Kathmandu is an ancient city, high in the Himalayas, that is the capital of Nepal. Also in Nepal, the summit of Mount Everest is the point of highest elevation on earth.
Nepal is the only country with a national flag that isn't rectangular or square. Image from the Wikipedia article "Flag of Nepal".
ALL IMAGES ARE FROM GOOGLE STREET VIEW
Nepal used to have a monarchy. The former Narayanhiti Palace is not an old palace, being built in 1963 on the site of previous palaces. Nepal is prone to the earthquakes in the Himalayas and this has damaged previous palaces.
The Royal Coup took place in 1960. This established an absolute monarchy and abolished political parties. I see this as Nepal's version of Japan's Meiji Restoration. There was a revolution in Nepal in 1990, which resulted in a change from absolute to constitutional monarchy. I see this as Nepal's version of the French Revolution.
In 2001 the Palace Massacre took place at the Narayanhiti Palace. I see this as Nepal's version of the killing of the Romanovs in Russia. The crown prince, the next in line to the throne, killed most of the royal family including the king and queen and then shot himself.
He survived for several days and technically became king. His uncle, the previous king's brother, became king upon his death. The fact that he was the only senior royal not at the dinner when the massacre took place led to conspiracy theories. It also drew attention that the prince was right-handed but the fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound was in his left temple.
The uncle had previously, and temporarily, been king as a child. In 2005, this king attempted to effectively restore absolute monarchy. It led to the monarchy being abolished altogether.
It is not entirely known what led to the 2001 Palace Massacre, by Prince Dipendra, at the family dinner in the palace. One story was that the king had ordered him to his living quarters, because he was under the influence of drugs, and he returned with the gun. Another story is that he got the gun after arguing with his parents about someone who they didn't want him to marry.
This is the former Narayanhiti Palace.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow before you can move onto the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
The center of the old part of Kathmandu is Durbar Square. A Durbar Square means a royal square and this is not the only one. It is an ancient palace site with other buildings, such as temples, being added over time.
This is the narrow streets of the old city around Kathmandu Durbar Square.
This is a newer part of Kathmandu, beginning with the Ghanta Ghar Clock Tower and the Skywalk Tower.
This is the Rani Pokhari, or Queen's Pond, built in 1670. It is a memorial to a prince that was killed by an elephant.
This is the Hindu Pashupatinath Temple. This is the oldest Hindu temple complex in Kathmandu and goes far back into ancient times.
This is the Buddhist Boudhanath Stupa. It goes far back into medieval times. Many Buddhist Tibetans arrived in Nepal after the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.
No comments:
Post a Comment