Kathmandu Valley

Kathmandu Valley harbours famous examples of Hindu and Buddhist temples, and Newari architecture.
The monuments included under the wing of the Kathmandu-valley are: Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Changu Narayan, Syambhunath Stupa, Pashupatinath and Bouddhanath Stupa.

The city of Kathmandu (formerly Kantipur) has its origins in the 8th century, and had its heyday in the 16th-18th century. The city-center is like an open air-museum, in which people still live. There are a lot of buildings in the characteristic style, made of wood and with lots of decorations.

Year	Decision	Comments
2007	Removed from Danger list
2003	In Danger	Loss of authenticity and threat of uncontrolled development
1985	Extension deferred
1979	Inscribed	Reasons for inscription

Visit July 1993, February 2001, September 2007

On my first visit in 1993, the Hindu-temple of Pashupatinath became my favorite. It is a very serene place, a Nepalese version of the better known Indian ghats (in f.e. Varanasi). I arrived on a tour from Northern India and found Kathmandu the ideal place to relax after the dirt and crowds of India.

Eight years later, I am back. Despite the increased number of cars and hotels, Kathmandu Durbar Square I found as magic as ever. Just sitting there, among the number of monuments, watching Nepalese life go by, is one of the best things to do here. I revisited most of the popular sites in the valley, and also took trips to smaller places like Kirtipur, Changu Narayan and Buddhanilkantha.

On my third visit I was very unlucky at first with the weather. The ‘Kathmandu Post’ newspaper wrote about a monsoon that stayed on longer than the normal 23rd of September. I had one dry day to revisit my old favourites Kathmandu Durbar Square and Bodnath Stupa. One of the things I especially like about this WHS is the active role it plays in the numerous festivals of Nepal. This time it was Indra Jatra, where the mask of Seto Bhairab is shown to the public.

A week later, arriving from Dhulikhel, the sun was shining again in Kathmandu. This gave me the opportunity to revisit Swayambunath and Patan, as pretty and much the same as I remember them from 1993.

More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery

Reviews

Clyde (Malta):
This must be one of the most expensive WHS but still it is well worth visiting all 7 sites. My personal favourite is Pashupatinath, a smaller version of Varanasi and the Ganges in India. Cremation goes on day and night in the filthy Bagmati river and it is always full of locals especially on Saturdays.
Boudnath is said to be the world's largest stupa complex. Many Tibetan Gompas to visit nearby the stupa and truly a spiritual place.
Swayambhunath is a similar stupa in Kathmandu also known as Monkey Temple because of the monkeys roaming freely around it.
Changu Narayan is in Bhaktapur district and is well worth the visit. Less tourists and beautiful stone sculptures.
The 3 Durbar Squares are packed with stupas, temples, carvings, stone sculptures, etc. and in order of preference are : Bhaktapur (Bhadgaon), Kathmandu and Patan (Lalitpur). All deserve at least 1-2 days each.

Date posted: April 2013

chan (singapore):
I am Chan from Singapore. I visited world heritages of Kathmandu valley Sep 10, 2011. With the tour guide of Himalayan Smile Treks (www.himalayastrek.com)i visited Swoyambhunath Temple, Kathmandu Durbar Square, Boudhanath and Pashupatinath. All sites are wonderful and amazing. All sites are made of unique architecture of nepal with hindu and buddhist influence.

Date posted: October 2011

alison oliver (u.k.):
Its been 20 years since i visited nepal and it will truely stay in my heart forever - it was a life-changing experience for me and will never forget it. I met such lovely people and saw sites i had only dreamt of - nepal is a place close to heaven in every sense and hope that people will visit, enjoy and respect it. Kathmandu valley is the most beautiful place iv had the good fortune to travel to and is worth a visit just for its sheer magnificence.The people are inspirational and being in the mountains made me see why the nepalese are so devoutly religious - nepal brought joy into my life and that is where i go in my head when i need to - thankyou nepal and the people of nepal for making such a difference to my life :)

Date posted: March 2011

Caroline Toma (Canada):
I just returned from a visit to Kathmandu this April. I was hugely disappointed to see that Kathmandu was no longer the "lush tropical paradise amidst the Himalayas" that I had pictured it to be, but rather the worst example of uncontrolled urban sprawl and air pollution that I have ever seen. When I arrived in the valley after crossing through the hills we could practically cut the air with a knife! I asked one of my tour guides about air pollution controls and was told that these were in place, but that the police who were supposed to enforce the "green sticker" policy for vehicles in Kathmandu regularly accepted bribes in exchange for the green sticker on the windshield of vehicles permitted to drive in the city.
Nevertheless, I loved the people and spirituality that permeated every street and alleyway of Kathmandu. It is practically impossible to walk anywhere without stumbling over a stupa or some kind of shrine, no matter how small, and the people were some of the kindest and gentlest people I have met on my travels.
I will definitely visit Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal again in future and can only hope that some of the conditions will have improved by then.

Date posted: May 2010

John Wood (AMERICA):
Nepal is a beautiful country and people of nepal are really wonderful. I have visited nepal 23 times since 1976.
I hope everyone in this world visit nepal once in their lifetime. They must reach Mount Everest base camp and try bungy jump at the bhote koshi.

Date posted: August 2008

Ekta Shah (USA):
I have never seen himalayas. But, Kathmandu is the place where I was grown n lived. I miss everything-festivals, monuments n all.
I hope we will always have peace in our country.

Date posted: April 2008

Stephen Brooker (UK):
I first visited Kathmandu in 1990 and returned in the fall of 2007.

On my first visit the journey from Kathmandu to Bahktpur, was a short drive through open countryside, now the whole journey is through urban sprawl - a huge disappointment.

I was told, by our guide, that the valleys population has nearly trebled since the start of the Moaist insurgency. Due to people seeking the safety of Kathmandu. This is both a human tragedy, and a tragedy for our collective human heritage.

That said, there is still plenty to enjoy and be inspired by. Bodonath, Pashinunpronoucable, Bahktpur etc. I would also, from my first visit, recomend the intimate but enjoyable national museum - although I never made it back last November.

Date posted: April 2008

Akash Bist (India):
Really, Nepal is a nice tourist place to visit betweem dec-feb. As when i was very small, i ve only heard abt this place tat this is a place of heaven. Now i know that it was reallie fantastic.
Respected Sir or Madam,
i would b highly oblidged, if i wud get more information abt this place if u can will b waitin for ur mail

indra (malaysia):
toured nepal-katmandu,pokara and nagarkot.beautiful and humble exprnce.the sites were awesome.the mountains breathtaking and unforgettable.kind simple people.heritage sites worth watching.shopping -good.best hotel-fehwa prince-pokkara.

devi (malaysia):
I went to Nepal in June. It was always my dream destination but the main reason i wanted to go there was to see the bouddhanath stupa. This buddist temple with the eyes penetrating has always fascinated me. But what i never expected was to discover so many hindu temples in nepal. Going without expecting is always an experience. The best temple among the ones i visited is of course pasupathinath.

I missed out the shangu narayana temple and the bathrakali temple. That is why i visited this site.

Nepal is an exotic country to visit. I would want to visit again all those places that i missed out.

Rajmaya Putwar (Nepal):
And the most unfortunately, the beautiful site of Kathmandu Valley was shortly put on the list of Monument in Danger. It is becasue of the careless government and its staff, who earn salary in the name of conservation but only take bribe for letting others to illegal things. And the governmetn itself it made of those who do not want to conserve the monuments. I say, the government of Nepal must be punished!!!!

Razen Manandhar (nepal):
Dear Heritage Lovers,
It was indeed a great experience to visit your site. I feel so nice to read about heritage sites of the world. But I have a complain, why don't you put anything about those sites of Nepal?
I write about Heritage sites of Nepal on every Sunday in the newspaper I work for "The Kathmandu Post (the Sunday Post, a supplement). You can visit the site : www.kantipuronline.com and check in Sunday post (at Heritage Tour).
With regards,
Razen Mannandhar
Kathmandu Nepal

Have you been to Kathmandu Valley? Share your experiences!

Add your own review