History and Heritage Sights

Nepalese architectural heritage is represented in the unique design of built structures like the pagoda and Shikhara-style temples, shrines, monasteries, palaces, individual homes, stupas or Chaityas (Buddhist hemispherical structures that do not contain the mortal remains of Buddhas or other holy persons), Sattals (wayside rest house), Patis (public rest house), Pauvas (one or two-storey public rest house), Dhunge Dharas or stone waterspouts, Dabalis or open platforms, Ghats or river banks, ponds, pillar statues, minarets or towers, forts and so on.

UNESCO has included seven monument sites of the Kathmandu Valley in the World Cultural Heritage list. Of the seven sites, three are centred around the ancient medieval palaces of the valley, namely the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar (palace) in Kathmandu, Patan Durbar in Patan (Lalitpur) and Bhaktapur Durbar in Bhaktapur. These palace complexes were the residences of the Malla kings. The other world heritage sites are the Swayambhu Maha Chaitya, Boudhanath Stupa, the temple complex of Lord Pashupatinath in Kathmandu and the Changu Narayan Temple in Bhaktapur.