Kathmandu

For the store, see Kathmandu (store).

Kathmandu
A street in Kathmandu. A street in Kathmandu.
Country	Nepal
Regional Authority	Kathmandu Metropolitan City
Government
• Hem Pokharel	N.A.
Population  (2006)
• City	822,930
• Metro	1,442,271
Time zone	GMT+5:45
Website	http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/

Kathmandu (Nepali: काठमाडौं, काठमान्डु, Newar: यें) is the capital city of Nepal and it is also the largest city in Nepal. The original inhabitants of Kathmandu are called Newars, who speak Nepal Bhasa, which is the language of communication between Newars, and is widely spoken by other ethnic communities residing in Kathmandu. It stands at an elevation of approximately 4,265 ft (1,300 m). It is an urban and suburban area of about 1.5 million inhabitants in the tri-city area in the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal, along the Bagmati River. The two other cities are Patan and Bhaktapur. Kathmandu is located at 27°43′N 85°22′E (27.71667, 85.36667). [1]

History

The Kathmandu Valley may have been inhabited as early as 900 BC, but the oldest known objects in the valley date to a few hundred years BC. The earliest known inscription is dated 185 AD. The oldest firmly dated building in the earthquake-prone valley is almost 1,000 years old. It is said that the Buddha and his disciples spent some time in the area of present-day Patan in the 6^th century BC, although there is no evidence for this. Four stupas around the city of Patan said to have been erected by Charumati, daughter of Ashoka the Great, a Mauryan king, in the 3^rd century BC attest to the ancient history present within the valley. As with the tales of the Buddha's visit, there is no evidence supporting Ashoka's visit, but the stupas probably do date to that century. The Kirats are the first documented rulers of the Kathmandu Valley, the remains of their palace are said to be in Patan near Hiranyavarna Mahavihara (called "Patukodon"). The Licchavi Dynasty whose earliest inscriptions date back to 464 AD were the next rulers of the valley and had close ties with the Gupta Dynasty of India. The Malla Dynasty ruled Kathmandu from the 12^th century till the 17^th century when the Shah Dynasty under Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the valley as he created present-day Nepal. Most of ancient Nepalese architecture present in Kathmandu today is from the Malla era.

The temple of Pashupatinath.

The city of Kathmandu is named after a structure in Durbar Square called Kaasthamandap. In Sanskrit, Kaasth (‹The template Lang-sa2 is being considered for deletion.› काष्ठ) = "wood" and Mandap (‹The template Lang-sa2 is being considered for deletion.› मंडप/मण्डप) = "covered shelter." This unique temple, also known as Maru Satal, was built in 1596 A.D. by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The entire structure contains no iron nails or supports and is made entirely from wood. Legend has it that the timber used for this two story pagoda was obtained from a single tree.

Kathmandu is also sometimes called "Kantipur".Newars use the original term, Yen.

Present

The Kathmandu Valley consists of three primary cities - Kathmandu itself, Patan (south of the Bagmati River), and Bhaktapur. Patan and Kathmandu run up right against each other (again, separated only by the river), whilst Bhaktapur is set off much closer to the eastern foothills. A lot of foreigners live in Patan, as that is where the relief agencies tend to be headquartered.

Bhimsen Tower (Dharahara) of Kathmandu

Kathmandu itself is home to most of the embassies, businesses, and the palace. The King's Palace (a large newly-pink building) stands right next to Thamel - the main tourist center. (Thamel consists of two parallel streets just to the west of the palace. It is home to lots of hotels, such as the Kathmandu Guest House, and lots of "hole in the wall" type establishments where backpackers tend to stay.) The palace is at the head of Durbar Marg, a street lined with various shops.

Most of the streets in Kathmandu are named from Nepal Bhasa, owing its origin to the rich Newari Culture and heritage.

The "old" city is noted for its many Buddhist and Hindu temples and palaces, most dating from the 17^th century. Many of these landmarks have been damaged by earthquakes and pollution. This valley hosts an UNESCO World Heritage Sites composed by seven different Monument Zones: The centers of the three primary cities, Kathmandu Hanuman Dhoka, Patan and Bhaktapur, the two most important Buddhist stupas, Swayambhunath and Boudhanath and two famous Hindu shrines, Pashupatinath temple and Changu Narayan. Since 2003 the site has been inscribed in the World Heritage List as being "in danger" out of concern for the ongoing loss of authenticity and the outstanding universal value of the cultural property.

Kathmandu has been popular with western tourists since the 1960s when it became a key stop on the hippie trail, when Jho: Chhee (Nepal Bhasa, continuous house)(Freak Street) was the one of the main location. It is also the subject of a popular Bob Seger song for the same reason.

It is the most densely populated city in Nepal. The main and original dwellers of the Kathmandu Valley are Newars.

Tribhuvan International Airport is located about 6 km from the city center, offering domestic and international flights.

Changing traditions

With the influence from modern day world, Kathmandu has quickly transformed from a covert little city to a popular, extrovert city full of life. The growing amount of Western influence has led a massive change in fashion, tastes and lifestyle of people. The social status of the people has highly sophisticated and modernized. Popular western music is demanded by the youngsters and Kathmandu is slowly becoming a potential market for Hollywood.

Air pollution in Kathmandu

The Kathmandu metropolitan area suffers from increasingly dangerous levels of air pollution. The Himalayan range to the north and Mahabharat range to the south form a barrier around the Kathmandu valley that inhibits suspended particulate matter from being dispersed outside the valley. The result is seasonal spikes in suspended particulate matter approaching levels of heavy industrial zones in other nations.

Simply put, the basic physical setting of Kathmandu influences air pollution concentrations, and does so particularly in winter months, where there are normal mountain-valley circulations that affect air pollution movement. During the winter, air pollution is carried out of the Kathmandu Valley during the day then mountain breezes force pollution to return to the valley at night. This results in a highly elevated level of suspended particulates during night time hours.

At present the PM10 (particles that are 10 micrometer in size and could easily enter human body through inhalation) level in Kathmandu is 148 micro grams per cubic meter on average, and 198 in the central business district of Kathmandu. This is significantly higher than international standard of around 72 micro grams per cubic meter.

The PM10 levels in Kathmandu have seen a threefold increase in the last decade. The pollution level in Kathmandu during winter months is now comparable to some of the most polluted cities in the world and mirrors that of Seoul, South Korea during the early 1980s while that nation was rapidly industrializing.

Unlike Seoul, however, Nepal has never experienced industrialization of any significance and suffers from extreme level of poverty coupled with civil unrests. The major sources of air pollution in Kathmandu are vehicle emissions, and the effluvium from numerous unregulated brick kilns scattered across the Kathamndu region.

Musical inspiration

Cat Stevens wrote a song titled "Katmandu" which appeared in his 1970 album, Mona Bone Jakon.

Rock musician Bob Seger wrote a song titled "Katmandu" which appeared on his 1975 album, Beautiful Loser.

A Russian rock band Krematorij had a song titled "Kathmandu" on their 2000 album Three Springs.

The Argentinian musician Fito Páez has a song called Tráfico por Katmandú ("Traffic through Kathmandu" in English)

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Katmandu was a short lived experimental heavy metal band. They were made up of Dave King (Fastway, Flogging Molly) on vocals, Mandy Meyer (Krokus, Asia, Gotthard) on guitar, Cain Carruthers (The Untouchables) on bass, and Mike Alonso (The Meanies) on drums. Their one CD (self-titled 1991) was given 5 out of a possible 5 K's by the UK's Kerrang! magazine.

Sister cities

• Eugene, Oregon, USA
• Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
• Xi'an, People's Republic of China
• Yangon, Myanmar
• Minsk, Belarus
• P'yŏngyang, North Korea

See also

• Tribhuvan International Airport
• Kathmandu valley

External links

• Template:Wikitravel
• The Kathmandu Post
• Air pollution status in Kathmandu
• Images and Photos from Kathmandu