| Swayambhunath Stupa |
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The most ancient and enigmatic of all the Valley's holy shrines lies 2 km west of Kathmandu city, across the Vishnumati river. The golden spire of Swayambhunath stupa crowns a wooded hillock and offers a commanding viewof Kathmandu city. On clear days, one can even view a line of Himalayan peaks. The view is splendid at dusk as city lights flicker one by one, and even better when a full moon hangs in the sky.The establishment of Swayambhunath Stupa goes back to the legendary beginning of the Kathmandu Valley.The legend says that when the bodhisattva Manjushri drained the waters of the lake to reveal the Kathmandu valley, the lotus of the lake was transformed into the hillock and the blazing light became the Swayambhu stupa. Swayambhunath stupa is a World Heritage Site. |
| Boudhanath Stupa |
 It is the biggest stupa in the Valley. The stupa, well known as Khasti, is also known as the World Heritage Site. It looms 36 meters high and presents one of the most fascinating specimens of stupa design. There are more than 45 Buddhist monasteries in the area. It lies about 6 km to the east of downtown Kathmandu. The Bouddha Area Preservation & Development Committee runs an information center.
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| Bhaktapur |
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Situated at an altitude of 1400 m., some 14 km east of Kathmandu, is this medieval city. This city is famous world wide for its temples, palaces and production of clay pots. |
| Changunarayan Temple |
 It lies on a ridge over looking the Valley, about twelve-kilometer to the east of the city. It is dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu. The scared complex is a World Heritage Site. It has one of the finest and oldest specimens of pagoda architecture that is embellished with exquisite wood and stone carvings. |
| Pashupatinath Temple |
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The temple of Pashupatinath is Nepal's most scared Hindu shrines and one of the subcontinent's greatest Shiva sites, a sprawling collection of temples, ashrams, images and inscriptions raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati river.
The richly- ornamented pagoda, houses the sacred linga or phallic symbol of Lord Shiva.
Chronicles indicate the temlple's existence prior to 400 A.D, but a shrine may have stood here nearly 1000 years before that. Legend says that Shiva once took the form of an antelope and sported unkown in the forest on Bagmati river's east bank. The gods later caught up with him , and grabbing him by the horn, forced him to resume his divine form. The broken horn wasworshipped as a linga and overtime was buried and lost. Centuries later an astonished herdsmen found one of his cows showering the earth with milk. Digging deep at the site, he |
discovered the divine linga of Pashupatinath The temple complex has been renovated and improved over the centuries. Entrance to the shrine is only restricted to Hindus, however, one can still get the good view of the sacred temple from vantage points across Bagmati river. Across the river, one can also visit the temple of Guhyeshwori and a classic 6th century ekmukhi "one-faced" linga of Shiva. |
| Durbar Square (Hanuman Dhoka) |
 The square is the complex of palaces, courtyards and temples that are built between the 12th and the 18th centuries by the ancient Malla Kings of Nepal. It is the social, religious and urban focal point of the city. Taleju Temple, Kal Bhairab (God of Destruction), Nautalle Durbar, Coronation Nasal Chowk, the Gaddi Baithak, the statue of King Pratap Malla, the Big Bell, Big Drum and the Jagnnath Temple are some of the interesting things to see in this Square.
An intriguing piece here is the 17 th century stone inscription that is set into the wall of the palace with writings in 15 languages.It is believed that if anybody deciphers this entire inscription, the milk would flow from the spout, which lies just below the inscripted stone wall. Some people say that the inscription contains coded directions to a treasure King Pratap Malla has buried beneath
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Mohan chowk of Durbar Square. There are several museums inside the palace building. There is an entrance feeof Rs. 250 for all the foreign visitors to visit all the museums of the palace building. |
| Patan Durbar Squar |
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This durbar square located in Patan is a world heritages site. Patan Durbar has many famous sites and unique architectures. Krishna Mandi, Bhimsen temple, Hiranya Varna Mahabhihar are just a few among the temples offering you an ecstasy of paintings, wood and metal carvings. The Sundari Chowk contains exquisite samples of woodcarvings, stone and metal sculpture. Patan Dubar Square and the Himalaya that can be seen at a distance make an enchanting scene. A half-day sightseeing tour of the Patan city is highly recommended. |
| Lumbini |
Lumbini is the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, which was destined to be the prevalent religion in Asia. This nativity site, identified by the Ashokan Pillar, erected by Magadhan emperor Ashoka, to commemorate the birth place of Buddha, the Lumbini grove. The pillar was erected over 2200 years ago, making lumbini the quintessential Buddhist heritage site. Among the prime attractions are the sacred garden with an area of 8 sq. km, the Mayadevi Temple
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 with a bas relief of Mayadevi, the Buddha's mother and a sacred stone marked with a "foot imprint" of Ashoka. The Ashokan Pillar, the oldest monument so far found in Nepal lies to the west of the Mayadevi Temple. Today only the lower shaft of the pillar stands, the upper past having been split into two. There is no trace of the horse capital. To the south of the pillar is Puskarni, the sacred pond, wherein, Mayadevi is said to have had taken a bath just before giving birth to the Buddha - the Enlightened one.
For those interested in the treasury of cultural and archaeological riches, Lumbini is the perfect place to be there with a number of stupa, monasteries, meditation centers and bahals(courtyard), no other place evokes the time and aura of the Buddha like Lumbini, the Hallowed birthplace of the Apostle of Peace. |
| Everest National Park (1148 kms) |
 Sagarmatha National Park lies to the northeast of Kathmandu. The park was gazetted in July 1976. It covers an area of 1,148 sq. km. of Himalayan ecological zone.
The park includes the upper catchment areas of the Dudh Kosi and Bhote Kosi Rivers. The park is largely composed of the rugged terrain and gorges of the high Himalayas ranging from 2,845m at Monju to the top of the world, Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) at 8,848m above sea level. Other peaks above 6,000m are Lhotse, Cho-Oyu, Thamserku, Nuptse, Amadablam, and Pumori.
UNESCO listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979 for its unique natural, cultural and landscape characteristics. |
| Chitwan National Park: |
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Nepal's first and most famous National park is situated in the Chitwan Doon or the lowlands of the innerTerai. Covering an area of 932 sq. km. The park includes hilly areas of the Siwalik range covered by deciduous sal forest. A fifth of the park is made up of the floodplains of the Narayani , Rapti and the Rue rivers and is covered by dense tall elephant grass interspersed with riverine forests of silk cotton( Kapok) , acacia and sisam trees. Chitwan also supports a great variety of flora and fauna. There are four specious of deer, including the spotted chittal, leopard, sloth bear, wild boar etc.. The swampy areas and numerous ox-bow lakes of Chitwan provide a home for marsh crocodiles. Here is also found one one of the worlds four species of fresh water dolphins. |
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