Kathmandu Durbar Square

Kathmandu Durbar Square, also known as Hanuman Dhoka Durbar or Basantapur Durbar Kshetra, is the historic centre of the city and the place where its kings lived and were crowned. Palace buildings from the Malla and Shah periods surround the square, and the outer area is lined with temples added under the Malla kings from the 16th century onwards. It is one of the three Durbar Squares of the Kathmandu Valley inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

The palace takes its name from the standing statue of Hanuman at its main gate, dated 1672, draped in red cloth with a red-painted face; a Narasimha sculpture from 1673 stands beside it. Inside, Nasal Chowk is the courtyard where King Birendra was crowned in 1975, with the five-faced Panch Mukhi Hanuman temple in one corner. Mohan Chowk, built in 1649 as the Malla kings' residential courtyard, holds the golden water spout Sun Dhara. The nine-storey Basantapur Tower, one of four lookout towers added by Prithvi Narayan Shah after 1768, has carved struts and views over the old town, and the Tribhuvan Museum recreates rooms used by King Tribhuvan.

At the southern edge of the square stands Kumari Chowk, a three-storey Malla-era building that is the residence of the Kumari, the young girl worshipped as a living embodiment of the goddess. The Taleju Temple, dedicated to the Malla family's tutelary goddess, rises above Mul Chowk. Kasthamandap, the wooden shelter whose oldest features date to the Licchavi era, collapsed in the earthquake of 25 April 2015, along with several other buildings. Excavations after the quake, by Nepal's Department of Archaeology with UK institutions, revealed features from the Licchavi period.

The square suits anyone interested in architecture, carving and living religion, since the temples are still used daily. Foreign visitors buy a ticket for the square, so keep it with you. Remove footwear where shrines require it, and note that some temples, such as Taleju, are closed to the public. The square is at its liveliest during Indra Jatra in September, when chariots carrying the Kumari, Ganesh and Bhairav are pulled through the old town.

The square sits about 1.4 km south of Thamel, at the end of the old India to Tibet trade route that runs through the market squares of Asan and Indra Chowk, so it is easy to arrive on foot and combine the visit with a walk through the bazaars. Nepali citizens enter free but pay to visit the museum, and the square drew around 160,000 non-SAARC foreign visitors in a recent year.