of the abodes of Lord Shiva who is
the patron deity (in one of his more
benign forms) of Nepal. Pashupati is
another name for Shiva and means 'Lord
of the Animals'. |
 Swayambhu
The history of the Valley, according to
the legends, begins with Swayambhu, or
"the self-existent". In times uncharted
by history, Bodhisattva Manjusri came
across a beautiful lake during his
travel. He saw a lotus that emitted
brilliant light at the lake's center, so
he cut a gorge in a southern hill and
drained the waters to worship the lotus.
Men settled on the bed of the lake and
called it the Kathmandu Valley. From
then on, the hilltop of the
Self-existent Lord has been a holy
place. Swayambhu's light was covered in
time because few could bear its
intensity. By the thirteenth century,
after many layers were added to the
original structure that enveloped the
Lord's power, a dome-like shape had been
acquried. The stupas central mast was
damaged and replaced at that time.
Peripheral sources of power were
discovered on the hilltop as well and
stupas, temples, and resthouses were
built to honor them. Image of important
deities, both Buddhist and Hindu, were
also installed. Today, age-old statues
and shrines dot the stupa complex.
Behind the hilltop is a temple dedicated
to Manjusri of Saraswati - the goddess
of learning. Swayambhu is the best place
to observe the religious harmoney in
Nepal. The stupa is among the most
ancient in this part of the world, and
its worshippers are diverse from Newar
nuns, Tibetan monks, and Brahmin priests
to lay Buddhists and Hindus. The largest
image of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Nepal
is in a monastery next to the stupa.
Other monasteries here have huge prayer
wheels, fine Buddhist paintings.
Swayambhu is a major landmark of the
Valley and looks like a beacon below the
Nagarjun hill. It provides an excellent
view of the Kathmandu Valley. |
 Bouddhanath
Bouddhanath is among the largest stupas
in South Asia, and it has become the
focal point of Tibetan Buddhism in
Nepal. The white mound looms thirty-six
meters overhead. The stupa is located on
the ancient trade route to Tibet and
Tibetan merchants rested and offered
prayers here for many centuries. When
refugees entered Nepal from Tibet in the
1950s, many of them decided to live
around Bouddhanath. They established
many gompas, and the "Little Tibet" of
Nepal was born. This "Little Tibet" is
still the best place in the Valley to
observe Tibetan lifestyle. It is the
biggest stupa in the Valley. The stupa,
well known as Khasti, is also known as
the World Heritage Site. It looms 36
meters high and presents one of the most
fascinating specimens of stupa design.
There are more than 45 Buddhist
monasteries in the area. It lies about 6
km to the east of downtown Kathmandu.
The Bouddha area Preservation &
Development Committee runs an
information center. |
 Budhanilkantha
Situated below Shivapuri hill at the
northern end of the valley,
Buddhanilkantha temple is 9 km from
Kathmandu city. The temple consists of a
pond in which lies a great stone figure
of the Hindu god Vishnu reclining on the
coils of a cosmic serpent. The huge
statue of sleeping Vishnu is carved from
the single block of black stone of a
type not found in the valley. It is
believed that ages before the two
hardworking farmers (husband and wife)
discovered the statue when they were
ploughing their field.
Besides Budhanilkantha temple, there are
other two sets of exactly similar, but
smaller statues of 'sleeping Vishnu' in
the Valley. One set is in the Balaju
garden and the other is hidden in the
old garden of Hanuman Dhoka Palace of
Kathmandu city. A prophetic dream of
King Pratap Malla generated the belief
that the King of Nepal should never
visit Buddhanilkantha temple on threat
of death. He then built the similar
statue in two places. |
 Hanuman
Dhoka (Durbar Square)
The Square is the complex of palaces,
courtyards and temples that are built
between the 12th and the 18th centuries
by the ancient Malla Kings of Nepal. It
is the social, religious and urban focal
point of the city. Taleju Temple, Kal
Bhairab (God of Destruction), Nautalle
Durbar, Coronation Nasal Chowk, the
Gaddi Baithak, the statue of King Pratap
Malla, the Big Bell, Big Drum and the
Jagnnath Temple are some of the
interesting things to see in this
Square.
An intriguing piece here is the 17th
century stone inscription that is set
into the wall of the palace with
writings in 15 languages. It is believed
that if anybody deciphers this entire
inscription, the milk would flow from
the spout, which lies just below the
unscripted stonewall. Some people say
that the inscription contains coded
directions to a treasure King Pratap
Malla has buried beneath Mohan chowk of
Durbar Square.
There are several museums inside the
palace building. There is an entrance
fee of Rs. 250 for all the foreign
visitors to visit all the museums of the
palace building. |
 Kasthamandap
King Laxmi Narsingha Malla built this
temple in the sixteenth century. It is
said to be constructed from the wood of
single tree. It is located near the
temple of Kumari. Indeed the city of
Kathmandu derives its name from this
temple.
Behind Kasthamandap, there is a small
but a very important temple of Ashok
Vinayak, also known as Kathmandu Ganesh
or Maru Ganesh. |
Changu Narayan
Temple
It lies on a ridge over looking the
Valley, about twelve-kilometer to the
east of the city. It is dedicated to the
Hindu God Vishnu. The scared complex is
a World Heritage Site. It has one of the
finest and oldest specimens of pagoda
architecture that is embellished with
exquisite wood and stone carvings. |
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