Bhedetar!!

Just above Dharan on the hill is a place called Bhedetar, from here one can get a beautiful glimpse of Dharan and Terai. The winding roads that take to Bhedetar and scenary below makes this place a nice weekend gateway. Even during the hot summer, this place can be quite cool and chilly. You can view the scenic beauty of Dharan from Charles Point Bhedetar. You can visit many greenery parks like the Hariyali Park, Yalambar Park and Saptarangi park. You can see many wild animals wondering around in these parks.Tumba, a local alcoholic breverage is a famous drink of dharan.

Dharan!!

Dharan is a major city in eastern Nepal, in the Sunsari district, located between the foot of the hills and the edge of the Terai. It serves as a trading post between the hilly region and the plains of Terai region. It was once the location of a British Gurkha recruitment center, which was opened in 1953. The recruitment center closed in the last decade, and the only remaining center is in the town of Pokhara, west of Kathmandu.

Known also for the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, south-Asia's biggest government hospital.

Dharan is a homeland of the Kiranti people (Limbu and Rai); Dharan originally was the small trading settlement of Chaubis or Miklung Kingdom of Limbuwan ( one of the ten Kingdoms of Limbuwan ), then it emerged as a bigger town. Due to immigration from the hilly region and all over Nepal, Dharan now however, has people from other ethnicities like Rai, Newar, Brahman, Chetris, Tamang, etc., can be found here, making Dharan a multi-lingual community with different languages and various dialects spoken. However, Nepali is the official and common language. Because of the multi-racial structure, Dharan has been the meeting point of different cultures, with Kirant, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim groups all present.

Patan Durbar Square

Patan Durbar Square complex, situated in the center of Patan city, houses the residence of the former Royal family of Patan. The Square and its surroundings provide very good example of ancient Newari architecture. The palace has three main courtyards the central and the oldest is Mul Chowk. To the west of the complex are a dozen free standing temples of various sizes and styles. Krishna Temple, Bhimsen Temple, the Golden Temple of Hiranya Varna Mahavira and Sundari Chowk mark the architectural excellence of its era. The Sundari Chowk with the sunken Royal bath of Tusha Hiti, contains exquisite woodcarvings, stone, and metal sculpture. Patan Durbar Square also houses a temple of Taleju Bhawani.

A royal palace of the Malla kings can be found at Durbar Square in Patan. It is reputedly the most picturesque Durbar Square of the three Malla cities, Kathmandu, Patan, and Baktapur.



The square boasts of many famous sites and unique architecture. Krishna Mandir in the Patan Durbar Square was built to honor an incarnation of Vishnu. Krishna fought by the side of the Pandavs in the Mahabharat war to assure that truth would prevail. He was a favorite among the gopini cow girls. His temple is the best example of stone architecture in Nepal. Scenes from the Mahabharat, Asia's greatest mythological war, are carved on the temple's walls.



The Bhimsen temple which honors Bhim great wrestler, brother of the Pandavs, and a deity to Nepalese businessmen contains fine samples of metal craft. The best place, however, to see metal sculpture is the Hiranya Varna Mahabiliar, the "Golden Temple." It is a Newar monastery which contains wall paintings, fourteenth century statues, and scriptures. Its front facade is mostly covered in bronze. Note the stone gates and the figures upon them. These were built by Silakars whose descendants are active in the woodcarving industry today. Also interesting are the four metal monkeys at the corners of the temple. Monkeys have been featured in the temple decor of Nepal for several hundred years!



The Sundari Chowk contains exquisite samples of woodcarvings, stone, and metal sculpture. A huge stone platform in this chowk is the seat of a pious king who endured great penance in search of eternal bliss. It is said that he slept outside on this chilly stone platform in the bitter cold of Kathmandu winters and spent hours in the monsoon rains.

Other sites including the Mahaboudha Temple and Uku Bahal are only a few minutes walk away from the square. The streets in this area are home to inetal sculptors of the present day. Many more temples dedicated to Ganesh, the elephant headed god, Shiva, Narsingha, Taleju, and others are situated in the Patan Durbar Square.

Bhaktapur Durbar Square

This is a unique city located east of Kathmandu at 1,400m above sea level. With an area of 5sq. kms. this unique city is divided into 24 traditional localities. It was founded by King Ananda Dev in 889 A.D.

Bhaktapur in supposed to have been built in the shape of a conch shell, a scared symbol of Lord Vishnu. The world Bhaktapur means The City of Devotees.

Bhaktapur; at one time an independent city, was ruled by the Malla Kings. They were very religious and gave importance to their artistic heritage which is evident throughout the city. Some of the significant momuments here are:
The Lion Gate: Built by King Bupatindra Malla in 17 th century A.D.
Golden Gate: The main entrance to the famous 55 Window Palace and Royal Taleju.
Constructed in 1754 A.D.
The statue of King Bupatindra Malla.
55 Window Palace: This architectural structure dominates the entire Bhadgaon Durbar Square. It is worth admiring.

Pashupatinath Temple!

Pashupatinath temple (पशुपितनाथ मन्िदर ) is a Hindu temple located on the shore of the Bagmati river on the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

It is regarded as the most sacred temple of Shiva (Pashupati) in Nepal. "Shivaratri" or night of lord Shiva is the most important festival celebrated in this temple. Along the shores of the Bagmati river near the temple lies "Arya Ghat", the most widely used place of cremation for the deceased in Nepal, especially in and around the Kathmandu valley. There is also a large market in the streets surrounding the temple. Vendors sell souvenirs to tourists, but also cloth, dyes, and religious supplies. Believers of the faith Hinduism are allowed to enter the temple. Non-Hindu visitors are allowed to have a look at the temple from the other bank of Bagmati river.

The priests who perform the services at this temple are always from south India. This tradition is supposed to have started by Sage Shankaracharya in 6th century, ostensibly to stop human sacrifice which was prevalent in that temple. Another interpretation is that Indian priests are stationed at Pashupatinath because when the King passes away, the entire Nepali people are supposed to stop religious services and enter a year long period of mourning. As the Pashupatinath needs to be eternally worshipped, Indians were brought to make sure that the Pashupatinath is worshipped even at the time of official mourning. One of the best known of these priests was Raval Padmanabha Shastri Adiga (1927-2005). He started as a priest in 1955 and was promoted to Chief priest in 1967. In his time, he started a movement to use the temple funds for local development. He retired in 1993 and moved back to his home town Udupi.



The temple is of pagoda architecture. The two level roofs are of copper with gold covering. It has four main doors, all covered with silver sheets. The western door has a statue of large bull or Nandi, again covered in gold. The idol is of black stone, about 6 ft in height and about 6ft circumference.

The priests are called Bhattas and the chief priest is known as Mool Bhatt or Raval. The chief priest is answerable only to the King of Nepal and reports to him on the matters of temple on periodic basis.

East of the temple is the Vasukinath.

Manakamana!

The temple and small village of Manakamana is situated atop the 1302 metre hill that lies just north-east of the town of Mugling, some three and a half hours by bus east from Pokhara, or about the same time by bus west from Kathmandu. A cable car runs from the cable station of Cheres, just 5 kms east of Mugling to Manakamana in fifteen minutes. It is an exhilarating ride as you pass the river and up two ridges to the top. If you want, you can return by walking down the former well-used track down to its exit on the Gorkha road, just 1 km north of the town of Abu Khareini.



The cable car operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., stopping for lunch break from 12.00 p.m. to 13.30 p.m. On Saturdays and holidays it starts operations an hour earlier. The cost is a hefty 10 U.S. Dollars plus 14% tax for foreigners, and R250 plus tax for Nepalese citizens. This is a return fare. Single fares only apply to a sacrificial goat (R140). Hindu devotees believe that a visit to this temple will bring good luck, so expect to see many animal sacrifices at the temple entrance.

There are many simple hotels and lodges in the village, all charging about R100 to R400 per room. Some even advertise hot water in attached bathrooms, but many are run down as there was a hotel building rush a few years ago and now that the cable car operates most people do not spend the night in the village. In the quietest months most restaurants will be closed and food will consist of momos or daal bhat only.
In theory it is possible to walk from Gorkha to Manakamana, passing along the hill-top ridge through forest and paddy, although you would probably need a guide. When I tried to hire a guide for this walk two years ago, the would-be guides were concerned about swollen rivers. So probably this is a walk for the dry season, although it should be an exciting walk of about seven hours or so.

Added note: When the cable car opened in 1998 it was with the understanding that the local people would benefit. Numbers of people visiting the sacred temple have doubled but people walking up the path from Abu Khareini have dwindled to almost zero and scores of lodges and tea houses have lost almost all their business. Perhaps empowered by the Maoists' show of strength against big business, in late August 2001 people from the village stormed the cable car offices and destroyed the computers and ticketing machines. For the first time since they had started operating, the cable cars were silent for almost one week. Even though you can now buy only a return ticket on the cable car, you might like to consider walking up or down the path one way and buy a meal or stay overnight in a lodge en route to help the dwindling trade of people who built their business without the concept that a giant like a cable car industry could destroy them.

Muktinath

Muktinath, a sacred place both for Hindus as well as Buddhists, is located at an altitude of 3,710 meters at the foot of the Thorong La mountain pass (part of the Himalayas) , Mustang district, Kingdom of Nepal. The Hindus call the place Mukti Kshetra, which literally means the "place of salvation", while the Buddhists call it Chumig Gyatsa, which in Tibetan means 'Hundred Waters'. For Tibetan Buddhists Muktinath-Chumig Gyatsa is a place of Dakinis, goddesses known as Sky Dancers. It is of great importance for Buddhists that Chumig Gyatsa is one of the 24 Tantric places.



The shrine of Muktinath is considered one of the eight most sacred shrines for Hindu Vashanavites known as Svayam Vyakta Ksetras, the other seven being Srirangam, Sri Mushnam, Tirupati, Naimisaranyam, Thottadri, Pushkaram and Badrinath. The temple is very small. Muktinath is one of the most ancient Hindu temples of God Vishnu. Many people also claim the shrine to be a Buddhist shrine. The idol is of gold and is tall enough to compare with a man. The prakaram has 108 bull faces through which water is poured. It is freezing temperature. There is an Old Buddhist monk present in the temple.

Mustang

Mustang lies behind Annapurna and Dhaulagiri and geographically forms part of the Tibetan plateau. In 1992 the Government of Nepal allowed the first access.

The people of Mustang, Lobas, boast a long and proud history, their independent state dating back to the 5th Century A.D. In the 7th Century, Songtsen Gampo, most famous of all Tibetan kings, incorporated the land of Lo into his empire. Mustang only reappeared as an independent kingdom in 1430 when Gyalpo, ‘Precious Ruler’, Ame Pal founded a dynasty whose descendants survive to this day.

Mustang is an ancient kingdom with a colorful past. First mentioned in Ladakhi records in the seventh century, Mustang shared much of its history with Tibet to the North. Buddhism came to Mustang at about the same time as to the rest of Tibet. Legend says that before Padmasambhava (the founder of Tibetan Buddhism) could complete construction of Tibet's oldest monastery, Samye, he had to build the temple in Lo Ghekar in Mustang (see legend in the introduction). By the fourteenth century the great warrior Ame Pal became the ruler of Mustang and ushered in Mustang's golden age, which lasted for the next 200 years. Ame Pal built the majority of the capital city of Lo Manthang, including the palace and the four great temples in Lo Manthang. He also convinced the renowned Lama Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo, of the Sakya sect of Buddhism in Tibet, to come to Mustang numerous times in his lifetime. Lama Sangpo's attentions spawned an age of spiritual enlightenment in Mustang, resulting in the building of the many temples and monasteries that dot the Kingdom. By the fifteenth century Mustang had become a central power in Tibetan Buddhism