Surprising Skylines: Kathmandu - the City of Lights, High in the Sky
The city of Kathmandu was named after Kasthamandap temple, that stands in Durbar Square. In Sanskrit, Kastha (काष्ठ) means “wood” and Mandap (/मण्डप) means “covered shelter”. This temple, also known as Maru Satal, was built in 1596 by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The two-storey structure is made entirely of wood, and uses no iron nails nor supports. According to legend, all the timber used to build this pagoda was obtained from a single tree
Archaeological excavations in parts of Kathmandu have found evidence of ancient civilizations. The oldest of these findings is a statue, found in Maligaon, that was dated at 185 AD. The excavation of Dhando Chaitya uncovered a brick with an inscription in Brahmi script. Archaeologists believe it is two thousand years old.[16]
The earliest Western reference to Kathmandu appears in an account of Jesuit Fathers Johann Grueber and Albert d’Orville. In 1661, they passed through Nepal on their way from Tibet to India, and reported that they reached “Cadmendu, the capital of the Kingdom of Necbal”.
A Buddhist monk begs for alms in Durbar Square in Kathmandu on January 9, 2014. Home to the palaces of Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city, Durbar Square is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
A monkey walks over prayer flags at the Saraswati temple on the occasion of Basanta Panchami in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese Hindu devotee offers prayers to a Hindu god on the banks of the Shali River on the outskirts of Kathmandu
Nepalese residents watch bulls fight during the Maghesangranti festival at Taraka village in Nuwakot district,
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A Nepalese Sadhu (Hindu holy man) poses for a photograph ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese Sadhu (Hindu holy man) carries firewood as he arrives to attend the Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese Sadhu (Hindu holy man) smokes marijuana using a ‘chillum’, a traditional clay pipe, as a holy offering for Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu
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A Buddhist devotee enters the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu on February 20, 2014. The Stupa, which is situated on the outskirts of Kathmandu, is at the heart of the Nepalese capital’s Tibetan community and is an important centre of Buddhist studies.
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A Nepalese Buddhist devotee walks down from the Boudhanath Stupa after arranging prayer flags in Kathmandu on February 20, 2014.
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A Nepalese street vendor waits for customers for oil lamps at the Swayambhunath Stupa area in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese man takes a photo of a rainbow with his mobile phone near the Kathmandu Domestic airport in Kathmandu
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Nepalese activists gather for an anti-corruption protest against government and political parties in Kathmandu
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Nepalese Hindu women warm themselves beside fires after performing a bathing ritual on the final day of the month-long Swasthani Festival near the Hanumante River at Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu,
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Nepalese volunteers hold up placards during an awareness rally for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases during International Condom Day in Kathmandu
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Nepalese Hindu devotees dressed as the Hindu god Madhav Narayan look on during the Madhav Narayan festival in Thecho in Lalitpur on the outskirts of Kathmandu
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Hindu devotees gather at dusk at the Pashupatinath temple during the Maha Shivaratri festival in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese Sadhu (Hindu holy man) gestures after arriving ahead of the forthcoming Hindu Maha Shivaratri festival near the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu
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Nepalese street vendor Maya Kumari Lama (R) waits for customers in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese farmer carries a load of vegetables as she arrives at a market in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese farmer carries a wicker basket of supplies as she returns to her home in the village of Khokana on the outskirts of Kathmandu
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A Nepalese farmer carries a load of vegetables as she arrives at a market in Kathmandu early March 5, 2014. Many rural dwelling female farmers rise early to toil in their fields and sell their produce in local markets after looking after their families for incomes which rarely exceed 5000 Nepalese Rupees (USD 50) per month.
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A Buddhist devotee prays at the Bouddhanath Stupa in Kathmandu on March 10, 2014, during the 55th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. Nepalese police arrested nine Tibetans on the 55th anniversary of the 1959 rebellion against China’s rule in Tibet, as dozens of officials patrolled the capital
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Pakistani refugee Nawid Ahmad working at a construction site in Kathmandu. Hundreds of desperate refugees are trapped in Nepal, told they must pay fines as high as 100,000 USD before they can be resettled to the West.
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Nepalese Hindu devotees arrive to bathe in the Shali River on the outskirts of Kathmandu on January 16, 2014. Hundreds of married and unmarried women in the Himalayan nation have started a month-long fast in the hope of a prosperous life and conjugal happiness.
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Nepalese residents watch bulls fight during the Maghesangranti festival at Taraka village in Nuwakot district
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A Nepalese vendor carries cotton candy through Durbar Square in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese patient waits to meet doctors at an open-air camp during a strike by the Nepal Medical Association (NMA) in Kathmandu on January 23, 2014. Hundreds of Nepalese doctors have shut hospitals and clinics in Nepal demanding a push for reform of medical education, while hospitals and clinics remained closed.
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Nepalese migrant workers queue to receive official documents in order to leave Nepal from the Labour department in Kathmandu
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Nepalese Hindu devotees, including some dressed as the Hindu god Madhav Narayan, participate in rituals during the month-long Swasthani festival in Kathmandu
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A Hindu sadhu (holy man) walks down steps at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu
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Nepalese Hindu devotees scribbles messages with chalk on a wall at the Saraswati temple on the occasion of Basanta Panchami in Kathmandu
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A Nepalese man sits beside intricately carved windows and doors at the Bhaktapur Durbar Square area in Bhaktapur, some 12 kilometres southeast of Kathmandu,
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Nepalese mahouts guide their elephants along the Rapati river near Kathmandu
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Nepalese devotees offer prayers in front of a statue of Hindu god of destruction, Kal Bhairab at Basantapur Durbar square in Kathmandu
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Members of the Nepalese national cricket team participate in a victory rally in Kathmandu
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Nepalese Hindu devotees hold light oil lamps in memory of deceased family members during the Balachaturdashi festival at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu
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