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Kathmandu
Valley |
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Guide > Kathmandu Valley |
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Kathmandu Valley, embedded like a jewel among endless mountains,
is to many visitors, the epicenter of a visit to Nepal. It
is indeed the historical and cultural center of the mountain
kingdom, with aspects to it that can rival any of the great
European cities. The Valley consists of three major towns
– Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Kathmandu is the capital
and the largest city in Nepal, with the international airport
and infrastructure to hold the maximum number of tourists.
Patan is the second largest. Although it is separated from
Kathmandu by a river, the two cities are in every other way
almost continuous. Bhaktapur, towards the eastern end of the
Valley, marches to a much slower pace than the other two cities.
The Newars are believed to be the original inhabitants of the
Kathmandu Valley. However, the Valley has been a cultural and
racial melting point for so long that contemporary Newari culture
is a rich and unique fusion of its many influences, evident
in the Valley’s superb art and architecture. Stone sculptures
formed an important part of historic monuments, as a result
of which the Valley is almost like an open-air museum. Of course,
the grand palaces of the Rana rulers have now been converted
into offices for the bureaucracy, but the splendour of days
gone by is still very much in evidence – the Valley’s unique
culture remained practically untouched up to the end of Rana
rule in the early 1950s. Fortunately, much of the traditional
architecture still remains even in places that had little to
do with the royalty. No wonder, then, that the Kathmandu Valley
is packed with as many as seven World Heritage sites. The Valley
is also the center for many traditional crafts, such as pottery,
brassware and bronze religious artefacts.
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