Kathmandu Valley Tour (World Heritage Sites)

Kathmandu Durbar Square

Kathmandu Durbar Square, the land of gods surrounded by beautiful mountains around. Kathmandu Durbar Square lies in the heart of this city; it is a complex of beautiful temples and shrines, both Hindu and Buddhist. Most of them are built in the pagoda style embellished intricately carved exteriors, built between 12th and 18th centuries. The Durbar Square with its old temples, palaces, epitomizes the religious and cultural life of the people. It is here that Kings of Nepal are crowned and their coronations celebrate. Until the early 20th century the Durbar Square was the King's residence. It is a living open museum of Nepal. Now Nepal is republic.

 Hanuman Dhoka, running the eastern edge of the square takes up more space than all the other monuments here combined. Hanuman Dhoka palace complex consists of a huge Royal Square exposing a tremendous variety of temples dedicated to different Hindu gods and goddess. The centre palace complex here in is named after a monkey god called Hanuman established by King Pratap Malla in 1672 A.D. One can see a huge stone statue of Hanuman painted all red right to the main entrance of the palace. Hanuman here is regarded as a powerful protector entire Durbar square. The important things are Taleju temple, The Kumari Ghar (house of the living goddess), Kasthamandap (house of wood) and Maju Dega.

Swayambhunath (The monkey Temple)

 Swayambhunath is a Buddhist Stupa on a west of Kathmandu city, 6 km far from Thamel.  It is on the top of the small hill. This hill is a mosaic of a small Stupa and pagoda temple. It is one of the most fascinating architectural jewels of the world. It is said to be 2000 years old and visitors are often call it the “Monkey Temple” because here are lots of monkey around. In the beginning there is very nice statue of Lord Buddha standing on Lotus flower in small pond. This is symbolizing spreading peace in the world. After then it start many small temples and Stupas all way to main Stupa. Its main feature, the white dome is identified with spotless pure jewels of Nirvana and a 13 tiered golden spire in the conical shape surmounted on the dome representing 13 heavens an elaborate canopy. Underneath this touring structure is a pair of all seeing eyes of Buddha paints on all four sides of the Stupa. Here is a huge golden Thunderbolt (Bajra Dhatu Mandala) in the front. It represents sward Chandahasa of Manjushri. The twelve animals depicted in the lower part represent the months of the Tibetan year. Now, there are huge statues of the Sakyamuni Buddha, Chengresi and Guru Padama Samvawa in the east- western side near by the road. These are the new. This Swayambhunath is standing is stands commanding a magnificent view of Kathmandu valley and the breathtaking panorama of the north eastern Himalayan range. 

Boudhanath (Jyarung Khasyor)

This is another Buddhist Stupa built on flat surface and is one of the oldest and the largest in the world. The Stupa of Boudhanath lies 8 km east of Kathmandu. This temple is also known by the Jyarung Khasyor. On this colossal and ancient Stupa are the all seeing of Lord Buddha. It is in various levels of the terraces and it is painted in pastel and adorned with prayer flags. The unique aspect of this great Buddhist monument is that it is set in the natural Mandala design. Altogether 108 Buddha images and 147 insets of prayer wheels adorn the base of the huge circular edifice. There are presences of about four dozens monasteries around it. The settlement of Boudhanath has the largest community of Tibetans. There are many stories and legends concerning the origin and history of the Stupa. The splendid dome of Boudhanath Stupa is approximately 120 ft in diameter, 1 hec in width and 43m in height. It is surrounded by colorful private family houses.  This is very famous for all Buddhist people and every year thousands of pilgrims from all over the Himalayan region visit the Stupa.

Pashupatinath Temple

The Pashupatinath temple is one of the most venerated Hindu temples in the world. It is an international center of pilgrimage and the Hindu devotees from all over the world come here for pilgrimage. The temple lies on the bank of the holy river, Bagmati. There are hundreds of temples and shrines surrounded the main temple. The main temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and houses a lingam or his phallic symbol. The beautiful pagoda temple of Pashupatinath as it stands now was built in the 7th century AD, but there is evidence to prove that there was a temple here before 4th century AD. Various rulers throughout history have adorned and additions to the temple to give it its present shape. In 1696 AD, it was completely renovated by King Bhupatindra Malla.

Pashupatinath attracts both pilgrims and sightseers. It is a place of worship, a ceremonial center, a recreation center, an open air art gallery and an archaeological as well as historical site. The Pashupatinath area contains 492 temples, shrines, Stupas, Pati (rest place) and Sattal. There are also about one thousands Shiva lingams. As such it is a storehouse of rare sculptures. The eastern side of the Bagmati River is a pleasant wooded mound where rhesus monkeys live. Thus the temple is an important site in terms of both culture and nature.            

Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur is cultural capital of Nepal, its history goes back to the early 8th century and it used to be the capital city of whole Nepal till 12th to 15th century. Bhaktapur is richest for temples and architecture city of Kathmandu valley. This city is also known by The Tantric City. In this city kings and common people used to practice tantric and spiritual exercises without any discrimination in hierarchy, class and gender. Several Malla kings used to play Pasa, a typical traditional gamble with Taleju, the principal Goddess of Bhaktapur. Following the end of Lichhavi Dynasty in the 19th century, the root of tantric customs spread out profusely in the environs of fest and festivals, sports, artistries, architecture and everyday activities. Bhaktapur is also known as the city of devotees. Thus here are many old temples which were built by Lichhavi and Malla kings.

The main attraction of Bhaktapur is Durbar square. Durbar means palace, and the squares were developed around the former royal palaces and a serious of important temples and shrines linked together by an open public space. This spectacular square, the capital of Malla kingdom till 1769, is a museum in itself. This is also known as 55 windows palace. Here are lots of temples outside and a statue of King Bhupatindra Malla. The golden gate is very famous. Other attraction is Nyatapola Temple. The Nyatapola Temple is the tallest building in Bhaktapur, unique with its 5 roofs and certainly one of Nepal’s most stupendous monuments, lying in the south face of the square which is named after its physical structure (five tiers of roofs.). The temple was founded in 1702 A.D.by king Bhupatindra Malla. The temple stands above the 5 stage plinth and rises over 30m above from the top plinth. Most interesting place is pottery square where we can see lots of things which made by clay.  They use traditional ideas to make it. In Bhaktapur there are many other interesting places to visit.

Patan Durbar Square

Patan located on little plateau across the river Bagmati. It is 7 km south east of Kathmandu. This is the oldest of all 3 cities of the Kathmandu valley. This city founded in 3rd century A.D. by King Veera Dev has a distinction of being the home of the finest Newar crafts since time immemorial. Meaning the city of fine arts has hundreds of fascinating Hindu and Buddhist monuments scattered in and around. The most important monument area of the course is Patan Durbar Square. Most of the monuments in this square date back to the medieval Malla period 15th to 17th century as the golden period of Nepalese art and architecture. The important things can be seen in this area includes the Golden gate, the golden window of the old palace, the beautiful piece of traditional metal crafts. The famed Krishna Temple entirely made of stone, this unique Shikhar style structure has 21 golden pinnacles. The other important things are Tish hiti, the royal bath of Sundari chowk, a perfect piece of the work in the stone, royal Taleju temple, Vishwanath temple and Char Narayan Temple. The temple of Bhimsen, with the magnificent golden balcony overlooking the square outside and many other shrines and sculptures scattered in and around the square.