Bhaktapur (Bhadgaon)

Perched on a hill at an altitude of 1,401m, Bhaktapur or Bhadgaon, literally the City of Devotees, is a major tourist attraction taking visitors back in time. Covering an area of 4 sq. miles, this city retains the charming paved roads, red brick houses and a way of life that goes back to medieval times. The extraordinary ‘Durbar Square’ with its celebrated Golden Gate and extraordinary Palace of Fifty-Five windows reflects the glory days of the Malla Dynasty when art and architecture thrived in the three cities of the valley. Situated 14km east of Kathmandu, this ancient city is also famous for pottery and woodcarving amply displayed on the squares and windows respectively.
 
Around Bhaktapur

Siddha Pokhari: For a small city, Bhaktapur has the largest number of public water tanks built within the city limits. Siddha Pokhu (Pokhari) is one of the largest tanks meant to supply drinking water to the people of Bhaktapur. Built in the 15th Century by King Yakshya Malla, this large rectangular tank is teeming with fish and is occasionally open to the public for fishing and boating.  


Nyatapola: The unique temple of Bhaktapur, the Nyatapola literally means ‘Five storied’ and rises above the city as a remarkable landmark. It also has the distinction of having withstood the devastating earthquake of 1933. Dedicated to a tantric goddess, the steps leading up to the temple, is flanked by stone sculptures. At the base are two statues of Malla era wrestlers representing humans and in ascending order of power and strength, there are creatures each ten times more powerful than the preceding statue.


Batsala Temple: One of temples built out of stone is the Batsala Devi of Bhaktapur which has many intricate carvings. Beside it is the famous bronze bell, locally known as 'the bell of barking dogs' as its ringing was invariably accompanied by the howling of dogs in the vicinity. This large bell was put up by King Ranjit Malla in A. D. 1737 and its sounding announced the beginning and end of a daily curfew. Today, it is rung every morning when the priests worship Goddess Taleju. 


Bhairavnath Temple: Dedicated to Kasi Bhairav, the three storied temple of Bhairavnath has only the head of Bhairav in the inner sanctum. Legend has it that Kasi Bhairav’s head was cut off by a tantric expert in order to keep him in Bhaktapur. Built in the pagoda style, it stands adjacent to the more famous five storied Nyatapola temple. Bhairav is the dangerous aspect of Shiva. Originally built by King Jagat Jyoti Malla, the temple was improved by King Bhupatindra Malla, a zealous lover of the arts. 


Thimi: 10 km east of Kathmandu close to Bhaktapur, is the potter’s town of Thimi. Besides farming, most households here are engaged in pottery. This laid back town not only supplies Kathmandu its pottery but also its vegetables. The most important deity here is Goddess Balkumari. The charming medieval lifestyle of these farmers is a major tourist attraction.

Patan (Lalitpur)

Patan also known as ‘Lalitpur’ literally, the City of Artisans, lies 5km southeast of Kathmandu, and is home to the valley’s finest craftsmen who preserve ancient techniques such as repoussé  and the lost wax process, still producing exquisite pieces of sculpture. The city retains much of the old charm with its narrow streets, brick houses and the multitude of well-preserved Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries (Vihars). The predominant sound in Patan is not motor vehicles but the tinkering of craftsmen bent over the statuettes they are shaping. As in Kathmandu, Hinduism and Buddhism have co-existed here for ages, influencing each other and the religious harmony is exemplary.
 
Around Patan

Hiranya Varna Mahabihar: Dating back to the 12th Century A.D. the three storied golden pagoda of Lokeshwar in Patan was built by King Bhaskar Varma. Located in the courtyard of Kwabahal, this temple is in a class of its own. On the upper floor is a golden image of Lord Buddha and a large prayer wheel on a pedestal. Intricate decorative patterns on its outer walls add charm to the mellow richness of the shrine. 


Kumbheshwar: The temple of Kumbheswar is the only five storied pagoda in Patan and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is believed that a natural spring within the courtyard of this temple has its source in the very popular glacial lake of Gosainkunda. Built by King Jayasthiti Malla, the golden finial was added later in 1422 A.D. During his time the pond was cleaned and various images of Narayan, Ganesh, Sitala, Basuki, Gauri, Kirtimukh and Agamadevata were added around the pond and in the courtyard. A large gathering of devotees arrive here for ritual bathing on the day of Janai Poornima each year. 


Jagat Narayan: The Jagat Narayan temple on the banks of the Bagmati River at Sankhamul is a tall shikhara-style temple consecrated to Lord Vishnu. Built of red bricks, the temple has many fine images. An attractive metal statue of Garuda mounted on a stone monolith is accompanied by several images of Ganesh and Hanuman. 

Mahaboudha: The famous temple of Mahabouddha in Patan is unique for its thousand little images of Buddha in terracotta. This artistically built shikhara-style temple is a fine specimen and owes its existence to a priest named Abhaya Raj. Every brick on the surface of this shrine bears a small image of the Buddha. After it was completely destroyed during the great earthquake of 1933, a new one was built replicating the original to the exact specifications. Mahaboudha is one of the major attractions of Patan.

Ashoka Stupas: Although there is little evidence that the Emperor Ashoka ever visited Kathmandu valley, there are four stupas supposedly built by him in 250 AD. Marking the four corners of Patan, three of these stupas are merely mounds of earth with prayer wheels around them while the fourth near Shankamul is a beautiful concrete stupa. At the time they were built, Buddhism flourished in the Kathmandu Valley.


Machhendranath Temple: The temple of Red Machchhendranath, the God of Rain is of great importance in Patan. The temple lies in the middle of a wide, spacious quadrangle just at the outer rim of the market place. A clay image of Red Machchhendranath or Avalokiteshwar is kept here for six months each year, after which it is placed on a chariot and taken round the city of Patan in a boisterous colorful procession as part of a festival that begins in April-May and lasts for several months. 


The Tibetan Refugee Camp: A large number of Tibetans fled their homeland in Tibet and settled in Nepal during the early 1960s. To shelter these homeless people the government of Nepal set up the Tibetan Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Patan. The Tibetans brought their carpet weaving skills to Nepal and soon a carpet industry was thriving in the valley. The camp has become a tourist attraction with its souvenir shops that sell carpets and handicrafts such as prayer wheels made of wood, ivory, silver or bronze along with an assortment of belt buckles, wooden bowls and jewelry. A stupa and a number of shrines have also been built within the camp.

Toponymy

The city of Kathmandu is named after a structure in Durbar Square called the Kasthamandap. In Sanskrit, Kasth (काष्ठ) is "wood" and Mandap (मंडप/मण्डप) is "covered shelter." This unique temple, also known as Maru Sthal, was built in 1596 by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The entire structure contains no iron nails or supports and is made entirely from wood. Legend has it that the timber used for this two-story pagoda was obtained from a single tree.
Kathmandu is also sometimes called "Kantipur". "Kanti" is an alternate name of the Goddess Lakshmi, and "pur" means the place where such a goddess resides. Thus, the name Kantipur demonstrates the ancient belief that it is the place where Lakshmi dwells.

Kathmandu, as the gateway to Nepal Tourism, is the nerve centre of the country’s economy. With the most advanced infrastructure among urban areas in Nepal, Kathmandu's economy is tourism centric accounting for 3.8% of the GDP in 1995-96 (had declined since then due to political unrest but has picked up again).

The city’s rich history is nearly 2000 years old, as inferred from an inscription in the valley. Its religious affiliations are dominantly Hindu followed by Buddhism. People of other religious beliefs also live in Kathmandu giving it a cosmopolitan culture. Nepali is the common language of the city, though many speak the Nepal Bhasa Newari as it is the center of the Newar (meaning: citizens of Nepal) people and culture. English is understood by all of the educated population of the city. The literacy rate is 98% in the city.

Kathmandu is now the premier cultural and economic hub of Nepal and is considered to have the most advanced infrastructure among urban areas in Nepal. From the point of view of tourism, economy and cultural heritage, the sister cities of Patan(lalitpur) and Bhaktapur are integral to Kathmandu. Even the cultural heritage recognition under the World Heritage list of the UNESCO has recognized all the monuments in the three urban agglomerates as one unit under the title “Kathmandu Valley-UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमांडौ, ) is the capital and largest metropolitan city of Nepal. The city is the urban core of the Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayas, which also contains two sister cities namely Patan or Lalitpur, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to its southeast (an ancient city of fine arts and crafts) and Bhaktapur, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) to its east (city of devotees). It is also acronymed as 'KTM' and named 'tri-city'.

The city stands at an elevation of approximately 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) in the bowl-shaped valley in central Nepal surrounded by four major mountains, namely: Shivapuri, Phulchowki, Nagarjun and Chandragiri. It is inhabited by 671,846 (2001) people. The Kathmandu valley with its three districts including Kathmandu District accounts for a population density of only 97 per km² whereas Kathmandu metropolitan city has a density of 13,225 per km². It is by far the largest urban agglomerate in Nepal, accounting for 20% of the urban population in an area of 5,067 hectares (12,520 acres) (50.67 square kilometres (19.56 sq mi)).
Kathmandu is not only the capital of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal but also the headquarters of the Central Region (Madhyamanchal) among the five development regions constituted by the 14 administrative zones of Nepal located at the central part of the country. The Central region has three zones namely, Bagmati, Narayani and Janakpur. Kathmandu is located in the Bagmati Zone.

Kathmandu

The capital and largest city of Nepal, in the central part of the country in the eastern Himalaya Mountains. It was founded c. 723 and was a Gurkha capital from 1768 until the late 18th century. Population: 671,000.
City (pop., 2001: 671,846), capital of Nepal. Situated near the confluence of the Baghmati and Vishnumati rivers at an elevation of 4,344 ft (1,324 m), it was founded in 723. Its name refers to a temple (kath, "wood"; mandir, "temple") said to have been built from the wood of a single tree in 1596. The seat of the ruling Shah family of the Gurkha people since 1768, it is Nepal's most important business and commercial centre and the site of Tribhuvan University.

Katmandu or Kathmandu, city (1991 pop. 421,258), capital of Nepal, central Nepal, c.4,500 ft (1,370 m) above sea level, in a fertile valley of the E Himalayas. It is the administrative, business, and commercial center of Nepal, and lies astride an ancient trade and pilgrim route from India to Tibet, China, and Mongolia. Originally ruled by the Newars, Katmandu became independent in the 15th cent. and was captured in 1768 by the Gurkhas, who made it their capital. In the late 18th cent. the city became the seat of a British resident. Following the 1951 downfall of the Rana prince ministership, Katmandu experienced an influx of Western tourists, many of them mountain climbers. Tourism and trade with India led to a rapid increase in Katmandu's population and to the expansion of paved streets and sewage systems. More recently, luxury hotels and casinos have drawn tourists from India. Landmarks include the elaborate royal palace (now a museum), palaces of the politically dominant Rana family, several pagoda-shaped temples, and many Sanskrit libraries. Katmandu also has a number of colleges.

The country code is: 977
The city code is: 1

Prayer flags on the Poon Hill

Prayer flags in front of the Annapurnas