 One of the world heritage city is Patan, official name of the municipality is Lalitpur. Patan is often considered to be the oldest and most beautiful among the three royal cities Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley. It is best known for its finest traditional arts and crafts and its rich cultural heritage. The Patan Durbar Square is taken as the only monumental area in all three cities of the Kathmandu Valley that still outstands with its most magnificent architectural splendour and unique artistic beauty.
Patan has kept its cultural and its finest craft man ship alive even in the face of many social and political upheavals. Lalitpur is believed to have been founded in the third century B.C. by the Kirat dynasty and later expanded by Lichhavis in the sixth century. It was further expanded by the Mallas during the medieval period.
The Chariot festival of Rato Machhindranath. It is the longest running chariot festival in the Kathmandu Valley. It is widely celebrated by both the Hindus and the Buddhists alike. The in built cultural heritage like the royal palace, with intricately carved doors and windows and beautiful courtyards adorned with exquisite icons enhance the beauty of the city. Such art pieces are found in stone, metal, terracotta ivory and other objects. All these art facts exhibit artistic excellence of the crafts men and the whole city looks like an open museum. Panoramic View of Patan Durbar Square as seen from the north-east corner of the square. The monument zone of Patan Durbar Square is one of the seven monument zone of Kathmandu Valley. The seven monument zones were included in the World Heritage List in 1979 as one integrated site. All these monument zones are declared as the protected monument zones according to the Monuments Preservation Act of 1956. For the restoration of public and private monument norms and standards determined by the Department of Archaeology as per the fixed norms of UNESCO/ ICOMOS. Patan monument zone is marked by marker stone placed at different points in the delineated area. A plaque has been put with the sing of World Heritage Centre. |
