The Kathmandu Valley located in
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several places of pilgrimage for the
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s and the Buddhists. There are seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites within this valley.
Etymology
The city of Kathmandu is named after a structure in
Durbar SquareDurbar Square is the generic name used to describe plazas opposite old royal palaces in Nepal. Before the Unification of Nepal, Nepal consisted of small kingdoms, and Durbar Squares are most prominent remnants of those old kingdoms in Nepal...
called Kaasthamandap. In
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
,
kāṣṭh = "wood" and
maṇḍap = "covered shelter." This unique temple, also known as Maru Satal, was built in 1596 CE by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The entire structure contains no iron nails or supports and is made entirely from wood. Legend has it that the timber used for this two story pagoda was obtained from a single tree. As the city has many temples, it is also known as the City of Temples.
History
The Kathmandu Valley may have been inhabited as early as 300 BCE, since the oldest known objects in the valley date to a few hundred years BCE. The earliest known inscription is dated 185 CE. The oldest firmly dated building in the earthquake-prone valley is almost 1,992 years old. Four
stupaA stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
s around the city of Patan, said to have been erected by a certain Charumati, a purported daughter of Ashoka the Great, a Mauryan king, in the 3rd century BCE, attest to the ancient history present within the valley. As with the tales of the Buddha's visit, there is no evidence supporting Ashok's visit, but the stupas probably do date to that century. The
KiratKirat or Kirati are indigenous ethnic groups of the Himalayas extending eastward from Nepal into India, Burma and beyond. They migrated to their present locations via Assam, Burma, Tibet and Yunnan in ancient times...
s are the first documented rulers of the Kathmandu Valley; the remains of their palace are said to be in Patan near Hiranyavarna Mahavihara (called "Patukodon"). The Licchavi Dynasty whose earliest inscriptions date back to 464 CE were the next rulers of the valley and had close ties with the Gupta Dynasty of
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The
Malla DynastyThe Malla Dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Nepal from the 12th to the 18th century. Malla kings of Nepal visited Lumbini in the 11th and 12th century. It was during their reign the people living in and around the Kathmandu Valley began to be called as "Newars" . The Mallas were the ruling clan of...
ruled Kathmandu Valley and the surrounding area from the 12th until the 18th century CE, when the
Shah DynastyThe Kingdom of Nepal , also referred to as the Gorkha Kingdom, was formed in 1768 by the unification of Nepal. Founded by Prithvi Narayan Shah The Kingdom of Nepal , also referred to as the Gorkha Kingdom, was formed in 1768 by the unification of Nepal. Founded by Prithvi Narayan Shah The Kingdom...
under
Prithvi Narayan ShahPrithvi Narayan Shah, King of Nepal was the first king of the House of Shahs to rule Nepal. He is credited for starting the campaign for a unified Nepal, which had been divided and weakened under Malla confederacy. He was the ninth generation descendant of Dravya Shah , the founder of the ruling...
conquered the valley as he created present-day Nepal. Most of ancient Nepali architecture present in
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
today is from the
MallaThe Malla Dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Nepal from the 12th to the 18th century. Malla kings of Nepal visited Lumbini in the 11th and 12th century. It was during their reign the people living in and around the Kathmandu Valley began to be called as "Newars" . The Mallas were the ruling clan of...
era.
Newars
The Newars, generally acknowledged to be the original inhabitants of the valley, are understood to be the descendants of the various ethnic and racial groups that have inhabited and ruled the valley in the 2-millennia history of the place. Although in today's state of Nepal, the Newars stand apart ethnically from the other groups on the basis of their composite Hindu-Buddhist religious culture and
Nepal BhasaNepal Bhasa is one of the major languages of Nepal, and is also spoken in India, particularly in Sikkim where it is one of the 11 official languages. Nepal Bhasa is the mother tongue of about 3% of the people in Nepal . It is spoken mainly by the Newars, who chiefly inhabit the towns of the...
, today spoken by all Newars as their mother tongue, the multifarious castes in the numerous caste systems within Newar society display a surprising racial diversity. The similarities between the various cultural traits and complexes within Newar culture and those of many other ethnic groups in the Indian sub-continent lead us to hypothesize the occurrence of both vibrant circulations of peoples and cultures around the sub-continent during the last 2 millennia and a continuous and steady of diffusion of these ideas into the valley. Anthropologists describe Newar society as a "pre-dominantly Mongoloid people practicing an Indo-Aryan culture."
Mythology
According to Swayambhu Puran, the Kathmandu Valley was once a lake. The hill where the
Swayambu StupaSwayambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west...
rests had lotus plants with beautiful lotus flowers abloom. One story says that the god
ManjusriMañjuśrī is a bodhisattva associated with transcendent wisdom in Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Esoteric Buddhism he is also taken as a meditational deity. The Sanskrit name Mañjuśrī can be translated as "Gentle Glory"...
cut a gorge at a place called Kashapaal (later called Chobhar) with a sword called Chandrahrasha and drained away the waters in order to establish a habitable land.
According to Gopal Banshawali,
KrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
cut the gorge with his
Sudarshana ChakraThe Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like super weapon with 108 serrated edges used by Lord Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a Shankha in his left rear hand, a Gada in his right fore hand, and a Padma in his left...
to let the water out. He then handed the drained valley to the Gopal Vansi people, who were nomadic cow herders.
Geography
The valley is made up of the
Kathmandu DistrictKathmandu District is a district located in Kathmandu Valley, Bagmati Zone of Nepal, a landlocked country in South Asia. It is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, covers an area of 395 km2 and is the most densely populated district of Nepal with a population of 1,081,845 in 2001...
,
Lalitpur DistrictLalitpur District of 337,785. It is one of the three districts in the Kathmandu Valley, along with Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.Lalitpur District has many schools, colleges and hotels. Adarsha Vidya Mandir, St. Xavier's School, St...
and
Bhaktapur DistrictBhaktapur district, located in the eastern part of Kathmandu valley, is the smallest among the seventy-five districts of Nepal. The district, with Bhaktapur as its district headquarters, covers an area of 119 km² and has a population of 225,461....
covering an area of 220 square miles(almost the area of Singapore). The valley consists of the municipal areas of
Kathmandu Metropolitan CityKathmandu Metropolitan City is the largest urban area of Nepal. It is the capital city of Nepal. It is located in Western part of Kathmandu valley and South eastern part of Kathmandu district.- Administrative divisions :...
, Lalitpur Submetropolitan City,
Bhaktapur municipalityBhaktapur , also Bhadgaon or Khwopa is an ancient Newar town in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It is located in Bhaktapur District in the Bagmati Zone...
,
Kirtipur MunicipalityKirtipur is an ancient city in Nepal. It is located in Kathmandu District of Bagmati Zone 5 km south-west of the Kathmandu. It is one of the five municipalities of the Kathmandu Valley.-Etymology:...
and
Madhyapur Thimi MunicipalityMadhyapur Thimi is a municipality in Bhaktapur District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 47,751....
; the remaining area is made up of a number of Village Development Committees. The valley is a cultural and political hub of Nepal. The Kathmandu valley was accorded the status of a
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in the year 1979.
The major river flowing through the Kathmandu Valley is the
BagmatiThe Bagmati River is a river of Nepal and India. It flows through the Kathmandu valley and is the river separating Kathmandu from Lalitpur. It is considered a holy river both by Hindus and Buddhists...
.
Places to see
Important monuments of Kathmandu Valley include:
- Kathmandu Durbar Square
Durbar Square is the generic name used to describe plazas opposite old royal palaces in Nepal. Before the Unification of Nepal, Nepal consisted of small kingdoms, and Durbar Squares are most prominent remnants of those old kingdoms in Nepal...
- Patan Durbar Square
- Bhaktapur Durbar Square
- Thimi Durbar Square
- Changu Narayan
Changu Narayan is the name of the deity enshrined in the Changu Narayan Temple, located near the Changunarayan village in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. The temple is one of the oldest Hindu temples of the valley, and is believed to have been constructed in the 4th century. Changu Narayan is the name...
- Swayambhunath
Swayambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west...
StupaA stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
- Boudhanath Stupa
- Pashupatinath temple
Pashupatinath Temple is one of the most significant Hindu temples of Lord Shiva in the world, located on the banks of the Bagmati River in the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The temple served as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath, Nepal is a secular country...
- Balkumari Temple/Thimi
- Wakachhen Mahadev/Thimi
- Golden Window/Thimi
- Chabahil
Chabahil, one of the most important historical place in Kathmandu, Nepal is famous for its Licchavi stupa, called the Charumati Vihara. The stupa is considered by many historians to be the oldest Buddhist Stupa in Kathmandu Valley. According to the inscriptions found in the stupa, the stupa was...
- Manjushree Temple in Majipa, Manjushree Tole
- Aditnath Temple in Chobhar http://www.chobhar.com hill village
- Palanchok Temple in Kavre, east from middle of Kathmandu
Present
This valley hosts an
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
s composed of seven different Monument Zones: The centers of the three primary cities, Kathmandu Hanuman Dhoka, Patan and Bhaktapur, the two most important Buddhist stupas,
SwayambhunathSwayambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west...
and Boudhanath and two famous Hindu shrines,
Pashupatinath templePashupatinath Temple is one of the most significant Hindu temples of Lord Shiva in the world, located on the banks of the Bagmati River in the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The temple served as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath, Nepal is a secular country...
and
Changu NarayanChangu Narayan is the name of the deity enshrined in the Changu Narayan Temple, located near the Changunarayan village in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. The temple is one of the oldest Hindu temples of the valley, and is believed to have been constructed in the 4th century. Changu Narayan is the name...
. Since 2003 the World Heritage List lists the site as being "in danger" out of concern for the ongoing loss of authenticity and the outstanding universal value of the cultural property.
In the past, Tibetan Buddhist Masters including Marpa, Milarepa, Rwa Lotsava, Ras Chungpa, Dharma Swami, XIII Karmapa, XVI Karmapa and several others visited and traveled in the Kathmandu Valley. However, the largest group of Tibetans came in the 1960s. Many settled around the Svayambhu and Baudha Stupas. Many other famous Lamas known throughout the world have their Buddhist monasteries and centers in the Kathmandu Valley..
Musical inspiration
- Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
wrote a song titled "Katmandu," which appeared in his 1970 album, Mona Bone JakonMona Bone Jakon is the third album released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The album was released In July, 1970 on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom, and A&M record label in the United States and Canada...
.
- Rock musician Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
wrote a song titled "Katmandu," which appeared on his 1975 album, Beautiful LoserBeautiful Loser is the eighth album by American rock singer/songwriter Bob Seger, released in 1975 .The album relied mostly on session musicians from the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, but the Silver Bullet Band members were used separately on some songs and together on "Nutbush City Limits," a...
.
- Kathmandu is mentioned in the song "Cry Baby," by Janis Joplin.
- Kathmandu is also mentioned in the song "Nobody Told Me," by John Lennon.
- A Russian rock band Krematorij
Krematorij is a Russian rock group. The group’s front man is Armen Grigoryan .-History:...
had a song titled "Kathmandu" on their 2000 album Three Springs.
- The Argentinian musician Fito Páez
Rodolfo "Fito" Páez Ávalos is an Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, Spanish language singer and film director.-Early career:...
has a song called Tráfico por Katmandú ("Traffic through Kathmandu" in English).
- New age
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
guitarist Will Ackerman has a song called "A Happy Home in Kathmandu" on his 1993 album The Opening of Doors.
- The group Tantra recorded a song called "The Hills of Katmandu" in the early 80's.
- Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player Béla FleckBéla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
has a number called "Kathmandu."
- David Hughes from Sweden, included a track titled "Kathmandu" on his 2007 release "Foreign Shores".
- Canadian prog-rock band Rush
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
mentioned Kathmandu in the song "A Passage To Bangkok"A Passage to Bangkok" is the second song on Rush's album, 2112. Released in 1976, the song follows the album's title song 2112. The song opens with a driving guitar riff...
"on their 1976 album "21122112 is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1976.The album features an eponymous seven-part suite written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, with lyrics written by Neil Peart telling a dystopian story set in the year 2112. The album is sometimes described as a concept album...
".
External links