| Page Views: 3,486 Last Visit to Kathmandu: - I Live Here | Kathmandu Valley The Capital City of Nepal by urvashi123 - last update: Oct 19, 2009 |
Kumari the living goddess Not only does Nepal have many gods, goddess, deities, Bodhisattvas (near Buddhas), avatars and manifestations, which are worshipped and revered as statues, images, paintings and symbols, but it also has a real living goddess. The Kumari Devi is a young girl who lives in the building known as the Kumari Ghar, right beside Kathmandu's Durbar Square.
From time immemorial the practice of worshipping an ordinary pre-pubescent girl as a source of supreme power has been an integral
part of both Hinduism and Buddhism, a tradition which continues even to this day virtually in every household. They call this girl Kumari Devi and worship her on all the religious occasions.
The predominance of the Kumari cult is more distinctly evident among the Newar community inside the Kathmandu Valley as she has become an inevitable feature of their worship almost in every Vihar and Bahal and including the nooks and corners of Newari settlements. However, it was the Vajrayana sect of Mahayana Buddhism that was responsible for establishing the tradition of worshipping a girl from the Sakya community as the royal Living Goddess.* |
The Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square Located at the heart of the ancient city of Kathmandu, is a complex containing beautiful temples and shrines, both Hindu and Buddhist. Most of them are built in pagoda style, embellished with intricately carved exteriors, built between the 12th and the 18th century .
The Durbar square epitomizes the religious and cultural life of the people .Until the 20th century the Durbar square was the king’s residence and all the coronations took place here .Now it is a living open museum of Nepal.
The name Hanuman Dhoka originated from the statue of Hanuman established by Kind Pratap Malla at the enterance of the royal place in 1672 A.D. The nine storied residence built by king Prithivi Narayan Shah in 1770A.D.,in known as Basantapur Durbar.
The whole surrounding area is also called Kathmandu Durbar Square .
The palace complex was originally founded during the LICHCHHAVI period , but as it stands today, most of it was built by king Pratap Malla in the 17th century .This palace has been renovated many times and the architectural remains and art objects within the palace complex, now existing are from the Malla, Shah, and Rana periods of Nepal.
The Durbar square consists of two sub-areas. The outer area is renawned for numberous interesting temples ,such as Kumari Ghar, Kasthamandap, Shiva Parvati Temple, Jagannath temple and the Big Bell etc. Whereas the inner area comprises the old palace area , Hanuman Dhoka and its courtyards namely Nasal Chowk, Mul Chowk , Sundari Chowk Lohan Chowk, Mohan Chowk , Basantapur Durbar and others .There are many temples in the inner complex also ,notably the Taleju Temple dedicated to female royal deity and many others .Prior to the earthquake in 1934 the area expanded including 35 courtyarda but right now there are only 10.
In October 1979 the Hanuman Dhoka palace site was enlisted in the world Heritage site of UNESCO along with six other momument zones of Kathmandu Valley.Besides the magnificent viewing sites, other interesting aspects are various festivals, cultural activities and traditions people are following from centuries, which are presented in Durbar Square. The major festivals include Indrajatra, Dashain, Gaijatra, Machchhindra –nath jatra etc. These are the occasions when people from all over the country ,gather here to make the centuries old tradition, the mystical charm here make the vistors spend hours here. |
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 Comments for urvashi123 about Kathmandu | | | | |
Donna_in_India Fri Sep 25, 2009 15:33 UTC
Such a beautiful place - would especially like to visit Kasthamandap. We tried to get here from Darjeeling but were unable to make the trip. Some day we will. Happy Travels! | goutammitra Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:24 UTC
Urvashi, revist your pages is always a pleasure. I am missing China Town food. | Arkeolog Thu Apr 2, 2009 08:14 UTC
you have a nice&useful Katmandhu page here. I liked your tips. All the best.Bora | hunterV Sat Mar 7, 2009 12:46 UTC
Very nice places to visit.... |
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