Durbar Square
At first, we wandered and found that the ticket offices were closed and we walked to the Freak Street, at the southern end of Durbar Square, finding our way back with the rain. The sky turned brighter and we walked back and met two local guides. They persuaded us to let them guide us to tour around for NPR 1500. It just cost the same as the entrance fee but the fee was waived as the parties could not agree on the entrance fee increase and they just shut down the ticket offices and let people entered freely.
The historic centre of old Kathmandu is an open-air architectural museum of magnificent medieval temples, pagodas, pavilions and shrines. Once occupied by Nepal's cloistered royal family and still home to the Kumari, Kathmandu's very own living goddess, Durbar Square is very much the sacred heart of the city and the backdrop to several spectacular festivals. For the best approach to the square, follow some walking tours through the hidden backstreet courtyards and temples of the surrounding warren-like old town.
Kathmandu's Durbar Square was where the city's kings were once crowned and legismised, and from where they ruled. ('durbar' means palace) As such, the square remains the traditional heart of the old town and Kathmandu's most spectacular legacy of traditional architecture.
Although most of the square dates from the 17th an d18th centuries (many of the original buildings are much older), a great deal of rebuilding happened after the great earthquake of 1934. The entire square was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1979.
Kabindrapur Temple (Dhansa Dega)
an ornate 17th-century performance pavilion that houses the god of music.
To the south is the open Basanapur Square area, a former royal elephant stables that now houses souvenir stalls and off which runs Freak St.
Kumari Chowk and site office
Basantapur Temple
At first, we wandered and found that the ticket offices were closed and we walked to the Freak Street, at the southern end of Durbar Square, finding our way back with the rain. The sky turned brighter and we walked back and met two local guides. They persuaded us to let them guide us to tour around for NPR 1500. It just cost the same as the entrance fee but the fee was waived as the parties could not agree on the entrance fee increase and they just shut down the ticket offices and let people entered freely.
The historic centre of old Kathmandu is an open-air architectural museum of magnificent medieval temples, pagodas, pavilions and shrines. Once occupied by Nepal's cloistered royal family and still home to the Kumari, Kathmandu's very own living goddess, Durbar Square is very much the sacred heart of the city and the backdrop to several spectacular festivals. For the best approach to the square, follow some walking tours through the hidden backstreet courtyards and temples of the surrounding warren-like old town.
Kathmandu's Durbar Square was where the city's kings were once crowned and legismised, and from where they ruled. ('durbar' means palace) As such, the square remains the traditional heart of the old town and Kathmandu's most spectacular legacy of traditional architecture.
Although most of the square dates from the 17th an d18th centuries (many of the original buildings are much older), a great deal of rebuilding happened after the great earthquake of 1934. The entire square was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1979.
Kabindrapur Temple (Dhansa Dega)
an ornate 17th-century performance pavilion that houses the god of music.
To the south is the open Basanapur Square area, a former royal elephant stables that now houses souvenir stalls and off which runs Freak St.
Kumari Chowk and site office
Basantapur Temple
Shiva-Parvati Temple
From the steps of the Maju Deval you can look north across to this temple, where a pair of much photographed white images of Shiva and his consort look out from the upstairs window onto the chaos below them. The temple was built in the late 1700s by Bahadur Shah, the son of Prithvi Narayan Shah. Although the temple is not very old by Kathmandu standards, it stands on a two-stage platform that may have been an open dancing stage hundreds of years earlier.
A Narayan (Vishnu) Temple stnads to the west side.
Gaddhi Baithak (see previous page)
Seto (White) Bhairab
Seto (White) Bhairab's horrible face is hidden away behind a grille opposite King Pratap Malla's Column. The huge mask dates from 1794, during the reign of Rana Bahadur Shah, the third Shah-dynasty king. Each September during the Indra Jatra festival the gates are opened to reveal the mask for a few days. At that time the face is covered in flowers and rice; at the start of the festivities beer is poured through the horific mouth as crowds of men fight to get a drink of the blessed brew. At other times of the year you can peek though the lattice to see the mask, which is used as the symbol of Nepal Airlines.
Bhagwati Temple
This triple-storey, triple-roofed temple is easily missed since it surmounts the building below it, which is lined with shops selling thangkas (Tibetan religious paintings) and their Newari equivalents, called paubhas.
The temple is actually part of the Hanuman Dhoka palace courtyard. The best view of the temple and its golden roofs s is probably from the Maju Deval, across the square.
The temple was built by King Jagat Jaya Malla and originally had an image of Narayan, The image was stolen in 1766; when Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the valley two years later, he simply substituted it with an image of the goddess Bhagwiti. In April each year the image of the goddess is conveyed to the village of Nuwakot, 65km to the north, then returned a few days later.
Jagannath Temple
This 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.
King Pratap Malla's Column
Across from the Krishna Temple is a host of smaller temples and other structures, all standing on a slightly raised platform in fromt of the Hanuman Dhoka and the towering Taleju Temple behind. The square stone pillar, known as the Pratap Dhvaja, is topped by a statue of the famous King Pratap Malla (1641-74), seated with folded hands and surrounded by his two wives and his five (including an infant) sons. He looks towards his private prayer room on the 3rd floor of the Degutaleju Temple. The column was erected in 1670 by Pratap Malla and proceeded the similar columns in Patan and Bhaktapur.
Great Bell
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 nearby Degutaleju Temple.
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 Square.
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