Overview

DAY TRIP TO BHAKTAPUR AND PANAUTI: AN EXCELLENT DAY WELL SPENT WITH HISTORIC RELICS.

The UNESCO-protected Bhaktapur city is a magnificent example of arts and crafts dating back to the medieval age. On the other hand, Panauti will allow you a great chance to cherish not only the architecture but also the phenomena of nature. Bhaktapur Durbar Square is a gallery of ancient art and building with many examples of models, woodcarvings, and colossal pagoda temples dedicated to different gods and goddesses. Bhaktapur, where you will observe a unique experience and the finest example of craftsmanship. You will see Bhaktapur’s famous attractions such as the Lion Gate, Golden Gate, Art Gallery, Statue of King Bhupatindra, Nyatapola Temple, and fifty-five windows Malla Palace.

Bhaktapur was the most influential of the Kathmandu Valley kingdoms and its center for 300 years. Despite earthquakes and frequent rebuilding, Bhaktapur today clutches an antiquated feel its neighborhoods are still gathered around the old ponds or containers (built to store water for drinking, washing, and religious ceremonies) and which remain as a social focal spot. Local people here are mostly farmers or involved in the ancestral crafts of pottery, metalwork, art, and woodwork which have sustained the city since its founding in the 12th century to maintain the trade route between Tibet and India and remain active industries of salts. 

Panauti is an ancient Newari town which is around 32 km southeast of Kathmandu on the junction of the Rosi and Punyamati rivers. In Nepalese society, those rivers are deemed to be sacred. Panauti, once a significant trading center with its own grand palace, today consists of a diversity of Buddhist and Hindu religious shrines and is supposed to be one of the area’s most prominent medieval sites. In Nepali society, such rivers are regarded to be holy. A visit or simply an ablution to such places allows the visitor to be liberated from many sins and anxieties, as it is believed to be divine. 

Furthermore, it is also understood that at Panauti, in addition to the preceding two rivers, a third river Lilawati also meets making it again a tri-junction called Triveni. However, the last one is supposed to be perceptible only to the sheers and the scholars. The presence of this at Panauti has attached and exceptionally intensified its religious piety and reputation as well. On account of this, every festive season, a sweeping number of devotees from all across the country drain here for a holy soul-cleansing process and to repay tribute to the nearby Indreshwor Mahadev Temple and other religious places located here. The lovely alluring place is also regarded as Prayagtirtha of Nepal.