Bandipur Nepal: Rural Heritage

Bandipur is a fantastic example of traditional Newari culture, and the town itself seems completely untouched by modernisation. The hilltop town not only overlooks the incredible expanse of the Marsyanngdi river valley, but also offers a breathtaking sweep of the Himalayan range. Apart from the beautiful views the town has some wonderful 18th Century architecture, numerous temples and wonderful opportunities to witness daily community life. Here are the list of things to visits in bandipur nepal.


Local houses

The distinctive feature of the village houses are the brick walls, mud floors and slate roofs.

In fact, the slate roofs come directly from the pits in the village itself. Some houses are also very brightly painted and very Mediterranean-ish.

Town Square

This is where the majority of activities is located. All the shops and hostels are here, so it's the best place to coordinate activities.

Farmlife

The local Hindus do not eat beef and the main source of meat come from the goats bred by each family.The distinctive feature of the goat pens are the low ceiling, low windows and doors and baskets of dried grass hung outside the pen for grazing. Many of the goat pens are interspersed between the villagers' living quarters.

In the day, the goats may also be released into the nearby mountains. As the mountains are really harsh and lacking lush vegetation, I get the impression the goats spend most of the time finding their foothold rather than grazing.

Mulberry and silkworm farm

As the silkworm farming is more for subsistence rather than tourism, it may be advisable to get a villager to accompany you there.
They allow us to freely pick the juicy mulberry fruits which you must be careful not to let it d

Shiva shrine

Shiva is the Hindu god the locals pray to. We were fortunate to witness a celebration at the shrine which gave out a mysterious air when lit with many oil lamps.The locals make a sweet, flour cake as offerings and consumption

Views over Himalayas

There are breathtaking views of the Himalayan from Bandipur, and they range from Langtang peak in the east to Dhaulagiri in the west. From the nearby hilltops, one can see as far as Manakamana and Gorkha to east the great Chitwan plains to the south, among others. Himalayas are best seen in the afternoons and before sunset and until dusk. The morning fog from the nearby valleys blurs the views over the Himalayas, but makes the scenery fairy-tale like.

Tundikhel

Back when Bandipur was a stop no the trade route India – Tibet, Tundikhel was the setting for trade fairs, as well as a parade ground for archery contests and celebrations. Strolling around the platform, i got a sense of eternalness to the point that i even expected some medieval arches to jump from the enormous fig trees while trade caravans were packing their goods.According to Hindu legends, the diferent types of fig trees represent different gods - the fig trees at Tundikhel represent Vishnu, Brahma and Hanuman.

Stroll as much as your feet can bear

Strolling around the town, to hilltops and peaks, to objectives such as the largest cave in Nepal (Siddha Gufa), or the Martyrs Memorial, or the Patali Dwar (aka the Gateway to Heaven), etc. This is something you definitely won’t have enough. Just smell the flavours, and you’ll want to wander around to abandoned army camps or police stations, or to the surrounding Magar villages, admiring the views and watching children at play and adults at work. This seemed to me a step back in time, to the age of innocence, untouched by “civilisation”.

Bandipur is located on a 1000m ridge in Tanahu district some140km west from Kathmandu and 60km east from Pokhara, Bandipur's hallmark is its beautiful scenery. At the eastern part of the town is the pagoda-roofed Bindabasine temple which houses goddess Durga, Bandipurs guardian deity. The rich wooden carvings and details brass-work that adorn the temple are replicas of those found in the many old pagoda structures of the Kathmandu valley. The other important temples and shrines in the vicinity include the Mahalaxmi temple with its exquisite woodwork and Khadga Devi temple which comes alive once a year during the Dashin festival.