Seven monuments of Kathmandu

Seven monuments of Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. It is the dream city of many Nepalese people. Kathmandu is the biggest metropolitan city. Lalitpur and Bhaktapur are two sister cities of Kathmandu. In shortcut, Kathmandu is also called (KTM). As it is a capital city almost all sorts of facilities are provided here. That’s why Kathmandu is very advanced city among others cities. The Kathmandu valley is the most developed and populated place of Nepal with 1.5 million people.

This valley is a bowl-shaped valley. Most of the offices and headquarters lie in this valley. Kathmandu valley is the economic hub of Nepal. Himalayas Shivapuri, Phulchoki, Nagarjun, Chandragiri. Kathmandu is the gateway of tourism in  Nepal. It is also the nerve center of the country’s economy. It has the most strong infrastructure so all the main economic works are finished inside the valley. Kathmandu is famous for exporting handicrafts, artworks, garments, tea etc.  Every year Kathmandu receives  170 billion of income. As Nepal is full of cultural diversity most of the cultural programs are held here. So the Kathmandu is described by the ‘massive treasure house of art and sculpture’ . Katmandu is also known by the name city of temples as lots of famous temples lies in this city. The temples of the Kathmandu is the major attraction of tourist.  Kathmandu is full of art and culture because of which tourist attracts here more. Kathmandu valley is 1400 m above the sea level.

As Kathmandu is very famous for temples or religious sites it is called the city of temples. And majority temples of Kathmandu are enlisted in the world heritage sites.   Some of the famous monuments of Kathmandu are described below;.

1. Pashupatinath Temple:-

Pashupatinath temple is the most oldest and important temple for every Hindu people. It is constructed by covering huge area of Kathmandu. Especially this temple is devoted to lord Shiva . This temple is located at the bank of Bagmati river. Most of the elderly people come in this temple to meet their death before several weeks of their last breathe. It is believed that people who dies at this temple will reborn as human in next life. This temple is enlisted in UNESCO in world heritage sites. Even Hindu people from  India comes here. This temples is very famous a festival that is Shiva Ratri. Over 1 million devotees  visits here on that occasion. This temple has four main doors which is plated by silver and roof is plated by gold. This is the reason there are lots of security in  the temple.  This temple is a living museum of the country. As this temple is huge there is a main temple where only Hindu people can go and also there are lots of another sites within the premises  for foreigners. People believes that worshipping shiva in pashupathinath temple makes the wishes comes true.

Some of the main attraction of the temples are as follows;.

Western Cremation Ghats; It is the place where dead body of people are burn. Despite being full of waste garbage and black water, dead bodies are also burn. So it is an extremely  sacred river.

Eastern Ghats; This Ghats lies in eastern sides of Pashupatinath Temple.  This Ghat is also famous for funerals ceremony.

Shiva Shrines; Shrines are made in every big and small temples of Pashupati temple. Every shrines are made in different styles.

Viewpoint: This is the place from  where you can see all the stupas and temples  with the view of beautiful scene.

Religious Market;  Religious market contains religious pots , ornaments, prasads etc. Specially rudraksya malla is famous here.

2. Swayambhunath Temple:-

This temple of Kathmandu valley is the most glorious temple. It is very important and religious temple specially for Bhudhist people .  This  temple is also known as Monkey temple as lots of  monkeys come there. The monkeys are also treated well there because they the faces of god Hanuman. This temple is in the top hill from where visitors can see the Kathmandu valley. Lots of people from abroad come to visit this temple because it is very famous for Buddhism. It is believed that this temple was founded before 2000 years ago. This temple contains lots of symbol  like the white color in that temple means the womb of creation. The sleepy eyes of Buddha means he is looking to all. Likewise the golden stripes in the eyes means step towards enlightment. And the question mark like symbol means number one which shows the unity of Nepal. Mainly this temple celebrates the two festival in  a grand way one is Buddha Jayanti and another is Lhosar.  These two festival  are mainly celebrated by Buddhist people. This temple lies in the west side of valley and plays a vital role to attract  tourist . It is enlisted in Unesco  world heritage sites .  Here Buddhist as well as all the hindus come to visit. Lots of holy monks  are here from ancient time . They perform meditation there.

3. Boudhanath Stupa:-

It is the 36 m high stupa which is the major attraction of tourist. It is the largest stupa all over the South Asia so it is one of the famous heritage site. It is 8 km east downtown the Kathmandu valley. It is the most important landmark of Kathmandu valley with the surroundings of countless monasteries. It is known as the holiest temple ground in Kathmandu. The interior temple is decorated by hangings the cloths with wide variety of colors. It hosts several religious ceremony for different people as it is a center of Buddhism. It has over 50 monasteries and servants living there for the security and betterment of the stupa. If you come to visit this temple you will be much more familiar about the unity of Nepal and Tibetan. Visiting this temple enlighten your mind and soul by the positive thoughts. Lies are strictly forbidden in this religion. The symbolism which is found in this temple cannot be found away the Nepal so this is the reason why many people wants to visit this place. This temple acts represent unity and peace. Seeking of monks blessings is also very famous. As Buddhist people show very holiness they believe in blessings, miracles and healings. As it is the ultimate ground of Buddhist religion it is the best place to seek the blessings related religion. Similarly boudhanath area is very peace and friendly. If you come to visit this temple you will find all the people very friendly like visitors, monks, shopkeepers. Also you can take the beautiful photographs of yours. You will also get to see the countless pigeons outside the temple inside the premises of temple which is also an attraction of tourist. Bodhanath temple is the primary destination for all the Buddhism followers. It will be more fruitful to you if you come to visit this temple, if you want to get more information about religion.

Bodhanath temple is the primary destination for all the Buddhism followers. It will be more fruitful to you if you come to visit this temple, if you want to get more information about religion.

4. Budhanilkantha:-

This temple is located at the base of Shivapuri hill. It is located on the northern side of valley 9 km away from the main city. This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu which is also called Lord Narayan. In the temple, his statue is made where he is lying in the water under the security of Ananta Sesa. This statue is made from a single block of black basalt stone which is the main uniqueness of this temple. It is believed that only Hindu people can touch his legs and can pray whereas foreigners are not allowed to touch his feet. From the period of Pratap Malla, it is believed that if any king visit this temple will die immediately after departure. So till now no king of Nepal has visited there after the Dinesty of Pratap Malla. This temple is also known by the name of the sleeping house of Vishnu. Budhanilkantha literally means “old blue throat”. Actually, this temple is a very unique type of temple where kings cannot visit, built from the single block of stone, photographs cannot be taken from the close by the visitors, not foreigners only Hindu people can touch. The main focal point of this temple is the great reclining statue of Narayan. This is a very impressive piece of this temple which says something.

5. Kathmandu Durbar Square:-

Kathmandu durbar square is the main attraction of tourist which is one of the famous world heritage sites. This is also called Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square because of the big statue of hanuman constructed by Pratap Malla as a savoir in front of Royal palace. As this temple is located at the heart of ancient city it is surrounded by both Hindu and Buddhist temples. And most of the temples of this area are built in pagoda styles. The major interesting things of this place that you will get to see are Kumari( the living goddess ), Mahadev temple, Shiva Parbati Temple, Bhagwati Temple, Old Palace, Saraswoti Temple, Krishna Octangular  Temple, Taleju temple etc. This place is a historic center of Nepal both in terms of cultural heritage, sovereignty, economics, religion and pride. Repeated and extensive renovations and construction of different temples have taken place along the Malla  and Shah era of Nepal in this place. Though Nepal is a democratic country now and coronations are not allowed to be held here, people gather in this place in their main festivals like Indra Jatra , Dashain, Gaijatra, Machhindranath jatra etc to mark their centuries old tradition.

7. Patan Durbar Square:-

This site is located in Lalitpur District. This is the main attraction of lalitpur district. It is marvel by Newar architecture. There are many temples and idols in the area. There are also various others temples and structures in and around at durbar by Newa people. Here Krishna temple is the most important temple in Patan Durbar Square. It is unique in its own way .This temple was built in 1673 by Siddhi Narsingh Malla. Lots of people come in this place to visit. It’s a kind of unique temple . Similarly Bhimsen Temple is there which was built by great personality Bhimsen of Mhabharata. Tourist are not allowed to enter inside this temple.

8. Bhaktapur Durbar Square:-

Bhaktapur durbar square lies in the center of bhaktapur district which is in Kathmandu. This durbar is very peace and beautiful durbar. It is in 13 km east from Kathmandu valley and 1400 km above the sea level. This palace was made during the presence of Malla kings. This durbar is made by covering lots of land of Nepal. It is enlisted in UNESCO World heritage site. IT is the important landmark of Nepal which attracts many visitors and tourist towards it. It is a kind of famous touristic place of valley. There are lots of beautiful sites to see around this durbar which are as follows;.

55 window palace; It is the palace having 55 windows which is its uniqueness. Tourist came here to see this durbar. This durbar was built during the reign of Malla kings. It is also called  55 jhyale durbar in Nepali. It was originally built in 1427 AD.

The lion gate;  This gate was made by king of malla in 1696 A.D.

Golden gate;    This gate is the most beautiful gate which is enriched by golden molded and a kind of extra in the world. It was by made by king Ranjit Malla in ancient time.

Bhairava Nath Temple;   This temple is dedicated to lord Shiva.

Nyatapola Temple;   This temple is also called panche tale mandir as is five stories. The name of this temple is given in Newari language. This is the biggest and highest pagoda which is made by so perfection. It is believe that it took 3 generations to complete this temple.

Vatsala Temple;  This temple is dedicated to goddess Vatsala devi. It is a Shikhhara style temple.

So this is all about the World heritage sites of Kathmandu valley. All the sites are very beautiful , unique, peaceful, viewpoint in its own way.