Friends in this lesson i am giving you information about kathmandu the capital of nepal.The kathmandu valley is a flat ground surround by large mountains in the middle hills of nepal.The kathmandu valley the capital of nepal is located at an altitude of 1337 meters above the sea level.Kathmandu is the second largest city in nepal located in the mountainous region after srinagar in neighbouring india. Kathmandu valley the capital of nepal is located near the himalayas so it has a temperate climate.Being the capital of the country this valley has the highest population compared to other cities in the country.The kathmandu valley is identified as many of the temples and festivals with ancient history.There are many temples in kathmandu vallley.Thst is why kathmandu valley is called the city of temples by foreign tourists.For that reason the famius historical sites of kathmandu hanunandhoka palace square,patan palace square,swayambhunath stupa, buddhist stupa,bhaktapur palace square, changunarayan temple are all on the workd heritage list.In this way kathmandu valley can be considered as an open museum.There are 7 world heritage sites within a distance of about 20 kilometers from the main points of kathmandu.The construction of these key assets have established the kathmandu valley as a procted valley.Perpor conservation of the key assets built in the valley has the potential to make this valley famous as an important tourist center of the world by the end of time.According to geographical division there is located in the middle hills of nepal.Kathmandu valley is a wel-known valley where the twelfeth month is usually cold.The msin rivers here are bagmati and vishnumati.Pashupatinath,guhyeswori, swayambhunath,baudhanath, budhanilakantha,dakshinakali, hanumandhoka,gokarna,teku,salinadi, changunarayan temple etc.are the major pilgrimage sites here.Beside being the main capital city of nepal the kathmandu is also a ripository of ancient art,skills, culture,civilazation and historical resources.Nepal’s leading educational facilities and hospitals equipped with morden manpower are located in kathmandu.The country’s only international airport is also located in kathmandu.From which airport people can fly to and from the country and abroad.Due to the location of the international airport in this city it has become a center of attraction for locals and foreigners.
Kathmandu valley is surrounded by large scenic mountain like nagarkot,nagarjung, shivapuri,chandragiri,pulchowki.Due to the presence of this big mountains the kathmandu valley seems to be more beautiful.Kathmandu valley is also one of the 77 districts of nepal.Generally we call kathmandu valley the plains that include the three districts of kathmandu,bhaktapur and lalitpur surrounded by big mountains. Many people outside this valley known this valley as kathmandu.Article 288 of the constitution of nepal states that kathmandu city in kathmandu district will be the capital of nepal.The total area of kathmandu district is 413 square kilometers.Kathmandu,bhaktapur and lalitpur district have a total area of 933.73 kilometers.All three districts are called the valley.Mist of the newar people live in these three districts.Scholars say that the name kathmandu is drived from wooden kasthamandap located near hanumandhoka palace.Therefore it is said that the kathmandu is drived ftom the wooden kasthamandap.Any object made of wood is called kasthamandap in nepali. Therefore it can be said that kasthamandap or kathmandu is not only the political capital of nepal but also the economic,educational,legal,religious and diplomatic capital.This valley also has large and well-equipped hospital such as the largest bir hospital and teaching hospital in the country.Kathmandu valley is connected to the other regions by highways such as tribhuvan highway, araniko highway,prithavi highway,bardibas to dhulikhel highway and the birthplace of lird gautam buddha highway.Kathmandu valley is connected by air to lumbini, tilaurakot and bhairahawa the capital of suddhodhan located near kapilvastu in the kathmandu valley.Similarly kathmandu valley is connected by air to pokhara the most important tourist center of nepal,namche bazar located at the peak of mount everest and various parts of the country.Daily night and day buses are also operating to major cities from east mechi to west mahakali.The central offices of various radio and television are also located in kathmandu valley.Because all their broadcast are broadcast from kathmandu valley.Kathmandu valley is also called the communication capital of nepal. Not inly this kathmandu can be said to be in the fifth place among the cheapest city in the world.
There are various places in kathmandu city that provide entertainment to the visiting tourists.One of those places is the tower built in the middle of the of the city of kathmandu.The view tower has been built in the center of the kathmandu city do that all citizens and foreigners can observe the kathmandu valley.The construction of that view tower was first built by bhimsen thapa.From the view tower the entire view of the three districts of kathmandu,lalitpur and bhaktapur known as the valley can be observed. There are full public transport facilities to travel around kathmandu city.We can easily circumambient kathmandu city by public transport through the road known as the kathmandu valley ring road.The length of the kathmandu valley ring road is about 27.2 kilometers.In this kathmandu valley various type of large and small industries have been operated to provide employment to the people.Due to the operation of those industries local residents and people from all iver the country have found employment.In this kathmandu valley different dynasties have ruled in different period of history.Later the kathmandu valley was inhabitated by lichchhavi,kiranti and later newar people. Kathmandu valley has been the capital of nepal since the unification of nepal.When the gorkhali army led by the prithvi naraya shah conquered the kathmandu valley the kathmandu valley was made the capital. Prithvi narayan shah made this valley his capital on chaitra 10,1826 bikram sambat. This kathmandu valley was historically called “nepal mandal” and in the medieval period “kantipur”.Kathmandu valley has been considered the original home of the newar community since ancient times.The valley has been the headquarters of the south asian association for regional cooperation since 1985.In the past people from western nepal used to come here to work and visit .At that time temples made of wood were built in kathmandu city.The people of those western nepal started calling wood as kastha and temple as mandu.The two words they said kastha and mandu were combined to form the word kastha mandu.The same word kastha mandu was corrupted and later became the name kathmandu.Therefore it can be said that the tempme made of wood gave the name kathmandu to this valley.
After the knowledge of the kathmandu valley there are various theories about how this valkey came into existence. According to the budfhist texts this theories provide information about the origin and human settlement of the kathmandu valley as follows.According to the popular legend or self-evident history the kathmandu valley was once a vast lake where beautiful lotus plant bloomed on the hill where the swayambhunath stupa is located.seeing a large there manjushree searched for a way to drain the water from that lake.Later the southern part of the lake in that valley was a hill made of soft rocks.According to one story lord manjushree called the hill nade of soft rocks kaspal.Later manjushree named the hill made of soft rocks chobhar. It is written that kaspal or chobhar hill was cut by manjushree with a sword called chandraharsha.Sfter cutting the hill the water in the kathmandu valley flowed out. It is said that after that the land was made suitable for human habitation.According to buddhist scriptures manjushree was a buddha.When he came to the kathmandu valley he saw a large lake of water in what is now the kathmandu valley.Then he cut the chobhar mountsin with a sword called chandraharsha and drained the water of that lake and settled people there. Kathmandu valley was also called nepal khaldo in ancient times.Before the birth of siddhartha gautam,many types of buddhas used to come to nepal.The first saint com to come to kathmandu valley was vipaswi buddha.It is also believed that he came to this valley from the city of bandhumati in the golden age to take up permanent residence in this valley.After some time he plants a lotus plant in the middle of the naga daha on the full moon day of the month of chaitra.Since vipaswi buddha planted a lotus plant in the middle of the naga daha a fair is held at that place in his memory on the full moon day of the month of chaitra.Six months later on the full moon day of the month of ashwin supernatural flowers come out of the lotus plant planted by vipaswi.Then lord swayambhu appears with a bright light in the middle of that flowers.Thus lord buddha came here after hearing the news of lord swayambhu’s arrival.He comes here to spend some time and later meet other gods.That is why lord swayambhu is worshipped here.According to history there is another story to drain the water of the kathmandu valley.At one time naga daha or kathmandu valley was completely submerged in water.In buddhist scriptures it is said that manjushree rode a lion and circumambulated the lake three times while reading the book of wisdom.After that it is said that the water of the lake in the kathmandu valley dried up.According to another story it is said that manjushree also had many followers.Because it is said that he cut the chobhar mountain with his sword called chandraharsha and dried up the water of the valley.Manjushree is also called khadga manjushree.Manjushree had supernatural powers,wonderful weapons and high seekers or worthly disciples.It is mentioned in buddhist texts that with the help of these powers manjushree carved out the soft rock of chobhar mountain and made it habitable in the kathmandu valley.
Similarly according to another scientific theory the information about the origin and human settlement of the kathmandu valley is as follows.We wonder how such a large lake became densely populated in the kathmandu valley.We can only find out from history or some texts to find out this kathmandu. Many types of history in various types of texts.According to geologists there was once a large lake called paleo in the kathmandu valley.Thus there is a lot of geographical evidences to prove that there was a large lake here.We can only find out from history or texts to find out how the kathmandu valley became densely populated from a large lake.Those texts also mention the kathmandu valley in many way.If we look at the origin of kathmandu valley it is said that the water in this lake may not have follow out all at once but in stages. Kathmandu valley was also priviously call katuwal daha because there was a large lake there.A dam built on the bagmati river in southern parts of kathmandu valley or near the current katuwal daha.Historically it is also known that this lake was formed about 100,000 years ago.The southern banks of the valley were rising geographically at a rate of three centimeters per years.After that it can be assumed that the lake gradually moved northward.Since then it can be assumed that the lake level has risen and fallen between 1400 to 1440 meters.It can be assumed that large animals lived in the lakes of the kathmandu valley.Because geologists have found the remains of extinct ancestors of mammoths,hippo,and crocodiles in the kathmandu valley.There is sufficient geological evidence prove that the kathmandu valley was once a lake.Similarly geologists say that the water in the valley’s lake did not disappear all at once but gradualy disappeared over time. Geologists have found the remains of extinct hippopotamuse and crocodiles in the kathmandu valley suggesting that there was once a large lake in the kathmandu valley.Geological evidence suggests that the kathmandu valley was covered by a large lake between 2.8 million and 10,000 years ago.
It can also be said that the lake in the kathmandu valley is slowly drying up due to the changing weather conditions.We can also see that geologists have found evidence of large forests like pine,hemlock and remnants of wildlife along the banks of lakes in the kathmandu valley.Finally the snow in the himalayas which had been covered in ice during the ice age began to dry up.It is also known that about 30,000 yesrs ago the glacial lake began to gradually shrink. After that the main water’s course or drainage area of the chobhar hill which was made of soft limestone gradually eroded.After the water of the valley’s lake drained three small lake were formed at gokarna, pashupati and kitni.These lakes eroded the chobhar hill and merged with the main lake and flowed from there.As the water in the valley’s lake gradually decreased small mounds or plateaus began to appear above the lake’s water.Later the tributaries of the bagmati river began to cut channels through this soft limestone and separated other flat parts from the river.The valley’s soil was highly fertile and because it was located on the main trade route between india and tibet a large human settlement was able to settle in the in the kathmandu valley.Later the kathmandu valley captures it existence.After that the valley began to lead the development and prosperity of their civilization.The early days in his intelligence had preserved farming around the surrounding land.Then they set up large cities on mid lines there.This valley was made up of a unique urbanization, rural coefficients and agriculture.Later they settled in kathmandu valley with their unique cultural and architecture.According to history in ancient time the kathmandu valley was covered by a vast dense forest. At that time there was a huge lake in the middle of the kathmandu valley.Snake lived in that lake so this lake came to be known as naga daha.Friends how do you like the information about kathmandu valley? If you find any shortcomings of this information please comnent in the box.
