Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur (27.67°N 85.43°E. Also Bhadgaon or Khwopa) is an ancient Newari town in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It is located in Bhaktapur District and has approx. 78.000 inhabitants. This city has a special type of cap and is called Bhaad-gaaule topi and a local variety of yoghurt or curd ju-ju Dhauking of curd. We can see the use of this cap in the following video - a Newari song - as well as in the images below.

From time immemorial it lay on the trade route between Tibet/China and India . This position on the main caravan route made the town rich and prosperous: each autumn the traders from Tibet came with sheep ("changra"), fitting nicely with the main Nepali holidays, 'Dasain' (Hindi: Dussehra), when nearly everyone in Nepal sacrificed male animals to the goddess Durga. On the return trek the traders brought back to Tibet grains, sugar or Buddhist scriptures.

This prosperity fueled the cultural life: ie. the temple builders developed a Pagoda-style, spreading it through Tibet all the way to Japan. Finest of all is the five-tiered, heaven piercing Nyatapole.

Bhaktapur is a popular day-trip destination for tourists visiting Kathmandu. Lately, with the horrendous air-pollution of Kathmandu, more and more tourists are staying in Bhaktapur for a few days, before arrangements for trekking are finished. For foreign tourists the entry fee is NPR750/$10; for nationals of SAARC-countries and China (sic!) the fee is NPR50.