Interesting facts

1. The Kathmandu Valley contains seven distinct UNESCO World Heritage Monument Zones, all located within a 15-kilometer radius. 2. Kathmandu Durbar Square is known locally as Hanuman Dhoka, named after the monkey god Hanuman, whose statue guards the palace entrance. 3. The Kasthamandap temple, after which Kathmandu is named, was historically believed to have been built from the wood of a single tree. 4. Swayambhunath is affectionately called the "Monkey Temple" by visitors due to the large population of holy rhesus macaques living on the hill. 5. Pashupatinath Temple is one of the most sacred Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in the world, located on the banks of the Bagmati River. 6. Boudhanath Stupa is one of the largest spherical stupas in the world and serves as the center of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal. 7. The all-seeing "Eyes of Buddha" painted on the stupas of Swayambhunath and Boudhanath look in all four cardinal directions, symbolizing omniscience. 8. Kathmandu’s monument architecture is famous for popularizing the multi-tiered pagoda style, an architectural form that spread from Nepal to China and beyond. 9. Arniko, a famous Nepalese architect born in the Kathmandu Valley in the 13th century, was instrumental in introducing the pagoda style to the court of Kublai Khan in China. 10. A living goddess, the Kumari, resides in the Kumari Ghar within Kathmandu Durbar Square; she is a young prepubescent girl chosen through ancient, rigorous rituals. 11. Much of the intricate wood carving found on the monuments is the traditional craft of the indigenous Newar people. 12. The 2015 earthquake severely damaged or destroyed over 700 heritage structures in Nepal, but massive international and local efforts have successfully rebuilt many of them. 13. The Taleju Bhawani Temple in Kathmandu Durbar Square is opened to the public only once a year, during the Dashain festival. 14. At Pashupatinath, open-air cremations take place daily on the structural ghats leading down to the Bagmati River. 15. The bronze Vajra (thunderbolt) at the top of the Swayambhunath stairway represents the power of enlightenment in Vajrayana Buddhism. 16. Prayer wheels at the Buddhist monuments contain scrolls of mantras; spinning them clockwise is believed to release the prayers into the world. 17. Kathmandu was historically a vital transit point for the trans-Himalayan trade between India and Tibet, which funded the construction of its elaborate monuments. 18. The "Freak Street" (Jhochhen Tole) near Kathmandu Durbar Square was the epicenter of the hippie trail in the 1960s and 70s. 19. Structural brick used in the ancient monuments is often "Dachi Appa," a specialized traditional brick that is smooth on the outside and highly weather-resistant. 20. Many temples in the Kathmandu monument zones feature intricate erotic carvings on their roof struts, designed to ward off the goddess of lightning.