Saturday, September 4, 2010

History

It is the home of traditional art and architecture, historical monuments and craft works, magnificent windows, pottery and weaving industries, excellent temples, beautiful ponds, rich local customs, culture, religion, festivals, musical mystic and so on. Bhaktapur is still an untouched as well as preserved ancient city, which in fact, is itself a world to explore for tourist.




From time immemorial it lay on the trade route between Tibet/China and India. This position on the main caravan route made the town rich and prosperous[1]

Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमांडौ, pronounced: [kɑːʈʰ.mɑːɳ.ɖuː]; Nepal Bhasa: येँ महानगरपालिका) is the capital and largest metropolitan city of Nepal. The city is the urban core of the Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayas, which also contains two sister cities namely Patan or Lalitpur, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to its southeast (an ancient city of fine arts and crafts) and Bhaktapur, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) to its east (city of devotees). It is also acronymed as 'KTM' and named 'tri-city'.[4] Kathmandu valley is only slightly smaller than Singapore in terms of area.




The city stands at an elevation of approximately 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) in the bowl-shaped valley in central Nepal surrounded by four major mountains, namely: Shivapuri, Phulchowki, Nagarjun and Chandragiri. It is inhabited by 671,846 (2001) people. The Kathmandu valley with its three districts including Kathmandu District accounts for a population density of only 97 per km2 whereas Kathmandu metropolitan city has a density of 13,225 per km2. It is by far the largest urban agglomerate in Nepal, accounting for 20% of the urban population in an area of 5,067 hectares (12,520 acres) (50.67 square kilometres (19.56 sq mi)).[5][6][7][8]



Kathmandu is not only the capital of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal but also the headquarters of the Central Region (Madhyamanchal) among the five development regions constituted by the 14 administrative zones of Nepal located at the central part of the country. The Central region has three zones namely, Bagmati, Narayani and Janakpur. Kathmandu is located in the Bagmati Zone.[9]



Kathmandu, as the gateway to Nepal Tourism, is the nerve centre of the country’s economy. With the most advanced infrastructure among urban areas in Nepal, Kathmandu's economy is tourism centric accounting for 3.8% of the GDP in 1995–96 (had declined since then due to political unrest but has picked up again).



The city’s rich history is nearly 2000 years old, as inferred from an inscription in the valley. Its religious affiliations are dominantly Hindu followed by Buddhism. People of other religious beliefs also live in Kathmandu giving it a cosmopolitan culture. Nepali is the common language of the city, though many speak the Nepal Bhasa Newari as it is the center of the Newar (meaning: citizens of Nepal) people and culture. English and Hindi are understood by all of the educated population of the city. Besides a significant number of the population speaks any of the foreign languages like : French, German, Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, Korean etc. The literacy rate is 98% in the city.[6]



Kathmandu is now the premier cultural and economic hub of Nepal and is considered to have the most advanced infrastructure among urban areas in Nepal. From the point of view of tourism, economy and cultural heritage, the sister cities of Patan(lalitpur) and Bhaktapur are integral to Kathmandu. Even the cultural heritage recognition under the World Heritage list of the UNESCO has recognized all the monuments in the three urban agglomerates as one unit under the title

Contents [hide]


1 Toponymy

2 History

2.1 Ancient history

2.2 Licchavi Kingdom (400–750)

2.3 7th to 8th century

2.4 750–1200

2.5 Malla Dynasty (1200–1768)

2.6 1769–1845

2.7 Modern history (1846–1999)

2.8 Contemporary history (2000–present)

3 Geography

3.1 Climate

3.2 Pollution

4 Economy

4.1 Tourism

5 Government and politics

5.1 Civic administration

5.2 Law and order

5.2.1 Police

5.2.2 Fire service

5.3 Utility services

5.3.1 Water supply

5.3.2 Public health

6 Demographics

6.1 Ethnic groups

7 Architecture and cityscape

7.1 Durbar square

7.1.1 Kasthamandap

7.1.2 Hanuman Dhoka

7.1.3 Kumari Ghar

7.2 Pashupatinath temple

7.3 Boudhanath

7.4 Swayambhunath

7.5 Changu Narayan

7.6 Bhimsen Tower (Dharahara)

7.7 Narayanhiti Royal Palace

7.8 Hotels

8 Culture

8.1 Arts

8.1.1 Museums

8.1.2 Art galleries

8.1.3 Literature

8.1.4 Theatre and cinema

8.1.5 Music

8.2 Cuisine

8.3 Festivals

9 Religion

9.1 Hinduism

9.2 Buddhism

9.3 Kirant Mundhum

9.4 Sikhism

9.5 Jainism

9.6 Bahai

9.7 Islam

9.8 Christianity

10 Education

11 Sports

12 Transport

12.1 Ropeways

13 Healthcare

14 Media

15 In popular culture

16 Notable Kathmanduites

17 Twin Towns – Sister Cities

18 Footnotes

19 References

20 External links

No comments:

Post a Comment