Hanuman Dhoka

Hanuman Dhoka is a complex of structures with the Royal Palace of the Malla kings and also of the Shah dynasty. It is spread over five acres. The eastern wing with ten courtyards is the oldest part dated to the mid 16th century. It was expanded by King Pratap Malla in the 17th century with many temples. Sundari Chowk and Mohan Chowk in the north part of the palace are both closed. In 1768, in the southeast part of the palace, four lookout towers were added by Prithvi Narayan Shah. The royal family lived in this palace till 1886, where after they shifted to Narayanhiti Palace. The stone inscription outside is in fifteen languages and legend states that if all the 15 are read milk would spring from the middle of stone tablet.^[71]

The Hanuman Dhoka is the Hanuman Gate on east side of Durbar Square. It is the entry gate to the palace where a standing statue of Hanuman (monkey god), dated to 1672, guards the palace. Hanuman is decked with a red cloth and an umbrella. The face is smeared with a red paste. On the left is an interesting stone sculpture dated to 1673 of Lord Narasimha (the half-man, half-lion incarnation of Lord Vishnu), devouring the demon Hiranyakashipu, which is credited to Pratap Malla period according to an inscription on the pedestal of the image. Ahead of the main entrance, adjoining the Hanuman Temple, is the Nassal Chowk courtyard (‘Nasal’ means: “dancing one”) named after the image of dancing Shiva located on the east side of the square. This is the square where Birendra was crowned as king in 1975, on the platform in the middle of the courtyard. At the south side of the courtyard, stands the nine storey Basantapur Tower. While the courtyard was built during Malla Period, the buildings around it, which depict intricately carved doorways, windows, and struts, were creations of the Rana kings. Nassal Chowk is a rectangular in a north–south direction with entrance from the northwest corner. Near the entrance is an intricately carved doorway with carvings of four gods that leads to the private apartments of Malla king. A golden image of Maha Vishnu is seen now in an open veranda on the eastern wall, as the original Maha Vishnu Temple in the square, which housed this image, was destroyed in the 1934 earthquake. Other structures in the courtyard are: the Audience Chamber of the Malla kings in the northeast corner, the throne of the Malla kings in an open verandah and portraits of the Shah Kings.^[71]

The Panch Mukhi Hanuman Temple (five faced Hanuman) dedicated to Hanuman is in the northeast corner of the Nasal Chowk. It has a unique design of five circular roofs. The temple priest is the only person who can enter the sanctum of the temple.^[71]

The Basantapur Tower ( ‘Basantpur’ means : “place of Spring,” ) is located on the south of Nassal Chowk. It is a nine-storey tower from the top of which a panoramic view of the palace and city could be seen. Erotic images are carved on the struts of this tower. This tower is one of the four red towers that King Prithvi Narayan Shah built delimiting the four old cities of the Kathmandu Valley namely, the Kathmandu or the Basantapur Tower, the Kirtipur Tower, the Bhaktapur Tower or Lakshmi Bilas, and the Patan or Lalitpur Tower.^[71]

Mul Chowk, dedicated to Taleju Bhawani, is a courtyard with two storey buildings all round that are exclusive places for religious rites. Taleju Bhawani is the tutelary goddess of the Malla family. Talegu Temple with a golden torana (door garland) is located to the south side of the courtyard. During the Dasain festival, deity of Talegu is shifted to this temple. The entrance to the temple is flanked with images of the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna. Degu Taleju Temple is another triple roofed temple built by Shiva Singh Malla that is also dedicated to Taleju.^[71]

Mohan Chowk, built in 1649 to the north of Nasal Chowk, was the residential courtyard of the Malla kings. It was mandatory for a Malla king to be born here to become heir to the throne; an example cited to this belief is that of Jaya Prakash Malla who faced difficulties. At the center of the courtyard, there is a golden waterspout, known as Sun Dhara, said to be spring sourced from Budhanilkantha,in the north part of valley. It is an ornately carved spout sunk several metres below the courtyard level and the Malla kings used it for their daily ablutions. The four corners have towers. To the north of this chowk is the Sundari Chowk.^[71]

On the west side of Nassal Chowk, the Tribhuwan Museum has exhibits of items of the grandfather of King Birendra. Exquisite stone carvings, several impressive thrones, jewel-studded ornaments used for coronations, weapons, furniture, wooden temple carvings and a coin collection are on display at the museum. King Tribhuwan’s bedroom, study and personal effects have been recreated and preserved here. This part of the palace, next to Durbar Square, was built by the Ranas in the mid to late 19th century. The southeast corner of the courtyard has the King Mahendra Memorial Museum where two thrones are also on display.^[71]

Geography

Patan is situated on the elevated tract of land in Kathmandu Valley on the south side of the Bagmati River, which separates it from the City of Kathmandu on the northern side. It was developed on relatively thin layers of deposited clay and gravel in the central part of a dried ancient lake known as Nagdaha.

It is among the largest cities in the country, along with Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Biratnagar.

The city spreads over 16 sq. kilometres and is divided into 22 Municipal wards. The city is bounded by:^[3]

• East: Imadol VDC and Harisiddhi VDC
• West: Kirtipur Municipality and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)
• North: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)
• South: Saibu VDC, Sunakothi VDC and Dhapakhel VDC

Patan Durbar square

Lalitpur is believed to have been founded in the third century B.C. by the Kirat dynasty and later expanded by Licchavis in the sixth century. It was further expanded by the Mallas during the medieval period. There are many legends after its name. The most popular one is the legend of the God Rato Machhindranath, who was brought to the valley from Kamaru Kamachhya, located in Assam, India, by a group of three people representing three kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley. One of them was called Lalit, a farmer who carried God Rato Machhindranath to the valley all the way from Assam, India. The purpose of bringing the God Rato Machhindranath to the valley was to overcome the worst drought in the valley. There was a strong belief that the God Rato Machhindranath will make rain in the valley. It was due to Lalit's effort that the God Rato Machhindranath was settled in Lalitpur. Many believe that the name of the town is kept after his name Lalit and pur meaning township.

Lalitpur said to have been founded by King Veer Deva in 299 A.D. but, there is unanimity among scholars that Patan was a well established and developed town since ancient times. Several historical records including many other legends also indicate that Patan is the oldest of all the cities of Kathmandu Valley. According to a very old Kirat chronicle, Patan was founded by Kirat rulers long before the Licchavi rulers came into the political scene in Kathmandu Valley. According to that chronicle, the earliest known capital of Kirat rulers was Thankot. Kathmandu, the present capital was most possibly removed from Thankot to Patan after the Kirati King Yalamber came into power sometimes around second century A.D.

One of the most used and typical Newar names of Patan is Yala. It is said that King Yalamber or Yellung Hang named this city after himself and ever since this ancient city was known as Yala.

Boudhanath

The Boudhanath, (also written Bouddhanath, Bodhnath, Baudhanath or the Khāsa Chaitya), is one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Nepal along with Swayambhunath, and it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu area. It is known as Khāsti by Newars and as Bauddha or Bodh-nāth by modern speakers of Nepali.[76] Located about 11 km (7 miles) from the center and northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu, the stupa's massive mandala makes it one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal.[77] Boudhanath became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.


The Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī documents that the Boudhanath was founded by the Nepalese Licchavi king Śivadeva (c. 590-604 CE); though other Nepalese chronicles date it to the reign of King Mānadeva (464-505 CE).[78][79] Tibetan sources claim a mound on the site was excavated in the late 15th or early 16th century and the bones of king Aṃshuvarmā 605–621 were discovered there while other Nepali sources claim it was constructed by a prince to seek forgiveness for unwittingly killing his own father .[80][81] However, the Emperor of the Tibetan Empire, Trisong Detsän (r. 755 to 797) is also traditionally associated with the construction of the Boudhanath Stupa, after Songsten Gampo was converted to Buddhism by his wives the Nepali princess Bhrikuti Devi and Princess Wen Cheng of China in the seventh century and passes it on to Detsän.[82] However, given that Kathmandu was invaded by the Mughals in the fourteenth century who would have destroyed the monument, the current stupa is believed to date to sometime after this.

The base of the stupa has 108 small depictions of the Dhyani Buddha Amitabha and is surrounded with a brick wall with 147 niches, each with four or five prayer wheels engraved with the mantra, om mani padme hum.[81] At the northern entrance where visitors must pass is a shrine dedicated to the goddess of smallpox, Ajima.[81] The stupa attracts many Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims annually who perform full body prostrations in the inner lower enclosure, circumambulate the stupa with prayer wheels and chant and pray.[81] Thousands of prayer flags are hoisted up from the top of the stupa downwards and dot the parameters of the complex. The influx of large populations of Tibetan refugees from China has seen the construction of over 50 Tibetan Gompas (Monasteries) around Boudhanath.

Swayambhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west, is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal. Although the site is considered Buddhist, the place is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus. Numerous kings, Hindu followers, are known to have paid their homage to the temple, including Pratap Malla, the powerful king of Kathmandu, who is responsible for the construction of the eastern stairway in the 17th century.[83] According to the Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī Swayambhunath was founded by the great-grandfather of King Mānadeva (464-505 CE), King Vṛsadeva, about the beginning of the 5th century CE. This seems to be confirmed by a damaged stone inscription found at the site, which indicates that King Mānadeva ordered work done in 640 CE.[84] However, Emperor Ashoka is said to have visited the site in the third century BCE and built a temple on the hill, which was later destroyed. Legend has it that the Buddha himself visited Swayambhunath and gave teachings there two hundred years earlier.[85]

Introducing Swayambhunath

The great Buddhist temple of Swayambhunath (admission Rs 75), on the top of a hill west of Kathmandu, is one of the most popular and instantly recognisable symbols of Nepal. The temple is known affectionately as the 'Monkey Temple', after the large troop of handsome monkeys that guards the hill and amuses visitors and devotees with tricks (including sliding gracefully down the banisjavascript:void(0)ters of the main stairway to the temple).Legends relate that the Kathmandu Valley was once a lake (geologists agree on this point) and that the hill on which Swayambhunath stands was 'self-arisen' (swayambhu), much like a lotus leaf risen from the muddy waters of the lake. It is also said that Emperor Ashoka paid a visit to the site over 2000 years ago. An inscription indicates that King Manadeva ordered work done here in AD 460 and certainly by the 13th century it was an important Buddhist centre. In 1346 Mughal invaders from Bengal broke open the stupa in the search for gold. King Pratap Malla added the stairway in the 17th century. From its hilltop setting, Swayambhunath offers fine views over Kathmandu and the valley. It's particularly striking in the early evening when the city is illuminated, and the site is also very attractive under the soft glow of moonlight. There are several curio shops around the stupa, as well as a couple of reviving cafés.

Kathmandu’s alleys and temples

Kathmandu is enchanting. It’s medieval and spiritual and alive. And the only way to really see this chaotic cobbled maze is by foot.

Start your exploring in Thamel – a traveller enclave with some great hotels and hostels. Thamel is loads of fun and crammed with touts and colourful stalls. Looking up, the vibrancy continues in a mash of wires, shop signs and overhanging balconies. And if you need them, you can get home comforts such as a good-quality wine or chocolate.

Head south of Thamel’s main market (Thamel Chowk) towards Kathmandu’s beating heart, Durbar Square. Winding your way through markets, alleys and bahals (monastery courtyards), keep your eyes open for the architectural wonders that seem to appear on every corner. From Thamel Chowk you’ll reach Thahiti Tole, a square with a central stupa and, along its northern edge, the Nateshwar Temple, with doors showing creatures playing musical instruments. South of here is Kathesimbhu Stupa, which radiates colourful prayer flags, and further along you’ll find the triple-roofed Ugratara Temple.

Turn east and immerse yourself in the frantic vegetable and spice markets of Asan Tole, one of the busiest intersections in old Kathmandu, before wandering past the octagonal Krishna Temple. Then it’s on through Indra Chowk, another of Kathmandu’s markets and the traditional centre for blanket and cloth merchants (look around and you’ll also find bangle and bead sellers). Head west and enter Yatkha Bahal, a huge open courtyard with a white-washed central stupa.

As you wind your way through these crowded alleyways, you’ll pass many wonderful things – stalls alive with Buddhist prayer flags, rows of dental surgeries, gleaming brass and glittering glass bead shops…not to mention the odd wandering cow!

South of Yatkha Bahal, you’ll reach your goal: Durbar Square. This UNESCO World Heritage-listed area is really a series of three squares and the finest remaining example of Kathmandu’s traditional architecture. It’s easy to spend hours wandering around and watching the world go by from the terraced platforms of the towering Maju Deval. When the shadows begin to lengthen, head back to Thamel, find a rooftop garden, and relax with a beer or pot of tea.