Bhaktapur the Cultural City

55 Windows Place - The King's Home

 Bhakapur is the Cultural Capital of Nepal. The city was the capital of the whole of Nepal from the 12th to 15th century.  After the 15th century it became a city state and it's citizen surrounded it with a wall.  The city is home to almost a 100 thousand people, most of who are farmers.  Bhakapur is know for pottery and handicrafts. 

 Until just 20 years ago water flowed into the King's Bath from this spout 24 hours a day.

The King's Bath was surrounded by a stone snake and there is a bronze snake in the middle. The Snake was seen as a protector of the king.

Most of the streets are very narrow.  You only see foot traffic and motorcycles in the central part of the city.

This lady is hand crushing soy beans.  I watched her for quite a while.  It is going to take some time to crush all of those beans in the pot.

Normally this square is full of drying pottery, but this was rice harvest season.  The rice is cut in the fields, dried, and thrashed.  Then the rice is brought to this square where it is separated from the chaff and dried again.

The separation process

All of the windows in the city center where handmade here by craftsmen.

Local pottery piggy banks

Vegetable sales.  These balance scales are used in most transactions.  I bought 5 oranges around the corner.  I wanted only 4 but I had to buy enough to balance out the weight.

More rice separation

Wash day

This was the chicken market. The wicker baskets hold up to 6 chickens each.  I believe this hen will be in someone's pot before the day ends.

The main square of the city is called Dunbar Square.  This square has a conglomeration of stone art, metal art, wood carvings, and terracotta.

The lady behind the umbrella is removing weeds and grasses from the bricks.  I asked if I could take her picture and she politely turned away and blocked the camera with the umbrella.

According to local legend the strength of stone figures gets progressively stronger as you go up the steps.

This is what happens to you if you tell a lie.

Dunbar Square temple.

The golden gate into the King's palace.

The majority of the inhabitants are either Hindus or Buddhists.

This craftsman was working on a brass instrument.

Local pottery products.  The small cups in the lower left corner are one use drinking cups.

Bronze lion in Durbar Square.

The clouds opened up and dumped rain for about two hours.  Water was ankle deep in the square.

This goat did not like photographers.  About ten minutes before this picture it ran over to me and head butted me.  I saw him chase another photographer for about 5 minutes.

Almost all goods and trash is carried on backs with a strap around the forehead.

These two ladies are carrying bananas to this market.  The younger lady in the background looked to be a novice.  She needed help unloading the basket from her back.

That's all for Bhaktapur.  The next blog will cover Bandipur and the road to Pokhara.