World heritage sites in Kathmandu

The wonderful and enchanting heritage sites in Kathmandu are the beautiful outcomes of the unique fusions – especially of the Hinduism and the Buddhism – formulated during the medieval history in Nepal. Therefore, the short city tours in the Kathmandu valley can offer you an opportunity to enjoy the medieval arts, architectures and exotic wood carvings heavily demonstrated on the medieval Palaces, temples, stupas and the monasteries enriching the Kathmandu valley with the places where one discovers different stories and fact about Nepal in terms of culture, religion, people’s life styles and their beliefs.

Welcome Nepal Treks & Tours manages all kinds of the city tours. We provide experienced and licensed tour guide to lead you through these mystic city and make your travel story more interesting to tell back in your home town. Welcome Nepal Treks & Tours – Holiday to Nepal arranges a complete “Kathmandu World Heritage sightseeing” package of 3 days to 7 days. The package avails you to experience the exotics of Kathmandu valley thoroughly. This sightseeing is equally rewarding for the antique hunters as you often come across handicrafts entrepreneurs. The typical Newari thanka (also called Pauwa art), Tibetan thanka, Khukuris, pasmina items ( made of mountain goats’ wool), and different other local hand made products good for gifts can be really a great mementos and embellish your rooms.

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Basantapur Durbar Square

Basantapur Durbar Square, the ancient palace premises of Kathmandu is a place of great attraction for the visitors to the Kathmandu valley. It covers a ten-acre area with around 55 conspicuous complexes of temples and palaces representing a panorama of quintessential Nepalese art and architecture that links the old with the new. It has played a central role not only in the political life but also in the cultural and artistic life of Nepal.

Hanuman Dhoka Palace

Built before Malla dynasty period (A.D. 1200-1769), Hanuman Dhoka Palace is the most important of all the monuments comprised in the Basantapur Durbar square. The palace has been named after the monkey god (hanuman, associated with the epic Ramayan) sitting on a pedestal at the left hand side at the main gate. The palace is a congregation of several buildings built in the succession for several centuries from 500 A.D. This Durbar is historical as since 1768 all the kings have been offered coronation here until the kingdom of Nepal was renamed Republic Nepal in 2006. Several important functions are held here even today. For example, during the biggest festival Dashain that falls during September-October and celebrated for nine long days, the devotees congregate here to worship goddess Taleju in her temple here.

Swoyambhu Nath Temple (the monkey temple)

Swoyambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu valley, west of Kathmandu city. It occupies a central position for Buddhist Newars for their day to day religious practices and hence probably the most sacred Buddhist Pilgrimage sites. For Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism, it second only to Boudhanath.

The Swoyambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a cariety of shrines and temples, some dating back to the licchavi period (300 A.D). The stupa has Buddha’s eyes and eyebrows painted on. The stupa has been repaired, reconstructed and maintained and per requirements. Much of the Swayambhunath’s iconography comes from the Vajrayana tradition of Newar Buddhism. However, the complex is also an important site for Buddhists of many schools, and is also revered by Hindus. The large swarm of people from both Buddhist and Hindus background gives an astonishing example of religious tolerance in Nepal.

Boudhanath Stupa

Located about 11km (7miles) from the center and north-eastern outskirts of Kathmandu, Boudhnath Stupa is one of the holiest Buddhist and Hindu sites in Nepal. It is known as Khasti by newars as Bauddha or Bodh-nath by modern speakers of Nepali. The stupa was built in 5th cenury during the regime of Licchavi king Mandev.The stupa is constructed on a massive mandala that makes it the largest spherical stupa in the world. The influx of large populations of Tibetan refugees from china has seen the construction of over 50 Tibetan Gompas (Monasteries) around Boudhanath shrine. As of 1979, Boudhanath is a UNESCO world Heritage Site. Along with Swayambhunath, it is one of he most popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu area.

Pashupatinath Temple

Pashupati Nath temple is the biggest Hindu temple of Lord Shiva in the world located on the banks of the Bagmati river in the eastern part Kathmandu. The temple served as the seat of national deity, Lord Pashupatinath. The temple dates back to 5th century. It has also been listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Millions of devotees flocked here on the day of Maha Shiva Ratri festival, to celebrate the birthday of Lord Shiva. The place is virtually crowded everyday as the local Hindus pay homage to the shrine regularly. The place is considered the holiest place for the funeral ceremony. Therefore, a visit to this shrine is full of benefits for the tourists interested to observe the Hindus funeral rituals, hundreds of Sadhus (Hindu holy man) around the sites living weirdly and other cultural activities that you can easily capture in your camera although the main shrine does not welcome people other than Hindus.

Buddhanilkantha

Buddhanilkantha is a shrine of Lord Vishnu. The shrine is renowned for superb image of lord Vishnu dating back to as early as 1,000 years old. The image is 5m (7ft) long and is lying on the extricate tapestry of 11 headed serpent (Basuki Naga) as if floating in a 13m (43ft) long tank. Under the canopy of 11 heads of the serpent, Lord Vishnu lies with his legs crossed. His four hands hold the four symbols of Vishnu: the chakra(disc), club, and conch-shell and lotus flower.

The shrine at the base of Shivapuri hill, is 8km northeast of Kathmandu and 15km from Thamel. This is a suitable site to visit for the nature lover and Mountain biker as it is close to conservation area where you can enjoy bird watching and have exclusive mountain bike experience along the rough terrain that leads back to Kathmandu via Natural settings.

Patan Durbar Square

Patan Durbar Square is another attraction for the tourist. It lies in Patan which is best known for its rich cultural heritage, particularly its tradition of art and craft. The Patan durbar Square is fully crowded with medieval temple projecting unique fine ancient art, metallic and stone carving statue jewelled in the them.This monument zone is one of the seven monument zone of Katmandu valley.

Hiranyabarna Mahabihar (Golden Temple)

Also known by Kwa Bahal and Suwarna Mahavihara,the Golden Temple is multi-storied Buddhist Vihar situated about 200 meters north of the Patan Durbar Square on the way to the five-tiered Kumbheswor temple. It was built during 12th century by Vaskar Deva Varma. This temple is enclosed by an unelaborated exterior wall, which reveals few clues as to the golden monument that lies within them. Two large stone lions guard the entrance of the passage to the temple, which opens to a small court. Two large stone lions guard the entrance of the passage to the temple. The massive pinnacle of Hiranya Varna Mahvihar is three stepped with upturned corners. It is one of the rarest historical pieces. It has three slanting roofs of copper with small birds standing at the corners of each roof and metal banners that also hang from below. As many other Buddhist shrine, Golden temple is also a center for both the Buddhist and Hindu devotees.

Mahaboudha stupa

Situated to the east of the Patan Durbar Square is the temple of Mahaboudha, built in the 14th century. This serene for Buddhist, made of clay bricks and styled in the beautiful art form of terra-cotta is so different to that of the pagoda roofs and temples surrounding it. Engraved into the walls of Mahaboudha temple are up to nine thousands carvings of images of Buddha giving Mahaboudha its name and showing off the designs and creative skills held by the craftsmen of Patan.

Bungamati

Bungamati is a pleasant classical Newari village sitting atop a spur above the Bagmati river, south to Patan city. It is good idea to visit this village on bicycle as you experience pleasant gradual ride up to Bungamati witnessing pastoral activities in typical Newari style. The village is astonishingly isolated and has been keeping the old traditional cultures and life style which is more than 500 years old. As the village is predominated by Newar you can enjoy the sights of hardworking Newar farmers toiling in the field with their ancestor’s hue and sickle. It is a rare sights for the tourist to find man and woman busily drying their agricultural products like chilly and vegetables Beside the anthropological part, the visitor can experience the tranquility that you may yearn for after staying couple days in the cacophony of Kathmandu city. The village is popular for the Rato Machhendranath Temple. When the deity of Rato Machhendranath moves to and from Patan, Bungamati marks the biggest festivals of the year. The other worth visiting place in Bungamati is the temple of Karya binayak dedicated to Elephant headed Hindu God.

Khokana

Like Bungamati Khokana is a unique village of Newar which can be taken as a model of a medieval settlement pattern with a system of drainage and chowks. It housed chaityas and a mother Goddess temple. It is a short walk across the paddy fields from Bungamati. The mustard-oil seed industry has become the living heritage of the village.

The breathtaking scenery of the countryside waits to mesmerise the visitors. The vast stretches of cultivated mustard field, the greenery of the hills and the snowy peaks are very inviting and truly majestic.

Bhaktapur Durbar Square

Bhaktapur has long been called the city of Devotees, and has recently emerged as Nepal’s Cultural capital. It is a living museum. As the main attraction of Bhaktapur, Bhaktapur Durbar Square offers a spectacular view of medieval art and architectures. Unlike the Durbar squares of Kathmandu and Patan, it is more spacious and less crowd. The temples and palaces here are more than 500 years old and represent the medieval civilization of Bhaktapur city. 55 windows palace, Golden Gate, Taleju temple, Shiva temple, Batsala temple are some of the dominating sights of this durbar square.

Dattatraya Square

The main structure in the Square is the Dattatreya Temple. The god Dattatreya is a three-headed combination of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva with Vishnu predominating in the Trinity-thus his symbols of the conch, the wheel and Garuda mounted on stone pillars in front of the temple. The Buddhists, not to be left out, consider Dattatreya to be Devadatta, a cousin of the Buddha and they also come to worship here. The temple itself was originally a big rest house for pilgrims which was turned into a temple in 1427 A.D. The three-story temple is raised well above the ground on its base around which are some carved erotic scenes.

Pottery Square

Pottery square captivates your attention when you see the potters making clay pots in traditional methods. The square is locally known as Tlako. The square has two temples. During Bisket festival, a second smaller lingum is erected here (the first one is erected in Yoshin- khyo, 500 meters east).

Taumadhi Square

The Square is dominated by the highest temple in the valley - 30 meter tall Nyatapola- Bhaktapur’s world renowned five-storied temple. The Nyatapola temple was built in 1703 by Bhupatindra Malla. The temple still dominates the skyline of bhaktapur. Its design was so elegant and its construction so well done that the earthquake of 1934, which completely destroyed so many other building, only caused damage to the topmost story. On the temple’s carved and painted roof struts, 108 images of the goddess are depicted. The 33 steps stairway leading up to the temple is flanked by guarding figures at each level. To the east of the square is another giant 3 storied Bhairav temple, remarkable for its rectangular ground plan. The temple dates back to 17th century. Once you get here, you will barely feel like leaving as it enthrals and enchants the visitors so much. You will find yourself so furiously clicking the moment in your camera frame.

Changunarrayan Temple

The beautiful and historic temple of Changu Narayan stands on a hilltop at the eastern end of the valley, about 6km north of Bhatapur and 22km from Kathmandu. It dates from 1702, when it was rebuilt after a fire, however its origins go back to the 4th century and many of the stone sculptures date from the Licchavi period (4th to 9th centuries). The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple is dedicated to the Lord Vishnu. The courtyard of the temple displays some of the finest stone carving of Nepal. Along this heritage site is the most popular hiking route leading to Nagarkot hill. It gives a pleasant experience of light walk or cycling viewing the spectacular snow capped mountain on to the north and ancient city Bhaktapur to the south.

Dhulikhel Old Trading City

A hill top ancient town, at an altitude of 1440m, and 30km east of Kathmandu, off the Arniko Highway towards Tibet is Dhulikhel Bazaar. From the time immemorial, Dhulikhel has been an important Trading centre on the ancient commercial route linking Nepal to Tibet. It is in essence a Newar township with plethora of pagoda temples and cluster of human settlements. After adjoining with Tibet by motorable road in 1965, Dhulikhel got a facelift and developed as a tourist destination for Himalayan views, sunrise, sunset, moonlight, bird and butterfly watching and experience legend and reality side by side. Th panorama offers undisturbed Majestic Himalayan views from Mt. Annapurna in the far west to Mt. Karolung in the east. When a blue haze covers the lower portion of mountains, the snow capped peaks seem to be floating in the air.

Panauti

Panauti is one of the oldest towns in Nepal, consisting of many temples that are still present till this day dating back to the 15th century or earlier. Indreshwor temple is one of the largest and tallest pagoda style temples in Nepal. It was originally built over a lingam in 1294. Panauti holds a number of festivals reflecting the ancient tradition and mythology. One of the most important is the three day long Panauti Jatra. The old Newari settlement in Panauti is 32 km east to the capital city Kathmandu. Surrounded by rice paddies and forested hills, Panauti offers peaceful and clean environment suitable for village walking and cycling.

Namobudha Stupa

Namo Buddha or Takmo Lujin is a very sacred place for the Buddhists. The stupa situated just off to the down town Kathmandu is visited by number of pilgrims every year.The hike from Dhulikhel to Namobuddha takes about two hours. It is a good route for cycling as well. The route passes through some typical villages such as Kavre and Phulbari and leads to the Buddhist monastery and stupa at Namobuddha, an important destination for Buddhist Pilgrims. There is a legend behind the reverence of this place. According to the Buddhist legend, the king Mahasattva gave his body to a hungry tigress at this place. His reliquary stupa remained underground for centuries. One day a hermit called Bhagavan (shakyamuni) came to this site and got attracted to the bulge. It is said that he clapped his hands, and miraculously the stupa appeared. The legend also says that the stupa enshrines the bones and hair of the Buddhist hermit who died practising the deeds of a Bodhisattva. He was moved to such pity at seeing a tigress, ravaged by hunger and about to devour a small boy, that he sacrificed his body to her. Even today, in this place there is such fear of the tiger that the people do not utter the real name of the stupa. Since in Buddhism it is believed, that to speak the name of the Buddha is to free from fear the Nepalese call this place Namo Buddha. If you ask for directions to the stupa, never utter the real name or no one will answer you. The local people will not understand you if you ask for Takmo Lujin. You must ask for Namo Buddha. This place is one of the main pilgrimage sites for the Lama Buddhists.

Madhyapur Thimi near Bhaktapur: Thimi lies between Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. It is a very old place with beautiful temples, wood carving on the houses and typical Newari life style. Thimi is popular for a weird festival of Bisket. The festival is celebrated to mark Nepali New year. The main attraction of the festival is the man with special initiation to pierce his tongue. With his tongue pierced he walks around the city with the religious procession following him.

The place is the habitation for the Newars. A walk through this small city will show you the traditional pottery making, farmer busy in storing their harvest and many other cultural activities which are almost at the verge of extinction.

Sankhu the ancient town of Kathmandu

One of the stunning city, Sankhu is almost hidden in the Kathmandu valley. It used to be a significant town located on the Tibetan trade route. Today, Sankhu or Sankharapur is the popular destination for most tourist coming to Nepal for its richness in culture, history and spectacular natural views. The legend related to the history of the town tells of a kingdom that was created and how the Tantric goddess Bajrajogini was significant in the establishment of Sankhu. Her shrine is hidden in the dense forests surrounding the town and it is a place of pilgrimage for many Hindus and Buddhists. The annual Sankhu festival is also held in her honor. Her shrine consists of beautiful statues, stupas and a few other shrines. The main structure at the shrine was constructed in the year 1655 by the then King, Prakas Malla. It is the most historic and oldest shrine that is located in this area. The goddess of wisdom is honored at the Sankhu Bajra Jogini and Hindus make their way to this shrine to offer blood sacrifices to the goddess. Buddhists have their own tantras here to make their own offerings. The caves that are located near the temple of Bajrajogini should also be explored, as it is said that in the cave that has two rooms the priest pays penance here for his love for her.

The Changunarayan Temple and the Salinadi River (a holy river in the Hindu religion) are two other very important and breathtaking sights. The holy river Sali observes annual woman fasting festival Swosthani Brata. The women spent 30 days in the river bank fasting and worshipping lord Shiva. The lush green forests that surround Sankhu are worth looking into, as they are peaceful and magical, with many creatures and birds that make the forest their home. This charming destination in Nepal has a wonderful mixture of culture, tradition, history and spectacular beauty to share with visitors. It is guaranteed to be a rewarding experience and is a recommended town to visit when in Nepal.