Travel

Bhaktapur maintains secular characteristics

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Visit Bhaktapur, one of the three main cities in the Kathmandu Valley, is to take a real trip back in time. Everything seems to preserve the characteristics of what life was like hundreds of years ago. The ancestral architecture, the way of life of people and the way they work in making sculptures in wood or metal refer to a past that no longer exists in the rest of the country.

A special highlight is the Praça da Cerâmica, whose pieces are a true business card of the city. The strength of local craftsmanship is the result of the importance that the rulers of the Malla dynasty gave to artistic production in medieval times.

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The kings of Bhaktapur

The Malla ruled Bhaktapur until 1482, when King Yakshya Malla divided his domains between his three sons. They fought each other and each formed their own autonomous kingdom, but with less force. Weakened, they were conquered one by one by the Gorkha shah and disappeared. Fortunately, the artistic tradition has been preserved.

Bhaktapur’s Durbar Square is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites and, since 1970, the city has controlled the construction of new buildings in the rest of the city in order to maintain the brick facade.

Bisket Jatra, a secular festival

Bhaktapur attracts large numbers of pilgrims because of its sacred festivals. One of the most popular is Bisket Jatra, celebrated during Nepal’s New Year. The cults include the sacrifice of live animals leaving terrified western eyes, but what draws the most attention is the ritual of raising a tree (or pole) 25 meters high, in full to central, with ropes, to the sound of drums .

There is also a kind of tug of war in which residents of the western part of the city compete with those in the eastern part for the fate of a 3-meter-high carriage.

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