Bhaktapur: Sunday dishes Kathmandu Valley
The immaculate Bhaktapur is the darling of the Kathmandu Valley. The ancient capital of the kingdom of Nepal should be shown to tourists just put one foot in the country, thus temper the inevitable culture shock. This remarkably well-preserved medieval jewel was declared a World Heritage Site in 1979 and since then looks like an art gallery in the open in the pictures are the temples, pagodas, statues and windows Newaris houses known as the "city of devotees". There are no trash on the street, street or sticking your shadow, nor honking motorcycles dodging pedestrians between, because traffic is banned throughout the historic precinct around Durbar Square, Actual Square Bhaktapur. It happens that if you've traveled before the center of Kathmandu, can not avoid a certain feeling of unreality neat, as if you were a commercial catalog showing a smile from ear to ear. Bhaktapur ice, in that sense, the dishes on Sunday we took to get along with visits. Shimmering, neat, impeccable, but after all outstanding.
Just across the Lions Gate (after paying the entrance religiously, about ten euros), I remembered the words of David-Neel written a century ago. "One has the impression of being on stage at a theater in the middle of the sets. It seems to be hearing a whistle and the stagehands appear that, suddenly, will take these great palaces and temples ".
The guardians of Nyatapola
The heat is terrible, and as the shadows scarce, the city founded by King Ananda Malla, capital of Nepal between the twelfth and fifteenth, it runs a bit dazed, not sure where to go to the profusion of temples and shrines (reached its peak in total over 170), to which most formidable. One stands out above all and, at least in my case, Bhaktapur is the image of (also called Bhadgaon) that endures through time. Not in the main square, but Tole Taumadhi and on sight exerts an irresistible attraction to the visitor. The Templo de Nyatapola rises above the warm place with its five floors 30 meters. The stone stairway leading to the sanctuary is dazzling, with five pairs of statues scrutinizing all. Are located according to their strength, so that the feet are two professional wrestlers, and above them a pair of elephants, two lions, as many taps and, above all, the feline goddesses and Vyaghini Singhini. What a pleasure so egregious observe everything from this vantage! It is a magical place, privileged, to relax a few minutes in the shelter of a shadow, watching the swarm of tourists quiet and the three roofs of the pagoda Bhairabnath, unlike that of Nyatapola was badly damaged in the earthquake 1934 that hit the "city of devotees".
Nepal is one of the favorite destinations for art thieves and some sculptures stolen from temples as they are exhibited now quite openly in renowned museums of old Europe.
Walking east along cobblestone streets we Tachupal Tole to meet with other icons of Bhaktapur, the temple de Dattatraya, built in the fifteenth century and boasts suggestive erotic carvings. Along the way we ran workshops for potters are drying in the sun their vessels, medieval wink. The city has, not in vain, with a large guild of artisans who live now turned towards tourism.
Back in Durbar Square, I am struck by an old man who is decapitating a nap supported by two griffins ancient. One is missing its head. Do the ravages of time or simply pillage? Nepal is one of the favorite destinations for art thieves and some sculptures stolen from temples as they are exhibited now quite openly in renowned museums of old Europe.
The column of the King
Along with the distinctive Indian style roof (isosceles triangle-shaped) of Vatsala temple
Durga, one step away from the bell Taleju, both of the seventeenth century, I stop at the foot of column Bhupatindra Malla king, the patron who commissioned the building of the temples of Bhaktapur most current. His bronze statue, sitting with hands clasped at chest height, is perched on the column as if it were a Stylite. But not just a hermit: the munificent sovereign is seated on a throne, supported by lions, placed above a lotus flower and an umbrella over his head denotes the actual condition.
Under the 16 arms of the goddess Taleju Bhawani of the Golden Gate is accessed from the Palace and the five yards that can be visited (formerly grew to nearly a hundred), with special reference to the pond where the monarch bathed, el Kamal Pokhari. To escape the heat, we take refuge in the terrace of a restaurant on the corner of Durbar Square. With a beer in hand, Art is always appreciated much better.
Comments (1)
Juancho
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What a fantastic, Nepal. Huge image, Sunday dishes… Better to have gone before to Khatmandu, because if you go after Bhaktapur can give you something. A country strongly recommended.
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