A visit to Kathmandu, the city of Temples

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal is surrounded by pre historic palaces and ancient temples. It is believed that some of the temples in Kathmandu date back to the times before birth of Christ. The architecture and the design of the temples and palaces which were built in the ancient era are quite unique and possess a prime significance in the lives of the Nepalese people.

Nepal hosts people from different religion and cultures who come from different backgrounds and have different traditions. This has resulted the city of temples to be a shrine for all Nepalese people belonging to different religion and backgrounds.

Out of the many temples there are some of which have prime significance not only in the country itself but also nationwide. All the Hindu religion followers are well aware of the Pashupatinath Temple which is the shrine to all Hindu as well as Buddhist followers. People following Hinduism from all around the world visit Nepal to worship the idols and the temples in the Pashupatinath.

Swayambhunath temple or the temple of Monkeys is considered as the oldest temples in all of Nepal and also one of the oldest temples in the world itself as the origin of this temples dates back to the time before the birth of Christ. Swayambhunath is truly is beautiful structure which is situated at the top of a hill within the Kathmandu valley which requires a steep climb of stairs of about 350. The temple is a structure called ‘stupa’ which has a semi spherical shape as the base and a cone structure above it with the eyes of Buddha drawn over the four sides. A glimpse of the valley from the hill can be witnessed which is truly amazing but the temple itself is decorated with holy flags and idols surrounding the stupa.

Similar to the swayambhunath temple is the bouddhanath temple which is nepal’s largest stupa. However, the ambience around the place is quite different from the swayambhunath as the place is surrounded by restaurants, handicrafts store and souvenir shops which are Tibetan influenced. On occasion such as Buddha jayanti and Lhosar, both prime occasions in the Buddhist religion the place is crowded with people worshipping around the structure carrying fire lit lights and singing peaceful and melodious hymns.

Similarly, Bhaktapur durbar square and Patan durbar square are the two palaces built in the ancient time which holds a historical significance as well as gives knowledge about the cultural practices and the tradition in Nepal. The architecture involved is unique to others but very beautiful with idols and patterns inscribed on the wood works and stones which are symbol of the ancient Kathmandu. These structure are surrounded by temples and supporting structures like bells, statues and pillars which stands in a complete harmony.