Durbar Square: The Durbar Square is Bhaktapur’s monumental gem. It is one of the seven UNESCO world heritage sites located in Kathmandu Valley. This spectacular square, a capital of Malla Kingdom till 1769, is an open museum itself. Victorian illustrations show that it was once packed with monasteries, temples and artistic buildings, almost one third of which were destroyed by the disastrous earthquake of 1934. The square still holds mesmerizing palaces, pagodas, shikhara-style temples as well as Buddhist monasteries exclusively architecture. While one pace through Durbar Square, he will be compelled to feel the touch of mediaeval excellence, The Golden Gate, Taleju Temple (The Interior of Taleju, The Mul Chowk, The Kumari Chowk, The Golden Spout), Statue of King Bhupatindra Malla, Fifty-five Windowed Palace, The Big Bell, Chyasin Mandap, Siddhi Laxmi Temple, Vatsala Temple, Yaksheshwor Temple, Chatu-brahma Bihar at Sakotha.
Taumadhi Square: Taumadhi Square, just half a minute walk from the Durbar Square is the square that divides the ancient town into upper and lower halves. The biggest festival of the town – Bisket Jatra, schedules every year in April – starts from this very square. The square is dominated by many mesmerizing temples and other medieval architecture Nyatapola Temple. Bhairav Temple and Til Madhav Narayan Temple are the major structures. Being centrally located a lot of local activities depicting local life-style and culture can be observed here throughout the day, The Nyatapola Temple, The Bhairav Nath Temple, Til Madhav Narayan Temple.
The Nyatapola Temple: This five-storey pagoda was built in 1702 A.D. by King Bhupatindra Malla. It stands on a five-terraced platform. On each of the terraces squat a pair of figures. This is one of the tallest pagodas and is famous for its massive structure and subtle workmanship.
Dattatraya Square: Like the other squares, the Dattatraya Square is also like an open museum that contains innumerable monumental masterpieces of woodcarvings. The seat of royalty till the late 1500’s, it is home to the ancient city’s best-known masterpieces, especially those in wood. The square originally known as “Tachupal” verbally meaning ‘the grand rest house’- alone consists seven Math’s among a dozen existing in Bhaktapur. Bhimsen Temple, the famous Peacock Window, the Bronze and Brass Museum, the Woodcarving Museum and Dattatraya Temple are the additional major attractions of the square. It is probably is the original centre of Bhaktapur, in the initial periods of its founding, The Temple of Dattatraya, Poojari Math, Wakupati Narayan
Temple, Peacock Window, Wane Layeku, Bhimsen Temple, Salan Ganesh Temple.
Pottery Square: Bhaktapur’s two Pottery Squares are world renowned, and so are the many potters that can be seen working there on their traditional wooden wheels. The first Pottery Square is located at Talako, some 500m to the southwest of Taumadhi Square, on the way to the Trolley Bus Terminal. Here visitors will find potters giving shape and size to lumps of black clay, and earthenware they make ranges from such household goods as pots and jars to cheap souvenir items as animals and birds. As pottery in Bhaktapur is a family job, visitors may chance upon the entire family doing their parts of work. Right within the complex is a two-floored temple that houses an ornate image of Ganesh, erected in a very traditional way. The pagoda dates back to the 14th century. Bhaktapur’s second Pottery Square is located to the east of the Dattatraya Square. Here also, visitors will see the ancient city’s wellknown craftsmen sunk in what they have inherited from their ancestors.
Places to see
Durbar Square * Taumadhi Square * The Nyatapola Temple * Dattatraya Square * Pottery Square
