Sights in Kathmandu
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Siddhartha Art Gallery
The best in the city, with a wide range of top-notch exhibitions.
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Phaba Chengreshi Thangka Art School
You can see thangkas being painted on the spot at this school in Thamel.
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Park Gallery
Exhibits in its upper-floor space and prints and cards on the ground floor.
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Narayan (Vishnu) Temple
Narayan (Vishnu) Temple stands to the west side of the Shiva-Parvati Temple.
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Maru Hiti
Just 30m from Durbar Sq down Maru Tole is Maru Hiti, one of the finest sunken water conduits in the city.
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Mahavishnu Temple
Next door to Kotilingeshwar Mahadev Temple is the Mahavishnu Temple, which was damaged in the 1934 earthquake.
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Kabindrapur Temple
Kabindrapur Temple, or Dhansa Dega, is an ornate 17th-century performance pavilion which houses the god of music.
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National Birendra Art Gallery
The offbeat location in a crumbling old Rana palace is probably more interesting than the dusty collection of Nepali oils and watercolours.
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Balcony
Across from the great bell is a very ornate corner Balcony, decorated in gorgeous copper and ivory, from where members of the royal court could view the festival action taking place in Durbar Sq.
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Snake Charmers
The Indian Snake Charmers who set up shop in front of the New Tibet Book Store on Tridevi Marg always raise a smile, as does the crazy sadhu, dressed as the god Hanuman in a very unrealistic monkey suit, who occasionally haunts Durbar Sq.
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Maru Tole
This tole leads you away from Durbar Sq down to the Vishnumati River, where a footbridge continues the pathway to Swayambhunath. This was a busy street in the hippy era, but the famous pastry shops that gave it the nickname 'Pie Alley' have long gone.
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National Museum
Around 800m south of Swayambhunath at Chhauni, the National Museum faces onto a huge army barracks. The walled compound looks a little moth-eaten and overgrown, but there are some interesting treasures on display and the museum is never crowded.
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Great Drums
Just beyond the Krishna Temple are the Great Drums, to which a goat and a buffalo must be sacrificed twice a year. In front of these is the police headquarters building (currently sandbagged against possible Maoist attacks). Beyond here is the closed-off Kot Sq.
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Degutaleju Temple
This triple-roofed temple is actually part of the Hanuman Dhoka, surmounting the buildings below it, but is most easily seen from outside the palace walls. Degutaleju is another manifestation of the Malla's personal goddess Taleju. This temple was built by Shiva Singh Malla.
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Bhimsen Tower (Dharahara)
Towering like a lighthouse over the labyrinthine old town, this white, minaretlike tower is a useful landmark near the post office. The views from 61.88m up – 213 steps above the city – are the best you can get. There is a small Shiva shrine right at the very top.
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Great Bell
On your left as you leave the main square along Makhan Tole is the Great Bell, elevated atop a white building erected by Rana Bahadur Shah (son of Prithvi Narayan Shah) in 1797. The bell's ring drives off evil spirits, but it is only rung during puja (worship) at the Degutaleju Temple.
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Lohan Chowk
King Prithvi Narayan Shah was involved in the construction of the four red-coloured towers around the Lohan Chowk. The towers represent the four ancient cities of the valley, the towers include the Kathmandu or Basantapur Tower; the Kirtipur Tower; the Bhaktapur Tower or Lakshmi Bilas; and the Patan or Lalitpur Tower.
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Mahakala Temple
On the eastern side of Kantipath, just north of New Rd, the Mahakala Temple was very badly damaged in the 1934 earthquake and is now of little architectural merit. If you can see inside the darkened shrine you may be able to make out the 1.5m-high figure of Mahakala, the 'Great Black One', a particularly ferocious form of Shiva.
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Tana Deval Temple
Across from the Taleju Temple, in a walled courtyard, just past the long row of stalls, is the Tana Deval Temple, with three carved doorways and multiple struts, the latter of which show the multi-armed Ashta Matrikas (Mother Goddesses). It's possible to enter the temple. Nearby shops sell brightly-coloured Tibetan thangkas.
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Basantapur Tower
The nine-storey Basantapur Tower, which was extensively restored prior to King Birendra's coronation is inside the Tribhuvan Museum. There are superb views over the palace and the city from the top. The struts along the facade of the Basantapur Tower, particularly those facing out to Basantapur Sq, are decorated with erotic carvings.
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Kotilingeshwar Mahadev Temple
This early Malla temple dates from the reign of Mahendra Malla in the 16th century. The three-stage plinth is topped by a temple in the gumbhaj style, which basically means a square structure topped by a bell-shaped dome. The bull facing the temple on the west side indicates that it is a Shiva temple. Next door is the Mahavishnu Temple.
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Gaddhi Baithak
The eastern side of Durbar Sq is closed off by this white neoclassical building. The Gaddhi Baithak, with its imported European style, was built as part of the palace in 1908 during the Rana period and it makes a strange contrast to the traditional Nepali architecture that dominates the square. It is said to have been modelled on London's National Gallery.
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Three Goddesses Temples
Next to the modern Sanchaya Kosh Bhawan Shopping Centre in Thamel are the generally ignored Three Goddesses Temples. The street on which the temples are located is named Tridevi Marg - tri means 'three' and devi means 'goddesses'. The goddesses are Dakshinkali, Manakamana and Jawalamai, and the roof struts have some creative erotic carvings.
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Mahendreshwar Temple
At the extreme northern end of the square, this temple dates from 1561, during the reign of Mahendra Malla. The temple was restored in 1963 and is dedicated to Shiva. A small image of Shiva's bull Nandi fronts the temple and at the northeastern corner there is an image of Kam Dev. The temple has a wide, two-level plinth and a spire topped by a golden umbrella.
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Natural History Museum
Below Swayambhunath, on the road to the tourist bus park, the Natural History Museum offers a faded but quirky collection of exhibits, including varnished crocodiles, model dinosaurs and mounted animal heads that look suspiciously like hunting trophies. The museum provides a valuable service to local school children and it could use more support.
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