Bhaktapur (Nepali language and Sanskrit: भक्तपुर, ; "City of Devotees"), known locally as Khwopa
As part of the Kathmandu Valley, it shares its history, culture and Newar language with the other cities of the Kathmandu Valley. Although chronicles like the Gopal Raj Vamshavali put the foundation of Bhaktapur in the 12th century, it has been the site of numerous settlements since at least the Licchavi dynasty.
Compared to other Newar settlements, Bhaktapur is predominantly Newa Hinduism and speaks a distinct dialect of Nepal bhasa.
Etymology
The earliest use of the name "Bhaktapur" is from an inscription from 928.
It is widely accepted that the name is a
Sanskrit translation of the city's name in the native language, an early form of the
Newar language,
Khōpring. The earliest use of this name is from a Licchavi dynasty inscription from 594. The name
Khōpring is a combination of two words from an early form of the
Newar language, "
kho" and "
pring" which translate to "cooked rice" and "village," respectively.
The city was also sometimes referred as
Bhaktagrāma instead of
Bhaktapura where
grāma denoted a village as opposed to
pura which denoted a town in Sanskrit.
From Khopring also evolved, Khwopa , the name of the city in the Classical Newar and modern form of the native Newar language. Khwopa as the name for the city, appeared for the first time in a manuscript from 1004.
Another popular name for the city was " Bhatgaon", the Hindustani and Nepali language translation of " Bhaktagrama".
History
Antiquity
The folklore of the
Kathmandu Valley states that the entire valley and as such Bhaktapur itself was once an enormous lake.
Geological surveys conducted by Swiss geologist
Toni Hagen proved that the
Kathmandu Valley was in fact a lake which formed when the Lower Himalayan Range was being created due to the collision between the
Indian Plate and
Eurasian Plate plate.
The lake water started eroding the
limestone hills of
Chobhar and starting from around thirty thousand years ago, the lake started to drain.
Plain lands appeared in the
Kathmandu Valley and between 30,000 and 15,000 years, most of the valley was drained.
In folklore, the credit of draining the valley is given to the
Bodhisattva Manjushri .
Believed to be a saint from
Greater China, Manjushri is said to have cut a
gorge from his sword in order to drain the valley so that he could worship and gain wisdom from
Swayambhunath who resided in the lake.
Manjushri is believed to have entered the
Kathmandu Valley from the east and his resting place has been made into a shrine where the people of Bhaktapur make a pilgrimage to every year during late winter and before the festival of
Shree Panchami.
Apart from above, much of the early history of Bhaktapur is largely unknown. It is clear that people started to settle in the Kathmandu Valley after it was drained due to its fertile soil owing to it being a lakebed.
Licchavi dynasty
Three stone inscriptions from the Licchavi dynasty has been recovered so far in Bhaktapur. One of them dated to 594 was recovered in
Gomārhi district in the eastern part of Bhaktapur was made during the reign of
Amshuverma. Another similar inscription from 594, recovered from
Tulāche district in the central part of Bhaktapur was also made during the reign of
Amshuverma. The
Gomārhi inscription contains a decree from
Amshuverma that "people from
Mākhopring draṅga should be given more rights for a self rule." Similarly, the
Tulāche inscription contains a similar message but the settlement has been referred as "
khōpring grāma". During the Licchavi dynasty, settlements with a minimum of 100 houses and a maximum of 500 houses were classified as "
grāma" and wealthy settlements were classified as "
draṅga". So, the settlements around the present day
Gomārhi district were wealthier than the settlements around the present day
Tulāche district. In
Nepal Bhasa,
Mā is a prefix meaning "main or principal", meaning Mākhopring
was a sub-division
of Khopring, most likely the main part of Khopring. Finally, a third inscription recovered at
Tālako district in the southwestern part of Bhaktapur mention the place name as "
mākhoduluṃ" which was probably a separate village from
Khōpring.
Bhaktapur's oldest Dhunge dhara is also dated from the Licchavi dynasty.
Foundation
the 14th century Gopal Raj Vamshavali, Ananda Deva, who ruled
Nepal Mandala from 1146 to 1167 is credited to have established the city of Bhaktapur.
Since there were already settlements in Bhaktapur like
Mākhopring and M
ākhoduluṃ during the Licchavi dynasty, it was more likely that Ananda Deva unified these smaller settlements into a single unit.
It is traditionally believed that Bhaktapur contained 12,000 houses at the time of its foundation.
Ananda Deva also established a royal court named
Tripura Rājkula in the central part of Bhaktapur and declared it as the new capital of
Nepal Mandala.
The Gopal Raj Vamsavali also state the foundation of shrines of eight
Matrikas surrounding the city and a ninth and the most important shrine, that of
Tripura Sundari, at the centre of the town.
This arrangement of the shrines of mother goddess is used to conceptualize the entire town as a sacred
Mandala.
Within the city itself, there are also ten minor shrines of the
Mahavidya established by Ananda Deva as well. The later 19th century chronicles state that Ananda Deva was directed to establish Bhaktapur by the Goddess Annapurna.
Capital city of Nepal
As Bhaktapur became the seat of the government, it also became the target for numerous foreign invasions. The main reasons for these attacks was the internal division among the royal family of
Nepal Mandala. Soon after Ananda Deva's death, a new royal house emerged from within. Believed to have been started by
Arimalla, they used Malla as their surname replacing their ancestral surname, Deva. When the conflictions between both houses worsened, the House of Tripura sought help from
Tirhut while the House of Yuthunimam sought help from
Khasa Kingdom. Thus, both of these kingdoms started interfering in the internal politics of
Nepal Mandala. In the 1310s, the monarch Rudra Malla in order to improve
Nepal Mandala's relation with Tirhut married off his sister Devaladevi to the Tirhut king,
Harisimhadeva.
After the marriage, the relation between the two kingdoms smoothed and Tirhut's attack on
Nepal Mandala ceased.
In the month of January 1326, Devaladevi along with son, Jagatsimhadeva and her court departed from Tirhut after it was invaded and captured by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate.
Kingdom of Bhaktapur
Raya Malla is considered a weak figure in the History of Nepal.
Many historians blame
Raya Malla's reluctancy to give up the throne for the division of
Nepal Mandala.
The newly formed Kantipur kingdom and its
Ratna Malla barred him from taking any oaths and
Diksha from their tutelary goddess, Taleju whose shrine was located in the palace of Bhaktapur while at the same
Ratna Malla would repeatedly take oaths from the Taleju shrine of the Bhaktapur palace.
Yaksha Malla's large number of descendants meant that even during his great-grandson –
Prana Malla's reign there were several other members of the Malla family were still in Bhaktapur. Two such Mallas, Vira and Gosain Malla, both of whom were older than the monarch sought help from Kantipur and the king of Kantipur, Narendra Malla in a bid to weaken Bhaktapur, claimed Vira Malla to be the legitimate ruler.
Likely fueled by Narendra Malla, both Vira and Gosain Malla divided the city of Bhaktapur between themselves and
Prana Malla and established a border at
Inācho, Bhaktapur.
, the queen consort of
Vishva Malla seized control of the kingdom and started a joint rule with her two sons
Trailokya Malla and Tribhuvan Malla.
Ganga Devi, who was also popularly called as "Ganga
Maharaja", was the only
queen regnant who ruled the kingdom.
During her reign, Bhaktapur would reach its territorial zenith. She is regarded as the first strong ruler of Bhaktapur Kingdom and is widely known for her military conquest and construction works.
She is also credited with unifying the city by appointing many of Yaksha Malla's descendants who were living in the palace as fort captains, chiefs of other cities and villages within the kingdom which effectively ended their claims to the throne.
She was the first ruler of Bhaktapur to take
Diksha from Taleju along with her two sons, the tutelary goddess of the Mallas in 9 April 1567 as previous rulers were barred to do so by
Kantipur, which provoked Kantipur and launched an attack Bhaktapur in retaliation.
Her reign saw numerous cultural changes in the form of festivals as she is credited to have improved the numerous festivals celebrated within the kingdom. The locals of Bhaktapur credit her as the builder of many of the
Dhunge dhara and public rest houses within Bhaktapur as well as numerous
Narayana temples of the city but no any inscriptional evidence of it has been found.
at the royal palace which depicts Bhupatindra Malla and his queen Vishva Lakshmi as a divine couple. Bhupatindra Malla reigned from 1696 to 1722 and his reign is considered the cultural highpoint of Bhaktapur.
]]
Ganga Devi's death has not been properly studied yet. It is possible that she died in 1602 as after 1602, her eldest son Trailokya Malla is the only one addressed as the king in inscriptions and legal documents.
Jagat Prakasha Malla died on 8 December 1672 because of smallpox after which the reign of Jitamitra Malla began.
In November 1769, Bhaktapur was attacked and after suffering a heavy loss, the state eventually surrendered to the expanding Gorkha kingdom, which would become the future Kingdom of Nepal.
Rana Regime
After its defeat in 1769, Bhaktapur lost most of its political and cultural importance to Kathmandu and Lalitpur, the capital of the newly formed Kingdom of Nepal.
Bhaktapur was visited by Colonel Kirkpatrick of East India Company in 1792 and in his book described the city as being in a better state than
Kathmandu or Lalitpur. Bhaktapur played a small role during the rise of Jung Bahadur Rana as its former palace was where King Rajendra Bikram Shah was imprisoned in 1847. After the establishment of the
Rana dynasty in 1846, Rana's brother Dhir Shumsher Rana was appointed as the mayor of the city.
Dhir Shumsher oversaw the demolition of many of the old palaces of Bhaktapur and its replacement with British style inspired buildings.
before the 1934 earthquake which destroyed almost all the buildings in the square.
|left]]
The great earthquake of 1833 and 1934 devastated most of the city including the palace and temples.
In the earthquake of 1833 especially, Bhaktapur suffered the most damage in the
Kathmandu Valley. Out of 500 total casualties of the earthquake, at least 200 of them were in Bhaktapur.
Around 25% to 70% of the town suffered major destruction, including at least 2,000 homes and six to eight temples.
When the 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck in 1934, Bhaktapur was one of the most affected towns of Nepal.
Many of the Malla era temples and palaces of the city like the Basantapur Lyākū, Chaukot Lyākū and Thanthu Lyākū were completely destroyed in the earthquakes and many of them were never restored and the few that were, were reconstructed in a Mughal style stucco dome by the Rana dynasty.
The economy of Bhaktapur, which had already been struggling after losing the flow of Tibetan traders, was acceleratedly aggravated by the earthquakes of 1833 and 1934. The 1934 earthquake also damaged the physical infrastructure of the town and most of the inhabitants were unable to rebuild their houses properly. The earthquake permanently damaged the Rajkulo canals that had been providing fresh water to the city since the time of the Malla Kingdom. Due to the malaise economy and cash-strapped budget, Bhaktapur was unable to revamp these broken canals, as a result, fresh water became scarce in the city.. The sanitation level of Bhaktapur became severely low and poverty and diseases became rampant.
20th century
on the far right and the
Langtang Lirung mountains in the background.]]In the 1950s, when the tyrannical
Rana dynasty ended and Nepal was open up to the outside world,
Kathmandu and the other cities around it like Patan saw a considerable rise in urbanization and population. However, Bhaktapur was farther away from the capital and was left out from the development that occurred in the other cities of the
Kathmandu Valley.
Bhaktapur was also greatly isolated and ignored by the central powers. When a new
Araniko Highway was built, it completely bypassed the city and instead ran through the outskirts.
Consequently, Bhaktapur was the poorest city of Nepal in the 20th century.
The
Rajkulo canals that provided fresh water was never repaired and sanitation level was very low.
Due to extremely high population density and low sanitation, the city became extremely unhygienic as
feces and litter filled the roads.
and pandemics were rampant and greatly affected the farmers composing the majority population of Bhaktapur, who couldn't afford necessary modern medicine. Just like its inhabitants, the heritages of Bhaktapur also suffered greatly during this period as many arts and artifacts were stolen.
Under the Bhaktapur Development Project which was funded by West Germany, the city's physical infrastructure and heritage sites were all revitalized and renovated.
2015 earthquake
A magnitude of 7.8 Richter earthquake 2015 Nepal earthquake that struck on 25 April 2015 (12 Baisakh 2072
Vikram Samvat, Saturday, at local time 11:56am) damaged 116 heritages in the city. 67 of those heritages were completely damaged while 49 suffered from partial damages. The earthquake badly damaged the Bhaktapur Durbar square, a significant historial heritage site included in the UNESCO world heritage list. The main premises of Taleju Temple also witnessed damages in the disaster.
The Nepal-Bihar earthquake in 1934 demolished several buildings that were never rebuilt. Chyasilin Mandap has been rebuilt in 1990 using contemporary earthquake proof technology. The building survived the 2015 earthquake unharmed.[ The Eight Cornered Gift, 15 October 2014, Kapil Bisht]
Demographics
A song composed by
Ranajit Malla in 1769 mention Bhaktapur as a city with 12,000 households.
Henry Ambrose Oldfield who visited
Nepal during the 1850s wrote that there were fifty thousand inhabitants in Bhaktapur.
At the time of the 2001 Nepal census, it had a population of 72,543.[City Population [3]. Retrieved: 9 December 2011.] The 2011 Nepal census reports the population of Bhaktapur as 81,748 with 41,081 men and 40,667 women.
Culture
Architecture and art
Bhaktapur, being a former capital of a
Newar people kingdom, contains one of the most elaborate art pieces of
Nepal.
Only a few artworks from the
Lichhavi dynasty survive in Bhaktapur and so most art pieces date from the Malla dynasty. Most of Bhaktapur's art were religious in nature and were made by anonymous artists coming from a caste of artisans.
A few artisans however are known. For instance, the painter who made the murals on the walls of the palace of fifty windows has signed his name on one of the murals.
However, many of the murals in the palace were damaged when it used as a post office and a police station in the 20th century and the painter's signature has unfortunately been rubbed off, with only his address remaining readable today.
Woodcarving is a major artwork of the
Kathmandu Valley. Most of the wooden work from the Lichhavi dynasty that survives today are wooden
or posts which mostly depicted
, the forest fairies or deities in a similar pose.
Four armed deities began appearing since the 16th century and by the end of the Malla dynasty, wooden struts depicted multi armed Hindu deities. This transformation was not viewed fondly by all scholars citing the loss of elegance in later wooden struts.
or tympanums are in most cases wooden as well and can be found on most temples, monasteries or palaces. The wooden
toraṇa on the entrance to the Taleju temple in Bhaktapur Durbar Square is considered one of the best examples of the kind.
Similarly,
Newar window are an important aspect of Nepalese architecture. The
Mhekhājhya, or more popularly the Peacock window from 1750 is the most popular traditional window from Bhaktapur.
The Malla dynasty was, for Bhaktapur a golden age for woodcarving, sculpture and the arts in general.
Similar to woodcarving, very few stone or metal sculptures from the Licchavi dynasty survive in Bhaktapur and so almost all surviving works are from the Malla dynasty. Most stone sculptures are of deities housed in various temples of the city and their leonine guardians. The most celebrated sculptors from Bhaktapur lived during the late 17th to early 18th centuries.
The Luṁ dhvākā or the Golden gate which serves as an entrance to the inner courtyards of the former royal palace was constructed between 1751 and 1754 by Subhākara, Karuṇākara and Ratikara.
Hiti
The entirety of
Kathmandu Valley, including Bhaktapur is known for its
Dhunge dhara water supply system which once supplied water from the surroundings hills into the heart of the cities of the valley.
These fountains are carved in the form of a
Hindu mythology and Buddhist mythical creature known as a
Makara. The hiti water supply system was developed in the Licchavi dynasty and Bhaktapur's oldest hitis also date from the period.
Today, there is at least one
Dhunge dhara in each of Bhaktapur's neighborhood totaling to about 104. The hitis were made not only by royals and nobles, but also by common people as well. There was a common belief that building hitis and rest houses grant the builder religious merit.
whose spouts face eastwards, of which there are 18, hold religious significance to the locals as it is considered pious to bathe in these spouts during
Sa Paru.
This practice has gone extinct today as most of these spouts do not work any longer as the canals that supplied them has been lost to time.
These aqueduct-like canal system were called
Rajkulo, the earliest such canal in Bhaktapur was believed to be built by a mythical queen
Tulā Rāni, who according to folklore floated on water owing to her light weight.
In 1379,
Jayasthiti Malla repaired a damaged
Rajkulo of Bhaktapur and in the same year a new one named
Yaṭapāṭa was built in the city.
The most famous Rajkulo of Bhaktapur was commissioned by
Jitamitra Malla in 1677 that brought water from the hills of
Nagarkot to the city.
All of these Rajkulos in Bhaktapur have gone extinct today.
are a type of water tank made out of stone which can be found around wells and
Dhunge dhara of the city. These are usually carved with floral motifs and the image of
Bhagiratha.
Ponds
There are 50 artificial ponds/lakes (,
pukhu), constructed in the Licchavi and the Malla dynasty, in the city.
Of them the largest four, SIddha Pokhari (
Taḥ pukhu),
Naḥ pukhu,
Bhājyā pukhu and Rani Pokhari (
nhu pukhu) are located in the western part of the city and among them the largest one, Siddha Pokhari (
Taḥ pukhu) measures 574×249 ft.
The two oldest known ponds of the city are
Taḥ pukhu and
Naḥ pukhu built in 1118 and 1168 respectively.
Kamal Pokhari (
bāhre pukhu), another large pond on the eastern part of town is believed to be from the Licchavi dynasty, though no definitive proof has been found of its antiquity.
A lot of the smaller ponds in the dense settlements of city were built in the Malla dynasty as a sort of water supply during a fire.
Phalcha
Phalchā is a
Newar language word for communal resting places which has been a part of Nepali culture since the
Lichhavi dynasty.
Usually, they are attached to an existing building or free standing with their front façade colonnaded with widely spaced wooden posts.
These
phalchā see extensive use by the locals as a communal gathering places.
It was considered religiously pious to consecrate phalcas and today there are 364 phalcas in Bhaktapur consecrated with most dating from the Malla dynasty.
Language
Bhaktapur Newar (,
khvapaḥ bhāy) is a distinct dialect of
Newar language spoken in Bhaktapur and its environs.
Generally, the vocabulary is similar to that of the standard dialect (standard refers to the
Newar language spoken in
Kathmandu and Lalitpur) with some pronunciation changes but differences do exist.
The most widely known difference is for the word
laḥ (, "water") which becomes
nā () in the Bhaktapur dialect.
This difference is often used humorously as
nā in the standard dialect means "mud" and
laḥ in the Bhaktapur dialect means "drool". Terminologies relating to traditional musical instruments are also different between the two dialects.
[Music Diaries Nepal (2 September 2020), ] In a lot of words, the "
ā" sound in the standard dialect is replaced with "
a" sound and vice versa.
Similarly, Bhaktpaur Newar has a voiced velar nasal sound
, that is not present in the standard dialect. For instance, the Nyatapola Temple is called as "" (ṅātāpola
) in Bhaktapur whereas in the standard dialect its name is ""(nyātāpau
).
''
Literature
Jagat Sundar Malla, born in 1882 is considered one of the Four Pillars of Nepal Bhasa who headed a revival campaign of
Nepal bhasa after its supersession by the royal government.
[Lienhard, Siegfried (1992). Songs of Nepal: An Anthology of Nevar Folksongs and Hymns. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. . Page 1.] Similarly, Ram Sekhar Nakarmi who was a major modern day
Newar language writer was also from Bhaktapur.
Narayan Man Bijukchhe is also a prominent author, mostly writing political books in the
Nepali language.
Before Newar language became the official language in the Malla dynasty, most literature was written in Sanskrit and even during the Malla dynasty, Sanskrit was an important literary language.
Main sights
Bhaktapur is one of the most visited sites of
Nepal popular among both foreign and domestic visitors.
The most visited site of Bhaktapur are the city's four
Town square, which all except for one are concentrated on the middle part of Bhaktapur.
The first of them is the Durbar Square, the former royal palace complex of Bhaktapur, composed of houses of the former royal palace and various temples that were built in its vicinity.
Although, the Durbar Square of Bhaktapur received heavy damage from both the 1934 and 2015 earthquake, while many of the fallen monuments have been reconstructed.
The Durbar square houses various monuments like the palace of fifty five windows, the
Simhādhwākhā Lyākū palace which houses the National Art Gallery, one of the first museum of Nepal, and the stone temples of Vatsala Devi and Siddhi Lakshmi.
The temple of
Silu Māhādeo (meaning "the
Shiva of
Gosaikunda") located on the eastern part of Bhaktapur Durbar Square is the tallest
Shikhara style building in
Nepal.
Taumadhi Square
The Taumadhi Square (,
Tamārhi) houses the
Nyatapola temple, the five storeyed temple commissioned by King Bhupatindra Malla and shrines for the tantric goddess Siddhi Lakshmi, the personal deity of the royal couple.
Under the shadow of Nyatapola stands the three storey temple associated with
Bhairava which was first built by
Vishva Malla and then later remodeled by
Jagajjyoti Malla in its present form.
The square also contains the courtyard of Til Mādhav
Narayana, the
Aesāmārhi satta (often called the
Kasthamandap of Bhaktapur)
the Betala temple and a golden
Dhunge dhara. The
Shikhara temple of Jagannath and the roofed temple of Lakshmi Narasimha are also established near the square.
Dattatraya Square
The Dattatraya Square located in the Tachapal tole is one of the oldest monument of the town. The Dattatraya Square consists of the three-story pagoda-style Dattatraya Temple, dedicated to Guru
Dattatreya, which is the combined form and avatar of three principal Hindu deities, (
Brahma the creator,
Vishnu the preserver, and
Shiva the destroyer, respectively), was built during the reign of King Yaksha Malla (1428 A.D. – 1482 A.D.) and was opened to the public around 1486 A.D., only after his demise. The exact date of construction of the Dattatraya temple is still obscure. This temple, according to popular belief, was constructed from a single piece of wood from one tree. At the entrance are two large sculptures of the Jaiput wrestlers(locally known as
kutuwo), Jaimala and Pata (as in the Nyatapola Temple), a "Chakra", and a gilded metal statue of Garuda, a bird-like divinity. Around the temple are wood carved panels with erotic decorations. It was subsequently repaired and renovated by King Vishwa Malla in 1548 A.D.
The Dattatraya Square is also the home to the Pujari Math which was the former palace of the Malla Kings and court and later served as the settlement for the priests of the temple and
Lhasa Newar. Today, the Pujari Math has been converted into a Woodcraft and Bronze Museum. The Pujari Matha is mostly noted for its artistic
Newar window including the popular
Mhaykhā Jhyā (lit. Peacock Window). In front of the Dattatraya temple is the Bhimsena Temple, which is dedicated to Bhin:dyo, the
Newar people deity of commerce often confused with the
Pandava brother
Bhima.
Changu Narayan
Changu Narayan is an ancient Hindu temple located near the modern village of Changunarayan in the
Kathmandu Valley on top of a hill at the eastern end of the valley. It is to the north of Bhakathapur and from Kathmandu. The temple is one of the oldest Hindu temples of the valley and is believed to have been constructed first in the 4th century. Changu Narayan is named after
Vishnu, and the temple is dedicated to him. A stone slab discovered in the vicinity of the temple dates to the 5th century and is the oldest such stone inscription discovered in Nepal. It was rebuilt after the old temple was devastated. Many of the stone sculptures date to the Licchavi period. Changu Narayan Temple is listed by
UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The temple is a double-roofed structure where the idol of Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as Narayana is enshrined. The temple has intricate roof struts showing multi-armed Tantra deities. A kneeling image of Garuda (dated to the 5th century), the vahana or vehicle of Vishnu with a snake around its neck, faces the temple. The gilded door depicts stone lions guarding the temple. Gilded windows also flank the door. A conch and a disc, symbols of Vishnu, are carved on the two pillars at the entrance. Non-Hindus are not allowed to enter the temple.[Destination Nepal: Bhaktapur [4]. Retrieved: 9 Dec 2011.]
In popular culture
In 1974, Pier Paolo Pasolini used Bhaktapur, along with other places in Nepal, as locations for his film Il fiore delle Mille e una notte (Arabian Nights).[ Arabian Nights (Il Fiore Delle Mille E Una Notte) at Movie-locations.com, 1974, retrieved 8 September 2019]
Portions of the 1993 Hollywood film Little Buddha starring Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda were filmed in the Bhaktapur Durbar Square. Also, some portions of Indian films Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Baby were shot in Bhaktapur.
Sister Cities
On 13 December 2023, Bhaktapur and Leshan, China signed a Memorandum of understanding regarding establishing a Sister city between the two cities.
Notable people
-
Devalakshmidevi, ruler
-
Yaksha Malla, ruler
-
Ganga Rani, 16th century queen
-
Bhāju Kasa, 18th century minister
-
Bhupatindra Malla, ruler
-
Ranajit Malla, ruler and Newar language writer
-
Briddhi Lakshmi, queen consort and Newar language poet
-
Padma Sundar Malla, electrical engineer and the first Nepalese to visit the US
-
Jagat Sundar Malla, activist and Newar language writer
-
Bharat Jangam, writer
-
Narayan Man Bijukchhe, politician and writer
-
Prem Suwal, politician and a Member of Parliament
-
Sunil Prajapati, politician and incumbent mayor of Bhaktapur
-
Gita Shahi, actress
See also
==Gallery==
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Further reading
-
Bindloss, Joe; Holden, Trent; Mayhew, Bradley. (2009). Nepal. Lonely Planet.
-
Destination Nepal: Bhaktapur, Retrieved: 9 Dec 2011
-
Retrieved: 8 May 2015
-
http://www.bhaktapur.com/
-
http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_106_01.pdf
Further reading
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, Urban Renewal: The Restoration of Bhaktapur, in: UNASYLVA der FAO/UN vol.30, no.121, Rome 1978
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, Certain Aspects of Design of Nepalese Degah with an Ambulatory Surrounding the Cella, in: Heritage of the Kathmandu Valley - Proceedings of an International Conference in Lübeck, June 1985, Sankt Augustin 1987
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, Dhunge-Dharas in the Kathmandu Valley - An Outline of their Architectural Development, in: Ancient Nepal (Journal of the Department of Archaeology), No. 116-118, Kathmandu 1990
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, Two Nepalese Shrines of the Saha-Period with Eclectic Characteristics, in: Artibus Asiae, Vol. LIV. 1/2, Zürich 1994
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, Water Conduits in the Kathmandu Valley, Munshriram Manoharlal Publishers, Pvt.Ltd, New Delhi 1995
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, Dhunge-Dharas in the Kathmandu Valley - Continuity and Development of Architectural Design, in: Change and Continuity -Studies in the Nepalese Culture of the Kathmandu Valley. Proceedings of the International Conference-Seminar of Nepalese Studies in Stockholm, 1987. Orientalia - Collana di Studi Orientali des CESMEO, No. VII, Torino, 1996
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, The Nyatapola Temple of Bhaktapur - A Mark of Nepalese Temple Design, in: Marg, Vol.49 No.4, Mumbai 1998
-
Becker-Ritterspach, R.O.A, Golden Peaks and Tinkling Bells: Gilt Metal Craft in Kathmandu Valley Architecture, in: Marg, Vol.62 No.1, Mumbai 2010:
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Gutschow, Niels, and Axel Michaels. 2008. Growing up: Hindu and Buddhist initiation rituals among Newar children in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
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Gutschow, Niels, and Axel Michaels. 2012. Getting married: Hindu and Buddhist marriage rituals among the Newars of Bhaktapur and Patan, Nepal. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
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Haaland, Ane. 1982. Bhaktapur, A Town Changing. Analysis of a development project's influence on social change in a medieval society in Nepal.
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Parish, Steven M. 1994. Moral knowing in a Hindu sacred city: an exploration of mind, emotion, and self. New York: Columbia University Press.
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Parish, Steven M. 1996. Hierarchy and its discontents: culture and the politics of consciousness in caste society. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
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Raj, Yogesh. 2010. History as mindscapes: a memory of the peasants' movement of Nepal. Kathmandu: Martin Chautari.
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Widdess, Richard. 2013. Dāphā: sacred singing in a South Asian city: music, performance and meaning in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Farnham: Ashgate.
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von Schroeder, Ulrich. 2019. Nepalese Stone Sculptures. Volume One: Hindu; Volume Two: Buddhist. (Visual Dharma Publications, 2019). 1556 pages with 2960 illustrations (duo-tone with numerous colour illustrations); 345 x 240 mm; bound with slipcase. Includes glossary, bibliography, chronological table, and index. SD card with more than 15,000 digital photos.
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