Kathmandu, officially Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is the capital and most populous city of Nepal with 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households as of the 2021 Nepal census and approximately 4 million people in its urban agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.
Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, queen Maya gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 623 BCE. Gautama, who, according to Buddhist tradition, achieved Enlightenment some time around 528 BCE, became Shakyamuni Buddha and founded Buddhism. Lumbini is one of many magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha.
Music of Nepal refers to the various musical genres played and listened to in Nepal. With more than fifty ethnic groups in Nepal, the country's music is highly diverse. Genres like Tamang Selo, Chyabrung, Dohori, Adhunik Geet, Bhajan, Filmi music, Ghazal, Classical music, songs and Ratna music are widely played and popular, but many other less common genres are yet to be cataloged. Western musical genres like Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B also regularly feature on the Nepalese music charts. Most of the country's musical bands are based in the Kathmandu valley. Musical genres from Tibet and India have greatly influenced Nepalese music.
Bhaktapur, known locally as Khwopa and historically called Bhadgaon, is a city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal located about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the capital city, Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is the smallest city of Nepal as well as the most densely populated. Along with Kathmandu and Lalitpur, Bhaktapur is one of the three main cities of the Kathmandu Valley and is a major Newar settlement of the country. The city is also known for its Newar tradition, cuisine and artisans. Bhaktapur suffered heavy damage in the April 2015 earthquake.
Newar, or Nepami, are primarily inhabitants in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. The Newar are a distinct linguistic and cultural group, primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities, who share a common language, Nepal Bhasa, and predominantly practice Hinduism. Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilisation not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills. Newars have continued their age-old traditions and practices and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture and civilisation of Nepal. Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine. Today, they consistently rank as the most economically and socially advanced community in Nepal, according to the annual Human Development Index published by UNDP. Newars are ranked the 8th largest ethnic group in Nepal according to the 2021 Nepal census numbering 1,341,363 people constituting 4.6% of the total population.
Kirtipur is a Municipality and an ancient city of Nepal. The Newars are the natives of Kipoo (Kirtipur). It is located in the Kathmandu Valley 5 km south-west of the city of Kathmandu. It is one of the five dense municipalities in the valley, the others being Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi. It is one of the most famous and religious places to visit. Many people visit this place not only for its natural environment but also to visit temples. The city was listed as a UNESCO tentative site in 2008.
The Kathmandu Valley, also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley, National Capital Area, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. It lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of the Indian subcontinent and the broader Asian continent, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Buddhists. There are seven World Heritage Sites within the valley.
A dhunge dhara or hiti is a traditional stone drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is an intricately carved stone waterway through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. Dhunge dharas are part of a comprehensive drinking water supply system, commissioned by various rulers of Ancient and Medieval Nepal. The system is supported by numerous ponds and canals that form an elaborate network of water bodies, created as a water resource during the dry season and to help alleviate the water pressure caused by the monsoon rains. After the introduction of modern, piped water systems, starting in the late 19th century, this old system has fallen into disrepair and some parts of it are lost forever. Nevertheless, many people of Nepal still rely on the old dhunge dharas on a daily basis.
Bajrayogini Temple(Nepali: बज्रयोगिनी मन्दिर) is a Tantric Buddhist temple located at Sakwa in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. It is also well known as Bodhisattva's Temple. The temple is actually a sort of temple complex, with the main temple having been built by King Pratap Malla in the sixteenth century. Vajrayogini is a Buddhist tantric deity, she is also conflated with Ugra Tara, a form of the Buddhist dharmapala Ekajati. However, the temple is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus.
Pushpa Sundar Tuladhar was a prominent merchant of Kathmandu and one of the chief donors to the restoration of the Swayambhu stupa in 1918. Swayambhu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the holiest Buddhist shrines in Nepal and the center of Newar Buddhism. The renovation project was headed by his father-in-law Dharma Man Tuladhar and completed in 1921.
The architectural heritage of Kathmandu city is integral to that of the Kathmandu valley since all monuments have evolved over centuries of craftsmanship influenced by Hindu and Buddhist religious practices. The architectural treasure of the Kathmandu valley has been categorized under the well known seven groups of heritage monuments and buildings. In 2006, UNESCO declared these seven groups of monuments as a World Heritage Site (WHS). The seven monuments zones cover an area of 188.95 hectares, with the buffer zone extending to 239.34 hectares. The Seven Monument Zones (Mzs) inscribed originally in 1979 with a minor modification in inscribed year as 2006, are: Five monuments in Kathmandu – Durbar square of Hanuman Dhoka, Hindu temples of Pashupatinath and Changunarayan, the Buddha stupas of Swayambu and Boudhanath; and two monuments outside Kathmandu city limits, in the satellite towns of Patan and Bhktapur – Durbar square at Patan, Durbar square at Bhaktapur. Brief details of the five Kathmandu city monuments are elaborated here.
The ancient and refined traditional culture of Kathmandu, for that matter in the whole of Nepal, is an uninterrupted and exceptional meeting of the Hindu and Buddhist ethos practiced by its highly religious people. It has also embraced in its fold the cultural diversity provided by the other religions such as Kirat, Jainism, Islam and Christianity.
Bhaktapur Durbar Square is a former royal palace complex located in Bhaktapur, Nepal. It housed the Malla kings of Nepal from 14th to 15th century and the kings of the Kingdom of Bhaktapur from 15th to late 18th century until the kingdom was conquered in 1769. Today, this square is recognised by UNESCO, managed jointly by the Archeological Department of Nepal and Bhaktapur Municipality, and is undergoing extensive restoration due to the damages from the earthquake in 1934 and the recent earthquake of 2015.
Newār window refers to the elaborately carved wooden window which is the distinguishing feature of traditional Nepalese architecture. The ornate windows have been described as a symbol of Newar culture and artistry. The level of design and carving of the Newar window reached its peak in the mid-18th century. They are found on palaces, private residences and sacred houses across Nepal Mandala.
The Patan Museum is a museum located in Patan, Lalitpur, Nepal. The museum falls under the UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. The Patan Museum was inaugurated in 1997 by Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah. The Patan Museum displays the traditional sacred arts of Nepal in an illustrious architectural setting. Its home is an old residential court of Patan Durbar, one of the royal palaces of former Malla Kings of the Kathmandu Valley. The royal palace was built in 1734, on the site of a Buddhist monastery. The museum quadrangle is known as Keshav Narayan Chowk.
Khaplu Palace, locally known as Yabgo Khar, is an old fort and palace located in Khaplu, a city in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The palace, considered an architectural heritage site and a significant tourist attraction, was built in the mid-19th century to replace an earlier-dated fort located nearby. It served as a royal residence for the Raja of Khaplu.
Ambica Shrestha was a renowned Nepalese hotelier and a significant figure in the preservation of Nepalese cultural heritage. She served as the president of Dwarika´s Hotels and Resorts until her death.
The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal, is an urban five-star resort located near the Boudhanath stupa. The hotel, opened in 2000, is built in the traditional Newar architecture on 37 acres of land. It is operated by Taragaon Regency Hotels, and employs 400 workers. The hotel was built under public-private partnership with 40% public ownership and 60% private. It recorded losses for 22 years, during which the public ownership of the hotel shrunk to 9%, and later began registering record profits. The public land on which the hotel was built was in the process of being privatised at extremely cheap rates. Parliamentary committees began investigating possible financial irregularities by the private partners, including the possibility that Taragaon Regency Hotels deliberately showed losses in order to illegally gain ownership stake on the hotel by decreasing the share prices and buying them back cheaply, while deterring investment from others. The Auditor General's office and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority also investigated the activities of Taragaon Regency Hotels. As of 2020, Taragaon Development Committee, the entity representing public interests in the hotel, is attempting to reclaim the land into public ownership.
Karun Thapa born on 23 March 1965) is a Nepali IT expert, film editor, 3D animator, trainer, a well-known lyricist and Ghazal writer. Karun is known for his technological contribution to Nepali IT and media industry. He has contributed by introducing Devanagari fonts in computers, introducing AVID Digital Film Editing system in Nepal and introducing 3D animation in Nepal.
Haveli Dharampura, built in 1887 CE and currently owned by BJP leader Vijay Goel, is a 19th-century haveli in Chandani Chowk area of old Delhi that as awarded a special mention in UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2017.
