Sight seeing places in Kathmandu

Old Kathmandu Durbar Square:
Durbar in Nepali means 'Palace' .The King no longer lives in the old town centre Palace in Kathmandu: the Royal Palace was moved north to Narayanhiti about a century ago. At that time it was on the edge of the city town, now it's close to the popular tourist area Thamel. Around the central Durbar Square are the old Royal Palace known as the Hanuman Dhoka, numerous interesting temples, the Kumari Chowk or Kumari Bahal (The residence of the living Goddess) and the Kashtamandap. It is easy to spend hours wandering around the colourful and busy area of Durbar Square and the adjoining Basantapur Square. This is very much the centre of old Kathmandu and watching the world go by from the terraced platforms of the towering Maju Deval is a wonderful way to get the feel of the city. Although many of the building around the square are very old, a great deal of damage was caused by the great earthquake of 1934 and many building were subsequently rebuilt, not always in their original form.

The Durbar square is compact of Many Temples of Historical importance one should not refrain from seeing them all once they are at Durbar Square.

Kasthamandap: In the south - western corner of the square the Kashtamandap or House of Wood is the building which gave the Kathmandu its name. Although its history is uncertain it is possible that it was originally constructed around 12th century. The house of wood has now been converted in to a Temple of Goraknath.

Ashok Binayak: On the Northern side of the Kasthamandap at the top of Maru Tole, the laneway down to the river stands the tiny but of great of great importance of Ganesh Shrine, "Human headed God" Ganesha is a much loved God and their is a constant stream of visitors here. A visit to this shrine is highly recommended by Hindus to ensure safety on a forth - coming journey.

Tralokya Mohan Narayan Temple: Five tiered three rood Triliokya Narayan Temple was built by Prithivibendra Malla in 1680 and is easily identified as a Temple to Narayan or Vishnu by the fine Garuda kneeling before it. The Garuda figure was later addition, erected by the king's widow soon after his death.

Shiva Parvati Temple: Temple where images of Lord Shiva and his consort look out from the upstairs window on the comings and goings below them. The Temple was built in the late 1700s by Bahadur Shah, son of Prithivi Narayan Shah.

Kumari Bahal: At the junction of Durbar and Basantapur squares is a white three storey building with intricately carved windows. The house of living goddess- The Kumari Bahal - faces Durbar square, its door guarded by stone lions. the building, in the style of the court yarded Buddhist viharas of the valley, was built in 1757 by Jaya Prakash Malla. Inside lives the young girl who is selected to be the town's living Goddess, until she reaches puberty and reverts to being a normal mortal.

PATAN: Patan is seperated from Kathmandu only by the Bagmati River and is the second largest town in the valley. It is sometimes referred to as Lalitpur, the city of beauty. Patan has long Buddhist history and the four corner of the city are marked by stupas said to have been erected by the great Buddhist emperor Ashoka himself around 250 BC.