Heritage Sites Tour

Swoyambhu means “the self created land”. This is a conical shaped hill, 77 m. high from the ground. People affectionately call it “the monkey temple”. There are about 450 monkeys of rhesus macaques species found in this hill. The area has occupied 31 and half hectors of land.

Swoyambhunath is the cradle of Bajrayana Tradition. Tantric Buddhists consider it the chief “power point” of the Kathmandu Valley. The main stupa is in Tibetan architecture but there is Newari influence, the indigenous inhabitants of Kathmandu valley. The site holds great cultural, historical and religious value for Buddhists as well as Hindus from all over the world. This is the only one place where five different elements are placed in five different places named Shantipura for sky element, Agnipura for fire, Nagpura for water, Basupura for the earth and Bayupura for the air element. There are other two shikara styled Anantapura and Pratap pura, built by King Pratap Malla in 1655 A.D.

Dedicated to goddess Harati for Buddhists and Shitala for Hindus, the two tiered temple attracts worshippers for the protection of children against diseases. Harati is Ajima, the primal mother.Amitabha is the main deity of the chaitya, His image is in Dhyanamudra, a posture of meditation and represented in red color.

It is said that Emperor Ashoka paid a visit to the site over 2000 years ago. An inscription indicates that King Manadeva ordered work done here in 460 A.D. and certainly by the 13th century, it was an important Buddhist center. But unfortunately, the Mughal invaders from Bengal broke open the stupa in search of gold in 1349 A.D.

Kathmandu:This complex of palaces, courtyards and temples used to be the seat of the ancient Malla kings of Kathmandu.These monuments were built from the time of king Ratna Malla to king Prithivi Bir Bikram Shah. The palace complex come to be known as Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square.The complex has been flourished with Nasal chowk, Mohan kali chowk, Sundari chowk and Bhandarkhal garden.

Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana introduced the neo- classical architecture of Europe. Numerous temples wee built around the palace. It is here that the king of Nepal would be crowned and his coronation would be solemnized.

Boudhanath:This is one of the biggest stupa due to its height and expansion in South Asia. This is built in typical Nepali Architecture. Its old name is “Khaso Chaitya Mahakut” Sanskrit word means “This stupa can be seen from far”. Khaso means “Holy land”. This was the stupa built in 5th century A.D.by King Manadev.when we take an aerial view then it looks like a lotus flower or looks like Mandala due to its corners.

This stupa has four different sized prayer wheels small to the biggest, altogether 704 and 108 different images of Lokeshwara on the bottom of the dome.

Pashupatinath Temple:is a great Hindu temple, one of the trinity of Hindu gods. Pashupatinath means the lord of animals. Shiva, the supreme god of all gods and goddesses is being revered by both Hindus and Buddhists. Pasupatinath is 5 km. far from Thamel, situated on the bank of the Bagmati River. The Bagmati River is the holy river like Ganges in India. Bagmati is originated from the nearest hill named Shivapuri where there is the place called Baghdwar.

This is very spacious and has occupied 264 hectors of land. This world heritage site is   the richest heritage site in Kathmandu. This is the second more earning Hindu temple after Tirupati in India. This site has covered jungle, stream, inns, many temples, other monuments, rest houses and Shivalayas. Tourists other than Hindus are not allowed to enter into the temple premises but they can observe the ceremonies and worshipping going on from the eastern bank above the steps. People can see the cremation Ghats where the dead bodies are cremated on the wooden pyre and one could feel the notion of life and death here. There are many caves in the northern part of the temple on the upper way of the Bagmati Rivers. Pilgrims from different parts of the country and India comes to visit here. Shivaratri is the biggest day celebrating here in Pashupati.

Bhaktapur is the city known as the city of devotees. It is situated at an altitude of 1401 m. Bhaktapur covers area of 4 square miles. It is shaped like a conch- shell. Pottery and the weaving are its traditional industries. The city lies of 14 km east of Kathmandu. There are four main courtyards like Dattatraya Square, Taumadhi Square, Pottery Square and Durbar Square. Bhupatindra Malla had played the vital role to build most of its monuments.

Changunarayan is another most important monument of Nepal. This is the oldest Vishnu temple in Nepal, dates back to 3rd century AD. In this period, Changu was a metropolis city with 700 houses and was named “Champapur Mahanagar”. The priests still use this name in religious worshipping. But the site is tremed with different names such as Dolagiri, Dolparvat,Dolashikhar, Champakaranya, and Changu is famous for at present. Changu is a Newari word where cha means name of tree of Champak (michelia) and gu means the hills. So it is said that the hill of Champak forests.

Changunarayan is situated 18 km. east of Kathmandu city. It is 1541 m. high from the sea level. This is the temple of beheaded Vishnu, believed standing on the single stone plinth. According to the legend Lord Bishnu while fighting with the demon king named Chand, killed a Brahman named Sumati. Guru Sukracharya, the teacher of the dead Brahman was angry at Vishnu and cursed him that he will be beheaded in the future. After this incident, Vishnu lived in the tree of Champak forest and had paid for the curse. In the time of worshipping, the artificial head is being installed and the ritual activities are being done. This two storied roofed temple has the four entrances being guarded by the life size pairs of animals such as lions, Sarabhas, griffins and elephants on each side of the entrances. This is the milestone in the Nepali temple architecture with rich embossed works.

The courtyard is found fascinating with many stone images of Vishnu in different postures, built in different time. The stone pillar has very ancient scripture, engraved in Pro- Lichhavi script and used Sanskrit language, by a Lichhavi King Manadev at 464 AD. We can have spectacular view of the Himalayas and valley in the eastern side, flowing Sali River.

Patan is another oldest royal city known as ‘the city of fine arts’. There are many exquisite artworks and architectural buildings scattered in and around in the Patan Durbar Square. These are mostly from 16th century and onwards. But the history of Patan goes back to Lichhavi Period. Siddhi Nar Singh Malla is the prominent king who had contributed a lot for the square. He was a spiritual man. He constructed Sundari Chowk which holds in its center the Royal Bath called Tushahity, a masterpiece of stone architecture. His other great contribution is Krishna Temple of Shikara style. There are three main Chowks: Mul Chowk, Keshav Narayan Chowk and Sundari Chowk.

Kumbheshwor (Banglamukhi), Golden Temple, Mahaboudhha, Rudra Varna Mahabihar, Minnath temple and Machhindranath temple are the other main places to visit.
Lumbini, the place where the Buddha was born in 623 B.C., is situated in the terai plains of southern Nepal. The nativity site is marked by a stone pillar erected by Indian emperor Ashoka in249 B.C. Listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO, Lumbini is being developed with international support as the supreme Buddhist pilgrimage and a symbol of world peace. The sacred garden where the Buddha was born converges on the Ashoka pillar which carries an inscription identifying the spot as the birthplace.

Chitwan National Park, one of the richest and most well known wild life reserves in Asia, is situated 165km. overland or 25 minutes by air to the south west of Kathmandu in the lowland of inner Terai on the foot hills of great Himalayas of central Nepal, the park covers an area of 932 sq.km. and conserves more than 43 species of mammals, 450 out of total estimated 750 species of birds in Nepal, many varieties of butterflies and 45 species of amphibians and reptiles.