Visiting 3 Kathmandu Attractions

Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu serves as the main gateway into the Himalayan country of Nepal. Travellers can take flights to here from India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and East Asia. A number of tourist attractions in Kathmandu are near the airfield and visiting them can be a good way to keep the Nepal tour package cost a little low. As the city is the national capital, it has places of interest related to many aspects like religion, history and culture. The three most incredible sites to visit in the city are Pashupatinath, National Museum and Kopan Monastery.

Pashupatinath

Many holiday package deals include a visit to the prominent Hindu temple of Pashupatinath. It is widely held to be the earliest Hindu temple in the Nepalese capital, with evidence dating it to around AD 400. The revered complex - located on the banks of the Bagmati River - has numerous shrines. Reflecting the traditional architectural style of the country is the square-shaped two-storey pagoda structure of the principle temple. Its four doors are covered with sheets of silver, while the pagoda roof is adorned with gold. The sanctum of the shrine contains wooden idols of the presiding deities and a golden statue of Nandi - the divine bull of the lord. Funeral cremations are held on the banks of the river, where platforms have been built specifically for this purpose.

National Museum

A visit to the National Museum may also help in keeping the Nepal tour package cost down as the establishment is located about 15 km from the airport. Exhibitions on natural history, prehistoric stone tools, traditional dolls, weapons, portraits and religious sculptures are organised in the main museum building. This building also contains objects, stolen from the country and then brought back, and some artefacts, excavated from the Mustang region. Some of the most-prized objects here are a rock from the moon, whale bones and the Bir Gun.

Juddha Jatiya Kalashala or the Art Gallery building displays stone, terracotta, bronze, wood artworks and ornate paintings. Statues of deities like Garuda, Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Baban Bhairava, Goddess Lakshmi and a manuscript of the Iranian Epic, Shahnama, are its main attractions. The ground floor of the Buddha Art Gallery building has three sections, namely Southwest Terai, Kathmandu Valley and Northern Himalayan Zone. They contain artworks and excavated artefacts, including bronze, wooden and stone sculptures, and skull-shaped ritual cups. Mandalas that are the most important symbolic drawings of Tantric Buddhism are exhibited on the first floor of the building.

Kopan Monastery

Another good place that may be explored by making holiday package deals is Kopan Monastery. Entering from its main gate, visitors walk up a flight of stairs to reach the main temple. A statue of Goddess Tara is seen on the right side of the stairway. On the entrance porch of the temple are idols of four guardian deities of Tibet and a large depiction of the Wheel of Life. Idols of Je Tsongkhapa, his two disciples, Lord Buddha, Manjusri and Maitreya, and paintings of Indian scholars are inside the shrine hall. In the centre of the hall is a stupa, dedicated to the founder of the monastery.

Near the temple is a large prayer wheel, containing pictures and mantras, dedicated to Avalokitesvara. The debate house next to the hall has idols of Indian scholars and the various manifestations of Goddess Tara. Relics of a great Buddhist teacher are kept inside the Tantric College, outside which are eight stupas. The top floor of the Chenrezig Gompa houses the remains of the former abbot of the monastery, and the complex also contains a stupa dedicated to him. A statue of Avalokitesvara stands in front of the Thousand Buddha Relic Stupa.

Paying a visit to these three amazing places in Kathmandu may reduce the Nepal tour package cost as they are close to the international airport.