Sights in Nepal
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Kot Sq
Beyond the Great Drums (near the Krishna Temple) is the closed-off Kot Sq where Jung Bahadur Rana perpetrated the famous 1846 massacre that led to a hundred years of Rana rule. Kot means 'armoury' or 'fort'. During the Dasain festival each year, blood again flows in Kot Sq as hundreds of buffaloes and goats are sacrificed. Young soldiers are supposed to lop off each head with a single blow.
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Ka-Nying Sheldrup Ling Gompa
North of here, down a side alley, is the large 'white gompa' of Ka-Nying Sheldrup Ling Gompa , one of the largest monasteries in Bodhnath, with nice gardens and a richly decorated interior with some fine paintings and thangkas. The gompa hosts a popular annual seminar on Vajrayana training in November. You'll hear the tap-tap-tapping of handicraft workshops in the street leading up to the monastery.
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Jagannath Temple
Jagannath Temple, noted for the erotic carvings on its roof struts, is the oldest structure in this part of the square. Pratap Malla claimed to have constructed the temple during his reign, but it may actually date back to 1563, during the rule of Mahendra Malla. The temple has a three-tiered platform and two storeys. There are three doors on each side of the temple, but only the centre door opens.
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Changu Museum
The single brick-lined street in Changu village climbs from the car park and bus stand past the Changu Museum, which offers a quirky introduction to traditional village life. The displays are scattered around a 169-year-old house and the owner will give you a whistlestop tour of such oddities as a rhino-skin shield, leather coins from the 2nd century and some 225-year-old rice!
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Sakya Tharig Gompa
Take the alley running northeast from the Bodhnath (Boudha) stupa, past the small Gelugpa Samtenling Gompa, and turn right to reach the Sakya Tharig Gompa. This sprawling complex includes a large Buddhist school and the prayer hall at the back contains a huge statue of Sakyamuni inlaid with turquoise, red coral, dzi beads and other precious materials.
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Jagannarayan Temple
The two-storey brick Jagannarayan Temple is dedicated to Narayan, one of Vishnu's incarnations. Dating from 1565, it is reputed to be the oldest temple in the square, although an alternative date in the late 1600s has also been suggested. The temple stands on a brick plinth with large stone lions, above which are two guardian figures. The roof struts are carved with explicit erotic figures.
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Shivapuri National Park
The northern part of the Kathmandu Valley rises to the sprawling forests of Shivapuri National Park, upgraded to national park status in 2002 to protect the valley’s main water source, as well 177 species of birds and numerous rare orchids. This is one of the last areas of woodland left in the valley, and the forest is alive with monkeys, and maybe even leopards and bears.
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Manga Hiti
Immediately across from the Bhimsen Temple is the sunken Manga Hiti, one of the water conduits with which Patan, and even more so Bhaktapur, are so liberally endowed. This one has a cruciform-shaped pool and three wonderfully carved stone makara (mythological crocodiles) head waterspouts. Next to it is the Mani Mandap, twin pavilions built in 1700 and used for royal coronations.
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Durbar Square
The ancient Royal Palace of Patan faces on to a magnificent Durbar Square. This concentrated mass of temples is perhaps the most visually stunning display of Newari architecture to be seen in Nepal. Temple construction in the square went into overdrive during the Malla period (14th to 18th centuries), particularly during the reign of King Siddhinarsingh Malla (1619–60).
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Stone Inscription
On the outside of the palace wall, opposite the Vishnu Temple, is a long, low stone inscription to the goddess Kalika written in 15 languages, including one word of French. King Pratap Malla, renowned for his linguistic abilities, set up this inscription in 1664 and a Nepali legend relates that milk will flow from the spout in the middle if somebody is able to decipher all 15 languages!
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Manakamana Temple
From the tiny hamlet of Cheres (6km before Mugling), an Austrian-engineered cable car soars up an almost impossibly steep hillside to the ancient Manakamana Temple, one of the most important temples in the Middle Hills. Hindus believe that the goddess Bhagwati, an incarnation of Parvati, has the power to grant wishes, and newlyweds flock here to pray for male children.
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The Bodhnath Stupa
The first stupa at Bodhnath was built sometime after AD 600, when the Tibetan king, Songtsen Gampo, converted to Buddhism. According to legend, the king constructed the stupa as an act of penance after unwittingly killing his father. Unfortunately, the first stupa was wrecked by Mughal invaders in the 14th century, so the current stupa is a more recent construction.
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Tarik Gompa
The Sakyapa school Tarik Gompa to the northeast of the stupa does not have the imposing architectural unity of the others - it has obviously been built in stages over a number of years - but there are some high-quality frescoes inside the ground-floor chapel and you can climb upstairs to a splendidly adorned Sakyamuni Buddha. Just east of here is Tabsang Gompa, a Kargyud monastery.
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World Peace Pagoda
Easily accessible by bike, the impressive gleaming white World Peace Pagoda was constructed by Japanese Buddhists at a cost of US$1 million. The shining golden statue depicts the Buddha in the posture he assumed when he was born. Near the base of the stupa is the grave of a Japanese monk murdered by anti-Buddhist extremists during the construction of the monument.
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Vishwanath Temple
South of the Bhimsen Temple stands the Vishwanath Temple, dedicated to Shiva. This elaborately decorated two-roofed temple was built in 1627 and has two large stone elephants guarding the front entrance. The pillars are particularly ornate. Shiva's vehicle, the bull, is on the other side of the temple, while inside is a large lingam. The temple has been restored in recent years.
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Golden Temple (Kwa Bahal)
Also known as the Hiranya Varna Mahavihara, this unique Buddhist monastery is just north of Durbar Sq. The monastery was allegedly founded in the 12th century, and it has existed in its current location since 1409. Entry is via a narrow stone doorway to the east or a wooden doorway to the west, inside one of the interlinked bahal on the north side of Nakabhil.
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King Bhupatindra Malla's Column
King Bhupatindra Malla was the best known of the Malla kings of Bhaktapur and had a great influence on the art and architecture of the town. Like the similar column in Patan's Durbar Sq, this one (built in 1699) was based on the original in Kathmandu but remains the most beautiful of the three. The king sits with folded arms, studying the magnificent golden gate to his palace.
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Bat Cave
You won’t find Adam West or Christian Bale lurking in the dark and spooky Bat Cave, but instead thousands of live horseshoe bats, clinging to the ceiling of a damp and slippery chamber and occasionally chirruping into the darkness – claustrophobics beware. Daredevils can continue to the back of the vault and wriggle out through a tiny chute to the surface.
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Ethnographic Museum
If you have some time to kill while waiting for your visa extension, pop into the next-door tourism service centre and its Ethnographic Museum, which has a vaguely interesting collection of puppets, costumes and traditional crafts. There are grand plans (but no money as yet) to build a huge new ethnographic museum complex south of Kirtipur in the southern Kathmandu Valley.
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Tamang Gompa
The new Tamang Gompa and Guru Lhakhang are currently being built on the north side of the stupa enclosure. A small plaque here honours Ekai Kawaguchi (1866-1945), the first Japanese to make it to Tibet (he passed through Bodhnath in 1899). For an excellent account of his remarkable travels see Scott Berry's book A Stranger in Tibet, available in Thamel bookshops.
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Taumadhi Tole
A short walk from Potters' Sq or Durbar Sq reveals the second great square of Bhaktapur, the Taumadhi Tole ( M0456). Here you'll find Nyatapola Temple, the highest temple in the valley and also the Café Nyatapola, where the balconies provide a great view over the square. The latter was renovated for its new purpose in 1977 and it has some finely carved roof struts.
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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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Manjushree Park
The newly created Manjushree Park is seeking to repair the damage, done by the now-defunct cement factory, which has scarred the landscape of beauty spot, Chobar Gorge, located 1km southeast of Chobar village. It will take a few years for the ornamental gardens to bed down. Note the boulder shaped like Ganesh on the roadside uphill from the park.
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Krishna Temple
The attractive, octagonal stone Krishna Temple , also known as the Chyasim Deval, completes the 'front line' of temples in the square. The stairway to the temple, which faces the palace's Sundari Chowk, is guarded by two stone lions. The temple was built in 1723 and, like the square's Krishna Mandir, is a stark contrast to the usual Newari pagoda temple designs.
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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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