TRAVELS AROUND THE WORLD: 2012_11

I feel compelled to keep posting even though we are back. Here are some images of people we saw along the way:

Kathmandu - Bhaktapur Durbar Square

All of these images were taken in the town of Bhaktapur - 13 kilometers east of Kathmandu. 1st stop on our day tour. Bhaktapur used to be the capitol of Nepal a long time ago.

While the complex consists of at least four distinct squares (Durbar Square, Taumadhi Square, Dattatreya Square and Pottery Square), the whole are is informally known as the Bhakapur Durbar Square, and is a highly visited site in the Kathmandu Valley.

The Durbar Square proper houses the 55-window Palace which was constructed by King Jitamitra Malla and was home to royalty until 1769. It is now a National Gallery. Close by is the Golden Gate which leads into Mulchok Court which is home to the Taleju Temple. This temple, like others in the main towns of the Kathmandu Valley, is dedicated to the goddess Taleju Bhawani and includes shrines to both the Taleju Bhawani and Kumari. Entrance to the temple is restricted to Hindus and the living goddess strictly cannot be photographed.

The Durbar square is surrounded by spectacular architecture and vividly showcases the skills of the Newari artists and craftsmen over several centuries. The royal palace was originally situated at Dattaraya square and was only later moved to the Durbar square location.

The Durbar square at Bhaktapur was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1934 and hence appears more spacious than the others, located at Kathmandu and Patan.^[2]

Originally, there were 99 courtyards attached to this place, but now only 6 remain. Prior to the earthquake, there were 3 separate groups of temples. But currently, the square itself is surrounded just by buildings that survived the quake.^[2]

(Lifted from Wikipedia).

Like the light and the man

Stylish lean

Husband and wife

Gotta like the marigold!

Making little horse toys right there. Bare foot as a vise!

I think is my favorite image - Connie ran and told me "You have to shoot this". She was right!

Thangka (Thanka in Nepal) painter in studio

One more - R. Rediker image

Showing the mandala painting with light passing through from light above. We bought this one and are planning to display it with light from below in a shadow box.

Detail of a mandala painting

Maṇḍala (मण्डल) is a Sanskrit word meaning "circle." In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. Each gate is in the shape of a T.^[1]^[2] Mandalas often exhibit radial balance.^[3]