Übersicht
Get ready to discover some of the most breathtaking places the Kathmandu Valley has to offer, with this guided tour that will take you to discover the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Pashupatinath and Bouddhanath.
First of all, feast your eyes on the wonderful beauty of the Durbar square of Bhaktapur. Admire the Palace of 55 Windows, built by King Bhupatindra Malla in 1754, and the National Art Gallery. The palace entrance, the Golden Gate also known as Sunko Dhoka in Nepali, is a masterpiece in repose art.
The tour will then take you to visit the Pashupatinath and Bouddhanath. The Pashupatinath is Nepal’s most sacred Hindu shrine and one of the subcontinent’s great Shiva sites. The supreme holiness of the site stems from the Shiva lingam enshrined in its main temple and its location. It expresses the very essence of Hinduism as pilgrims, priests, devotes, temples, ashrams, images, inscriptions and cremation ghats intermingle with the rituals of daily life, all sprawled along the banks of the sacred Bagmati River. The temple’s origins are obscure, an inscription dates from 477, but a shrine may have stood here for 1000 years before that.
The stupa of Bouddhanath is one of Nepal’s most distinctive monuments and one of the most important Buddhist sites in Nepal and, with a diameter of over 100 meters, amongst the largest in the world. It is said to contain the remains of the past Buddha Kasyapa.
Boudha is a particular focus for Kathmandu’s Tibetan community and throughout the day there is a constant stream of people circling the stupa spinning prayer wheels and reciting mantras. Surrounding the stupa are six major monasteries and a host of smaller ones as well as cafes, restaurants and shops selling Tibetan carpets and Newari silversmiths.
