Katmandou

Katmandou (or Katmandhu, or Katmandu Népali: काठमाडौं, काठमान्डु, Nepâlbhâsa: यें) is sometimes also called Kantipur or Yen, in particular by Newars. It is the royal and religious capital of the Nepal, from which it is also more the big city. The first inhabitants of Katmandou were Newar S and spoke the Nepâlbhâsa, which is a very widespread language among the various ethnic communities residing at Katmandou.

The city rises with: 1350 m of altitude, with the confluence of two rivers, the Bagmati and the Bishnumati. It is encircled by mountains of intermediate size in the buttresses of the the Himalayas, which explains why one speaks about the valley of Katmandou, (administratively known under the name of zone of Bagmati, Bagmati anchal ), which includes/understands also Patan and Bhaktapur and is populated approximately 1,5 million inhabitants. It has neither underground grid of drains neither sufficient water supply, nor system of garbage collection and has few streets really worthy of this name. Today, because of the political context, the environment is not the priority of the Nepaleses, which does of them one of the most polluted cities of Asia. Katmandou is localized with.

It became famous in the Années 1960: it was the favorite destination of the voyages Hippie S.

According to the local chronicles, the town of Katmandou would have been founded at the 10th century by king Gunakamadeva. The current structure of the city goes back to the 16th century.

History

Perhaps the Valley of Katmandou was inhabited as of 900 av. J. - C., but the oldest objects found to date in the valley go back to a hundred front year J. - C. the oldest known inscription is gone back to 185 a. J. - C. the oldest building dated with certainty with the hollow of this valley goes back to almost thousand years. One says that to the Life front century J. - C., the Bouddha and his disciples would have spent time in the area of what today is Patan, although there is no proof of that. Four Stûpas around the town of Patan would have been set up by Charumati, girl of Ashoka Large the, king Maurya, in IIIe front century J. - C., according to the old history present in the valley. As with the legends of the arrival of the Buddha, there is no proof affirming the visit of Ashoka, but the stupas probably go back to this century. Kirats are the first known sovereigns of the valley of Katmandou, the vestiges of their palate would be in Patan, close to Hiranyavarna Mahavihara (called Patukodon ). The Dynastie Licchavi, of which the oldest inscriptions go back to before year 464, was the following one to reign in the valley; it had close links the dynatie Gupta of India. The Dynastie Malla reigned on Katmandou since XIIe century, when the Dynastie Shah, with at his head Prithvi Narayan Shah, conquered the valley at the XVIIe century, thus creating the Nepal which we know today. The majority of the old Nepalese architecture present to Katmandou today date of the Malla era.

The town of Katmandou is named according to a building located at Durbar Square and is called Kaasthamandap. In Sanskrit, Kaasth (काष्ठ), wood and Mandap (मंडप/मण्डप), sheltered refuge . This single temple, so known under the name of Maru Satal, was built in 1596 by king Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The whole building contains any iron nail, nor no support, and is entirely built with wood. The legend wants that the wood used for the construction of this mythical pagoda came only from one tree.

Geography

The valley of Katmandou is made up of three principal cities, Katmandou itself, Patan and Bhaktapur. Patan and Katmandou rise one on the other, only separated by the Bagmati river, while Bhaktapur rises more close to the buttresses in the east.

Katmandou itself is the place of residence of the majority of the governmental offices, the embassies, the houses of corporation and the palate. The Palate of the King, a broad lately pink building, rises with the right-hand side of Thamel, the tourist sanctuary of the country. Thamel consists of two streets parallel just in the west of the palate. It is the site various residences, pertaining to various celebrities. The palate is with the head of Durbar Marg, a street filled with various and varied stores.

The majority of the streets of Katmandou have names coming from the Nepâlbhâsa, affirming its membership of the rich person culture newari and the heritage which remained about it.

old city is remarkable for its many temples and Buddhist and Hindu palates, whose majority go back to the XVIIe century. Many of these monuments were damaged by seisms and pollution. This valley shelters sites belonging to the World heritage of UNESCO, composed of seven various zones: the center of the three principal cities, Katmandou Hanuman Dhoka, Patan and Bhaktapur, both more important stûpas Buddhist, Swayambhunath and Boudhanath and two famous Hindu tombs, the Pashupatinath temple and Changu Narayan. Since 2003, the site belongs to the world heritage as being in danger , following the concern of the loss continues authenticity and exceptional universal value of the cultural property.

Katmandou is popular near the Western tourists since the years 1960, when it became a destination-key of the voyage hippie when Jho Chhee was one of its principal localizations.

The Tribhuvan International Airport is located at approximately 6 km of the downtown area and proposes interior and international flights.

Air pollution

The urban metropolis of Katmandou suffers from a dangerous growth of the level of air pollution. The the Himalayas in north and Mhabharat in the south form a barrier around the valley of Katmandou which prevents the dispersion of the air polluted out of the valley. This leads to seasonal peaks of pollution which approach the dangerous level of the industrial parks of the other nations.

In a simple way, the geographical location of Katmandou influences the concentrations of air pollution and particularly during the winter months, during which circulations of air of mountain and valley affect the movement of air pollution. During the winter, air pollution is carried out of the valley of Katmandou during the day, then the mountain breezes force pollution to turn over in the valley the night. That has as a result a very high level of particles suspended of pollution during the night.

Now the level of PM 10 (particles which measure ten micrometers and can easily enter the human body by inhalation) of Katmandou is of 148 migrogrammes per cubic meter on average and of 198 in the district of the businesses of Katmandou. It is significantly much higher than the international standard, which is around 72 micrograms per cubic meter.

The level of PM 10 in Katmandou saw its growth tripling in the last decade. The level of pollution in Katmandou during the winter months is now comparable with some of the most polluted cities world and reflects that of Seoul, South Korea with the beginning of the year 1980 at the time of the rapid industrialization of the country.

Contrary to Seoul, however, Nepal forever tried out industrialization and suffers from an extreme poverty added to civil disorders. The major sources of air pollution in Katmandou are the emissions of the vehicles and the emanations of many illegal furnaces with brick dispersed through the area of Katmandou.

Artistic inspirations

Barjavel made of Katmandou the subject of one of its novels, the Ways of Katmandou (1969). This book gave a film, same name and left the same year, realized by André Cayatte and a signed music Serge Gainsbourg.

Katmandu is the title of several songs: one of Cat Stevens, on its album Mona Bone Jakon (1970), one of Bob Seger, on its album Beautiful Loser (1975) and one of Krematorij, on their album Three Springs (2000). Fito Páez has also a song in connection with Katmandou, entitled Tráfico por Katmandú (“Traffic with French Katmandou”).

Twin towns with Katmandou

Gallery

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