Kathmandu Valley

The Kathmandu Valley is a landscape in Nepal, in the center of the capital Kathmandu is located.

It has an area of ​​about 35 km in the east-west direction and 30 km from north to south and covers an area of ​​approximately 950 km ². Nestled in the highlands of Nepal, it is not a valley in the strict sense, but a (former lake ) basin with a relatively broad and flat bottom, which is between 1300 m and 1400 m above sea level, and is surrounded by mountains, to almost 3000 m reach the heights. No greater water flows from the outside in this basin in; the Bagmati collects the number of streams and small rivers that flow to the valley slopes and drains the area to the south through a narrow gorge.

Climate

Climatically, the Kathmandu Valley is very favored. On average, the daily high temperatures will be in Kathmandu in June at 24 ° C, the average minimum temperatures in January are at 7 ° C. The temperature never drops almost below freezing (first snow for 63 years in the winter of 2006 ), on the other hand more than 30 ° C is rarely measured. Because of the prevailing summer monsoon precipitation falls particularly in the period from mid-June to late September.

Population / settlements

The surface morphology and the air permit intensive agricultural use and also the altitude near the malaria - ceiling favored a human settlement that is proven for at least 2000 years (see Swayambhunath ). The Kathmandu Valley has always been a cultural and political center of Nepal. At times, the area was divided into three principalities, the royal palaces of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur are impressive symbols of power and evidence of craftsmanship. Even today, these three cities the most important settlements in the valley where Kathmandu with about 700,000 inhabitants by far is the largest city. Here are fused to Kathmandu, just across the Bagmati, the city of Lalitpur ( Patan formerly ) with about 200,000 inhabitants and a few kilometers east of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, the city with 80.000 inhabitants. Some smaller places like Kirtipur and Thimi Madhyapur have in the meantime developed into cities each with over 60,000 to 80,000 inhabitants. The growth rates of cities in the Kathmandu Valley are exorbitant and are often higher than 7% per year. The Greater Kathmandu currently registers about 1.5 million inhabitants. There are approaches to obtain the unplanned development through planned urban expansion into the handle. Nevertheless, growth is unrestrained. Kathmandu and Lalitpur already occupy a larger portion of the valley floor; the settlement area is now significantly larger than the remaining agricultural land and the total settlement of the Kathmandu Valley in a few years is foreseen. Rural settlements, rural farmsteads, scattered settlements or villages are to be found only on the outer edge of the valley.

Ethnicities, religion

The Kathmandu Valley is an ethnic and cultural melting pot; People from different backgrounds are represented here; However, the predominantly urban living Newar are the majority. Furthermore, many members of the Tamang residing in the territory of the valley, especially at the edge. Most of the people are Hindus, but also Buddhism has many followers. Both religions are detectable with the earliest archaeological finds in the valley.

Demographics

The following table shows the development of the number of inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley.

Architecture, monuments

The omnipresence of religion in state and society, and the long period of cultural competition between the rulers of the three royal cities led to an impressive array of sacred and profane buildings in the Kathmandu valley, only square meters large temple to house corners or in wall niches above stately pagodas and stupas up vast palaces and monasteries.

It is rare that monuments are older than a few hundred years. The reasons for this lie in the traditional style that the locally available building materials clay brick and wood uses and never aimed to create structures for eternity. Also, there was throughout history devastating earthquakes and fires, and finally were buildings that were no longer used, also not deemed worthy of preservation ( for example due to shifts in the religious meaning). Only since the onset of tourism are gradually being taken over by Western-influenced ideas of conservation, and there were and are a variety of projects, financed from abroad, to deal with the rehabilitation and restoration of historically significant individual buildings and groups of buildings. Since 1979, the whole valley of the UNESCO has been classified as a World Heritage Site. This protection status was acutely vulnerable because the conditions attached because of the high population pressure, the enormous environmental problems and lack of money the state could hardly yet be observed. Between 2003 and 2007, the Kathmandu Valley was therefore entered on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger.

Religious buildings

For centuries, living in the Kathmandu Valley, Hindus and Buddhists together in a relatively tight space is limited. Your religious buildings are you suppose to find in the whole valley, and it has been formed in each case a typical Nepalese style. From the outside, it can not always tell whether a temple is Buddhist or Hindu, in some cases there is even a mixed-use development.

One of the oldest religious buildings belonging to the originally from India (Buddhist ) stupa. The best known and largest stupas of the Kathmandu Valley are in Boudhanath ( north of the airport ) and Swayambhunath (west of the old town of Kathmandu ). In the neighborhood were often more buildings such as monasteries and pilgrims accommodation built. Often you can also see groups of smaller stupas with 2-3 m height.

Also from India the design of Sikara temple tower that can be seen today in the palace districts ( Durbar Squares ) of the three royal cities.

Typical of the Kathmandu Valley is the Nepalese Pagoda, which is available in all sizes and designs. It consists of a red brick structures tower with mostly square plan in which is located on the ground floor the cult image. The up to five floors of the pagoda are made of wood and have each of which is smaller upward and are covered with clay tiles or gilded copper sheet metal roofs. All wooden parts are rich often colorfully painted and decorated with carvings. Oldest example of such a pagoda in the Changu Narayan Hindu Temple, on a ridge north of Bhaktapur is located. From tourists like to photograph the tallest pagoda in the Kathmandu Valley, the five-story Nyatapola Temple in Bhaktapur, when today has hardly any religious significance.

In addition, there are many other buildings that are used religiously and have a firm place in the hierarchical caste of the Newar, such as houses for priests ( Math), houses that are used for religious festivals or to store only on certain days used in cult images.

Secular buildings

In the traditional home of the Newar a framework of baked bricks and wood, as in the temples, in outdoor uses; in the interior walls can be found from out of adobe. In general, it has three floors: the ground floor is a shop, a workshop or a storeroom, the first and second floors contain living spaces with an oriole pre-built, large carved windows. The kitchen and dining room are located in the attic.

In recent decades, this traditional house is increasingly disappeared from the cities of the Kathmandu Valley, to be replaced by faceless modern buildings of concrete or hollow bricks, which is extremely regrettable architectural history - cultural point of view. For the people, however, who inhabit these houses, the advantages are obvious: The modern building materials are cheaper than the now become a scarce commodity brick and the more valuable wood, and the buildings are more durable than the brick buildings, often first after a few years of decay showed, due to the climate and the variable quality of the brick made ​​by hand.

At the time of Rana rule, the end of the 19th century, were built by the wealthy residences in the form of French palaces, which were surrounded by extensive gardens. Many of these so-called Ranapaläste then fell into disrepair during the 20th century, but some are still preserved and are now used by government agencies or banks.

Traffic

The location of the Kathmandu Valley in the mountains made ​​sure that it was only by foot from the influence of modern motorized already reached and in this way a long time until the 50s of the 20th century. However, the people living in the valley were never isolated; in the basin crossing over regional trade routes, for example from India to Tibet, were, like the pilgrim routes, an important reason for the relative prosperity of the population.

A first difficult and windungsreiche road through the Mahabharat to Kathmandu, which led over several passes, was only built in the 1950s. Until the 70's this was the only road link with the rest of the country and India. The rush was led by the well-developed road that the Trisulital to Bharatpur follows Naubise. Despite the detour this route is much faster than the shorter, windungsreiche old mountain range. However, a single landslide Naubise between Kathmandu and could cut off the city from the outside world until recently. Since it is in this section of road to the difficult ascent to the Kathmandu Valley, which occurred in almost every monsoon season. Since 1996, with Japanese development aid a new road east of Kathmandu from Dhulikhel to Kamalamai ( Sindhulimadi ), construction completed and largely, but not consistently. Thus the Kathmandu Valley will get a second connection to the Terai and India. The built in the 60s with the help of Chinese road from Kathmandu to Tibet, however, is of comparatively little importance, especially as it is often interrupted by landslides in the border area.

Was built in a wide ring road around Kathmandu and Lalitpur around Also in the 70s, which is an important relief for the downtown traffic between the two cities. Their function, however, is now compromised because the cities have now developed far beyond the ring road out and the road thus takes over more and more development functions.

The air traffic, the airport offers in Kathmandu is the only international flights of the country. The next ring of high mountains makes the coupled approach to the airport relatively difficult. The landing is only possible directly from the south along the Bagmatitales. When departing aircraft must first create a tight loop in the basin fly, before they can leave this.

A railway line, there is not in the Kathmandu Valley.

Environmental problems

The Kathmandu Valley is now an area with enormous environmental problems. Like all major cities in developing countries also exerts agglomeration Kathmandu / Patan / Bhaktapur from a strong attraction to the population of the whole country. The resulting influx leads to a proliferation and coalescence of the cities, agricultural land is lost, and the proliferation of motorized transport in the simultaneous absence of modern technologies such as low-emission fuels, particulate filters or catalysts has a high load on the air result. The pelvic position of the Kathmandu Valley complicates air exchange, so Kathmandu is one of the most smogbelasteten cities in the world.

The water supply can keep up with the population growth failing to keep pace, especially sanitation is problematic because of the lack of sewage treatment plants and the river Bagmati is the only receiving water for the entire region.

The strong influx of people in the Kathmandu Valley into outside the valley also has a negative impact on the environment: The high demand for fuel ( for heating and cooking ) leads to further deforestation in the surrounding area and in the wake to increased erosion, the largest environmental problem in Nepal. Where people from the rural areas of Nepal to move away, go to the fields, which at the prevailing terrace cultivation has the irretrievable loss of agricultural land through erosion results in a few years.