Nepal Travel Notes (20) Hanuman Dhoka Palace, the old palace in Kathmandu Durbar Square

When visiting Kathmandu Durbar Square, in addition to purchasing a ticket to enter the square (1,000 rupees/person), there is also an attraction in the square that requires a separate ticket (250 rupees/person). This attraction is commonly known as " Hanuman Dhoka Palace (Old Palace).

Hanuman Dhoka Palace is located on the northeast side of Kathmandu Durbar Square. It is known as the "Forbidden City of Nepal" and is now the "Forbidden City of Nepal". "Museum of Nepal, Art, Religion and History" is the largest and richest art collection among the existing historical sites in the country. The Hanuman Dhoka Palace was first built in the 13th century by the Lichavi Dynasty, but it was not a royal palace at that time and its scale was also small. Not big. Since the split of the Malla dynasty at the end of the 15th century, Hanuman Dhoka Palace has become the official residence of the Malla kings of Kathmandu. It has been continuously expanded over the years and reached its current size in 1768. Layan Shah launched a palace coup and became the tenth monarch of the Kingdom of Gorkha. In July 1769, he conquered the Kingdom of Badgaon, completed the conquest of the Kathmandu Valley, and built four more buildings in the southeast of Kathmandu Durbar Square.

Lookout. After that, Hanuman Dhoka Palace became the royal palace of the Shah Dynasty, and all the kings of the Shah Dynasty lived here until they moved to the new palace in 1886. However, major events such as the king's coronation were held here. Ceremonies are still held here.

This magnificent building complex was gradually built through continuous expansion by successive kings. By the middle of the Shah Dynasty, Hanuman Dhoka Palace was built. It has become a huge building complex with 35 courtyards and dozens of halls and temples. It has gone through many vicissitudes in the past century. Some buildings were damaged by earthquakes, and some places were transformed into downtown areas. Although the scale is not as large as before, it still remains majestic. .

? Kathmandu Durbar Square is very large, with more than 50 temples. How to find the old palace as quickly as possible is to look for this tall white building. The white palace is called Gadhhi Baithak and is the main part of the "Old Palace" Hanuman Dhoka Palace.

This neoclassical architectural style is also called "Rana style" in Nepal, named after "Rana". The magnificent medieval Newari architecture around Kathmandu Durbar Square is famous for being out of place. This building was built in 1908 by the Rana family, the actual rulers of Nepal, and is said to be modeled after the National Gallery in London. p>

If you look carefully, you will find these black English sentences on the eaves of this white palace named "Gaddi Baithak". In addition to stating that the building was built in 1908 AD (ERECTED AD1908), it also states that This building was presided over by the prime minister of the government at the time (a member of the Rana family). The Rana family relied on the support of the British to defeat the king's family that had ruled Nepal for hundreds of years and actually ruled Nepal. The Na family is very pro-British, and some large-scale buildings during their rule were imitated by famous British buildings, such as the Lion Palace, the Prime Minister's Office of Nepal, the Siddhartha Art Museum, the Dream Garden and other famous attractions, as well as the ones I mentioned in "Chapter 34. Travel Notes on Nepal (10)". 7) TRI-CHANDRA COLLEGE The Tri-CHANDRA COLLEGE introduced in "TRI-CHANDRA COLLEGE" is a Rana-style building that imitates the British.

In the 8.1-magnitude earthquake in Nepal in 2015, Kathmandu Durbar Square was greatly damaged, especially the first half of the square, including Gadhhi Baithak, was almost destroyed. After the earthquake, reconstruction efforts were largely supported by foreign aid. What we see now is actually the Gadhhi Baithak that has been rebuilt. The reconstruction work was sponsored by the United States.

This is the interior view of Gadhhi Baithak after its reconstruction.

? Hanuman Dhoka means "Monkey God Gate (Hanuman Dhoka)". The name comes from the statue in front of the old palace, Hanu, which was covered with red cloth. Man. "Hanuman" is the monkey god in Nepal's popular ancient mythology who has great supernatural powers, promotes good and eliminates evil. Here, people worship the monkey god Hanuman as the incarnation of defending justice. The statue of the Monkey God stands on a stone pier about 2 meters high on the left side of the palace gate. Its head is covered with a vermilion brocade canopy, and its face is covered with a vermilion gauze all year round, hence the name Monkey God Gate Palace. It is said that this monkey is the historical prototype of Sun Wukong in China's "Journey to the West".

? I am a little confused, why should the monkey’s face be covered with red cloth? It is said that there are many sculptures of love between men and women on the temple opposite the monkey statue, and Hanuman was still a virgin boy who had never tasted love between men and women. In order to prevent him from being tempted by this, Hanuman blindfolded his eyes. To preserve the virginity. In fact, there are many sculptures of love between men and women in the old palace. Protecting the monkeys in this way makes people feel that it is "hiding one's ears and stealing the bell", but it also shows the cuteness of Nepalese people.

? The gate of Hanuman Dhoka Palace is called the Golden Gate. The gate caster is fine and shining. Above the Golden Gate, there are three groups of wooden sculptures with vivid images and bright colors. On the right is a scene depicting Krishna in the form of a shepherd and two gopis dancing together. In the middle is a statue of Bhagavan with thousands of arms and thousands of faces, originating from the story of the Hindu epic "Mahabharata".

On the left is a set of dynamic and expressive pictures of harp playing: a king is concentrating on strumming the strings, while the queen is listening to the melodious sound of the harp.

? There are such armed guards guarding the ticket check-in area at the entrance to the Old Palace. This kind of guard is dressed in the military uniform of that year, holding an old-fashioned rifle from a hundred years ago. The spear on the rifle is long and sharp, emitting a frightening cold light.

? Entering the palace from the Golden Gate is the Nassar Courtyard, which is the largest courtyard in the palace and an important palace place where kings of all dynasties were enthroned and crowned. The last coronation ceremony was held here on June 4, 2001. Gyanendra, the last king of Nepal, put on the crown here and ascended the throne of the king.

Naxal Courtyard is surrounded by three- and four-story buildings on all sides. To the north is a 4-story building known as the "Glass Pavilion".

The Basantpur Tower located in the southeast corner of the courtyard, also known as the "9-story Temple", is the tallest building in the courtyard, with a height of 35 meters. The inscriptions in the temple record the rise of the Shah family, the conquest of the Kathmandu Valley, and the defeat of the British invading army. They are precious cultural relics.

In 1970, after the royal family moved to the new palace in "Narayanti", the old palace was turned into a museum for tourists to visit, which displays portraits of previous kings and a large number of objects and photos of King Tribhuvan during his lifetime.

Photos of kings from past dynasties on display.

On the afternoon of April 25, 2015, many buildings in the Hanuman Dhoka Palace collapsed in the 8.1-magnitude earthquake, making them dangerous buildings. Because many rooms are under repair, they are basically closed, guarded by soldiers with live ammunition, and not open to tourists.

? The artifact displayed in this corridor is a beautifully decorated sedan, which is used to carry the bride into the palace during royal weddings. This sedan was made in 1969 to carry Princess Aishworya Shah as the bride in the wedding procession of Prince Bikram Shah. This sedan was later used in the weddings of many princes or princesses.

Due to years of worship by believers, the statues in the old palace were shiny with incense smoke.

Decorating the door with "big eyes" is rare.

The outer walls, brackets and eaves of each pavilion are engraved with dragons, peacocks, tiger heads and statues of male and female gods. The doors and windows are engraved with exquisite patterns such as bird kings, dragon maidens and flowers.

As one of the most famous buildings in the old palace, the nine-story temple was also seriously damaged in the 2015 earthquake and is now being repaired with assistance from the Chinese government.

This is the announcement of the restoration plan for the nine-story temple formulated by the Chinese construction team.

The nine-story temple is being restored by a Chinese construction team.

? This three-story building is the Tribhuvan Memorial Hall, which displays a large number of objects and photos used by King Tribhuvan during his lifetime, including the king's throne, the coronation suit woven with gold thread, etc. They are all rare treasures.

? In the northeast corner of the courtyard, there is a monkey temple. Its five floors of eaves are all circular, shrinking from bottom to top. Because the Hanuman monkey god in the temple has five faces: a bird king, a human lion, a monkey, a donkey, and a pig, it is named "Five-faced Monkey Temple".

? The courtyard is surrounded by three-story halls, with pavilions at four corners. There is the famous statue of Goddess Mohanjali on the bottom floor of the west hall. The wall behind the statue has murals depicting mythological stories from the ancient Puranas. These murals have a history of more than 300 years.

?It is a pity that due to maintenance, most of the buildings in the old palace are not open to the public. Only the Nassau Palace, the museum and other places can be visited, and you can also climb the Bashan Taputa. This is a security guard patrolling the old palace, wearing a pistol in front and the famous Gurkha saber hanging on the side.

Before walking out of the old palace, take a photo with the palace guards.