kathmandu-durban-square Photos

KATHMANDU, DURBAN SQUARE is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Durban Square holds the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings and also temples, courtyards and ponds. The palaces are decorated with elaborately-carved wooden windows and panels.

Since Kathmandu City became independent under the rule of King Ratna Malla (1484–1520), the royal palaces from Durban Square were used by Malla dinasty. When Prithvi Narayan Shah invaded the Kathmandu Valley in 1769, he also favored the Kathmandu Durbar Square for his palaces. Other subsequent Shah kings continued to rule from the square until 1896 when they moved to the Narayan Hiti Palace.

The square is still the center of important royal events like the coronation of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1975 and King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah in 2001.

Jayaprakash Malla, the last Malla king to rule Kathmandu, built a temple for Kumari, the incarnation of the goddess Durga (until she menstruates, after which it is believed that the goddess leave her body). Even today, the Royal Kumari of Kathmandu lives like a goddess in a palace in Durban Square.