Basantapur Wood Carving

Basantapur Wood Carving

These carvings are on a Shiva temple next to the Hanuman Dhoka (entrance to the palace complex). Note the faces painted on the beam ends - the whole thing is remarkably similar to the temple at Changu Naryan.

Sadhu At Basantapur

Sadhu At Basantapur

Now here's a rare sight in Kathmandu - a genuine saddhu, rather than the big well-fed chap in the red robes with the snake-headed staff (anyone who's ever been there will know the guy I mean - he's even pictured into some tourist guides and is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Nepal's tourist scam industry). The chap in this picture with his eight-foot dreadlocks was so far out of his head on ganga that he didn't seem to care whether passers-by put money into his begging bowl or took it out.

Narayan Temple

Narayan Temple

A minor Naryan temple on the northwest of Durbar Square. The workmen were putting loose tiles back into position and removing the considerable growth of weeds and grasses which had become established on the roof. Note the satellite dish on the right - getting hard to find angles for photographs in Kathmandu which don't include either a dish of a telegraph

Mazu Dewal

Mazu Dewal

This view of Durbar Square was taken from the platform of the Shiva-Parvati temple on the northern side - its guardian lions can be seen to the right of the picture. The other pagoda temple visible to the left of the Maju Deval is the Trailokya Mohan Naryan Temple (1680). Naryan is a form of Vishnu - not in the sense one of his avatars or incarnations but simply the image of him as a sleeping figure in the churning cosmic ocean.

Mazu Dewal

Mazu Dewal

Durbar Square at 08:00 on a chilly September morning and not a tourist in sight. Later in the day the steps of the temple will be busy with people. The small white shikara building in front of the temple is a shrine to Shiva's companian Kam Dev. The Maju Deval temple was built by the Mallas in 1690 and has been extensively restored.

Mazu Dewal

Mazu Dewal At Basantapur

This large Shiva Temple is the dominant feature of Durbar Square and can be an ideal place to sit and watch the world go by. Unfortunately, every young hustler, money changer, dope peddler and wanna-be guide in the valley knows that it's the favourite spot for newly arrived tourists so you'll need a thick skin to stay here any length of time during the season. As with most of Kathmandu, the best time to be here is at sunrise in winter before the hassle starts.

Right Side View from Sugat Hotel

Right Side View from Sugat Hotel

Western end of Basantapur Sq. The tall

rectangular pagoda building is the 9-storey

Basantapur Tower - part of the old palace

complex constructed by Prithvi Naryan Shah

after his conquest of the valley in 1768. The views

from the top of the tower are stupendous.

One More View from Basantapur

One more View from Sugat Hotel

Basantpaur

Basantapur Durbar Square Zone

View from the roof of Hotel Sugat (an excellent and cheap hotel situated right in the heart of the old town and well away from the ghastly back-packer ghetto of Thamel). Basantapur Square is the south-eastern extension of Durbar Sq and is where the souvenir sellers set up their stalls of junk in long lines to await the more gullible tourists. The wonderfully out of place white columned building is the Gaddi Baithak - part of the palace complex built in the 1850's after King Jung Bahadur Rana returned from a trip to Europe - during which he developed a taste for western neo-classical architecture. The main part of Durbar Sq is just off to the left of this picture.