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  POKHARA 10/31/2026 7:30am (UTC)
   
 

Pokhara (पोखरा) is a city in central Nepal located at 28.24 N, 83.99 E,, 198 km west of Kathmandu. It is the capital of Kaski District, Gandaki Zone and the Western Development Region. It is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nepal.

Geography


Image:The Annapurna Range reflected on the Phewa Lake-Pokhara.jpeg
Phewa LakePokhara is situated in the northwestern corner of the Pokhara Valley, which is a widening of the Seti Gandaki valley The Seti River and its tributaries have dug impressive canyons into the valley floor, which are only visible from higher viewpoints or from the air. To the east of Pokhara is the municipality of Lekhnath, another town in the valley.

In no other place the mountains rise so quickly, within 30 km, from 1000 m to over 8000 m. The Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu ranges, each with peaks over 8000 m, can be seen from Pokhara and there is a lake named Phewa Lake, two caves (Mahendra and Gupteswar) and an impressive falls(Patale Chhango or Devi /David's Falls) where the water from the Phewa Lake thunders into a hole and disappears. Due to this sharp rise in altitude the area of Pokhara has one of the highest precipitation rates of the country (over 4000 mm/year). Even within the city there is a noticeable difference in the amount of rain between the south of the city by the lake and the north at the foot of the mountains.

The climate is sub-tropical but due to the elevation the temperatures are moderate: the summers usually have a bearable 30 - 35°C; the winters average around 15°C and have no frost.

In the south the city borders on Phewa Tal (a lake, 4.4 km², about 800 m above sea level), in the north at around 1000 m it touches the base of the Annapurna mountain range. From the southern fringes of the city one has an exceptional view of the Himalaya with 3 eight-thousanders (Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manaslu) and, in the middle of the Annapurna range the wonderful Machapuchare ('Fishtail') with close to 7000 m. This beautiful mountain dominates the northern horizon of the city and its name derives from its twin peaks, not visible from the south.

HISTORY
Prior to the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Pokhara was an important trading post on the route between Tibet and India. Until the end of the 1960s the little town could only be reached by foot and it was even more a mystical place than Kathmandu. The first road was finished in 1968 after which tourism boomed and the city grew rapidly. A tourist area developed along the lake and the area between the old city and the lake filled up. Men are recruited at the British Gurkha camp in Pokhara. About 370 are selected annually in December out of a pool of over 20,000 applications, with about 140 eventually joining the Gurkha Contingent while the rest will go to the British Army.

Tourism
Pokhara is a major tourist hub of Nepal offering a combinatin of nature and culture with a distinct tourist district in the subdivision of Baidam, Lakeside and Damside. It is mostly known as starting and ending point for Annapurna treks.

Pokhara is quite a modern city with only few touristic attractions in the town itself. Most interesting is the old centre in the north of the city (purano bazar) where still many old shops and warehouses in the Newari style can be found. Mule caravans still arrive there from Mustang.

On a hill overlooking Phewa Tal from the south is the World Peace Stupa (at 1,113 m) QTVR built in 1996 with a view of the lake, across the city and of the snow peaked mountain range consisting of namely, Fishtail, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri Himals (mountains).

 Bindhyabasini Temple in the evening
Barahi Mandir in Phewa TalTemples worth visiting in the older part of town are Bindhyabasini Mandir and Bhimsen Mandir, the latter with erotic carvings; another temple, Barahi Mandir, is located on a tiny island on Phewa Tal. Not accessible and only visible from the lake is the royal summer residence (called Ratna Mandir) at the lake in Lakeside.

The best viewpoint of Pokhara is Sarangkot (1600 m) to the west of the city. Paths and a road lead to the top from where one can enjoy spectacular views of the Annapurna range, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri and the city itself.

The modern commercial city centre at Chiple Dhunga and Mahendrapul (now called Bhimsen Chowk, named after a Shahid(Martyr) in Jana-aandolan II, April, 2006) is halfway between the lake and Purano Bazar, the old centre. Apart from this there are several subcentres in other parts of town: in the north in Bagar, in the south between Prithvi Chok and Srijana Chok (mainly hardware stores), and in the east, on the other side of the Seti, in Ram Bazar.

The shortage of touristic sites in Pokhara is made up by its scenic views in and around town. Most of them are not mentioned in any guide or map. The Seti Gandaki (White Gandaki) and its tributaries have created spectacular gorges in and around the whole city. The Seti gorge runs through the whole city from north to south. At places it is only a few metres wide, but 100 m deep with a water depth of 20 m.

 
Bindhyabasini Temple in the eveningIn the middle of the city, the gorge widens to a canyon looking like a crater. In the north and south, just outside town, there are awesome canyons, in some places 100 m deep. These canyons extend through the whole Pokhara Valley. Impressive views are possible from the Prithvi Narayan Campus and from the other side at the foot of Kahu Danda (conjunction of several rivers and canyons). Behind the INF-Compound one can see the Seti River disappear into a slit in an almost 100 m wall, especially impressive in monsoon.

Another place worth visiting is the Patale Chhango (Hell's Falls), more commonly called "Devi's or David's Falls" for the tourist with some melodramatic story behind it. The water of these falls comes from the Fewa Lake flowing to the Seti. The falls plunge into a hole and disappear. In monsoon this sight is most spectacular. Nearby, across the street is a little cave (Gupteshwor Cave). A more exciting cave is at the opposite end of the city in Batulechaur (Mahendra Cave). Betulechaur is known for the musicians caste of the Gaine.Barahi Mandir in Phewa Tal

Pokhara Airport is situated in the middle of town which serves flights to Kathmandu, Jomsom, Manang, Bhairahawa and *Bharatpur. Helicopters to Manang and Jomsom are available for charter..

Places to Visit
Pokhara is known as a major tourist attraction in whole Nepal. Some important places of visit are:

Lakeside and Tal Baharai
Devi's Falls and Gupteshwor Cave
World Peace Pagoda
Sarangkot
Bindabasini Temple and the old market place below the temple
Seti river
Mahendra Cave, Chamero Cave and the Kali river
Kahun Danda (hill located at north-east of the city)

 
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Nepal, officially known according to its Interim Constitution as the State of Nepal (previously known as Kingdom of Nepal) (Nepali: नेपाल [neˈpaːl] (help·info)) is a landlocked Himalayan country in South Asia that overlaps with East Asia. It is bordered by Tibet and China to the north and by India to the south, east and west. The origin of the name Nepal may derive from the Nepal Bhasa language of Newars, who call the Kathmandu Valley Nepa. Some say the name also comes from an ancient sage living in the area For a small territory, the Nepali landscape is uncommonly diverse, ranging from the humid Terai in the south to the lofty Himalayas in the north. Nepal boasts eight of the world's top ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest, which is located near the Chinese border. The country is famous for: tourism, trekking, hiking, camping, mountain biking, national wildlife parks, jungle safaris, river rafting, sport fishing, and its many beautiful temples and places of worship Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. Other main cities include Pokhara, Biratnagar, Lalitpur (Patan), Bhaktapur, Birendranagar, Bharatpur, Nepal, Siddhartanagar (Bhairahawa), Birganj (Birgunj), Butwal, Janakpur, Nepalganj (Nepalgunj), Hetauda, Dharan, Damak, Dhangadhi, and Mahendranagar. After a long and rich history, during which the region splintered and coalesced under a variety of absolute rulers, Nepal became a constitutional monarchy in 1990. However, the monarchy retained many important and ill-defined powers. This arrangement was marked by increasing instability, both in the parliament and, since 1996, in large swathes of the country that have been fought over by Maoist insurgents. The Maoists, alienated from mainstream political parties, went underground and started a guerrilla war against both monarchy and mainstream political parties. They have sought to overthrow feudal institutions, including the monarchy, and establish a Maoist state. This led to the Nepalese Civil War in which more than 15,000 people have died. After the intra-party conflict within the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) on the issue of continuation of state of emergency to deal with Maoist insurgents, then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recommended the king for the dissolution of lower house seeking a fresh mandate in 2002. The king accepted his recommendation and dissolved the house as per the constitution of the country. Later on, Mr. Deuba recommended the king for the postponement of the parliamentary election on the pretext of insecurity due to the Maoist insurgents. Then the king sacked the elected prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress (Democratic) in 2002 on the ground of not able to hold election and started ruling through prime ministers appointed by him. He then unilaterally declared a state of emergency early in 2005, and assumed all executive powers. Following the 2006 democracy movement, the king agreed to relinquish the sovereign power back to the people and reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives on April 24, 2006. Using its newly acquired sovereign authority, on May 18, 2006, the newly resumed House of Representatives unanimously passed a motion to curtail the power of the king and declared Nepal a secular state. As of September, 2006, a complete rewrite of the country's constitution was still expected to happen in the near future. HISTORY Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least nine thousand years. It appears that people who were probably of Tibeto-Burman ethnicity lived in Nepal two and half thousand years ago.[1] Indo-Aryan tribes entered the valley around 1500 BCE. Around 1000 BCE, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose. One of the princes of the Shakya (Sakas) confederation was Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 BC), who renounced his royalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as the Buddha ("the one who has awakened"). By 250 BCE, the region came under the influence of the Mauryan empire of northern India, and later became a puppet state under the Gupta Dynasty in the fourth century CE. From the late fifth century CE, rulers called the Licchavis governed the area. The Licchavi dynasty went into decline in the late eighth century CE and from 879 was followed by a Newar era, although the extent of their control over the entire country is uncertain. By late eleventh century, southern Nepal came under the influence of the Chalukya Empire of southern India. Under the Chalukyas, Nepal's religious establishment changed as the kings patronised Hinduism instead of the Buddhism prevailing at that time.thirteenth century, leaders were emerging whose names ended with the Sanskrit suffix malla ("wrestler"). Initially their reign was marked by upheaval, but the kings consolidated their power over the next two hundred years. By late fourteenth century, much of the country began to come under a unified rule. This unity was short-lived; in 1482 the kingdom was carved into three areas, Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhadgaon, which engaged in petty rivalry for centuries. In 1765, the Gorkha ruler Prithvi Narayan Shah set out to unify the kingdoms, after first seeking arms and aid from Indian kings and buying the neutrality of bordering Indian kingdoms. After several bloody battles and sieges, he managed to unify Nepal three years later. However, the actual war never took place while conquering the Kathmandu Valley. In fact, it was during the Indra Jaatra, when all the valley citizens were celebrating the festival, Prithvi Narayan Shah with his troops captured the valley, virtually without any effort. This marked the birth of the modern nation of Nepal. A dispute and subsequent war with Tibet over control of mountain passes forced Nepal to retreat and pay heavy repatriations to China, who came to Tibet's rescue. Rivalry with the British East India Company over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal eventually led to the brief but bloody Anglo-Nepalese War (1815–16), in which Nepal defended its present-day borders but lost its territories west of the Kali River, including present day Uttarakhand state and several Punjab Hill States of present day Himachal Pradesh. The Treaty of Sugauli also ceded parts of the Terai and Sikkim to the Company in exchange for Nepalese autonomy. Factionalism among the royal family led to instability after the war. In 1846, a discovered plot to overthrow Jang Bahadur, a fast-rising military leader, by the reigning queen, led to the Kot Massacre. Armed clashes between military personnel and administrators loyal to the queen led to the execution of several hundred princes and chieftains around the country. Bahadur won and founded the Rana dynasty, leading to the Rana autocracy. The king was made a titular figure, and the post of Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary. The Ranas were staunchly pro-British, and assisted the British during the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857, and later in both World Wars. In 1923 the United Kingdom and Nepal formally signed an agreement
  KATHMANDU
  POKHARA
Pokhara (पोखरा) is a city in central Nepal located at 28.24 N, 83.99 E,, 198 km west of Kathmandu. It is the capital of Kaski District, Gandaki Zone and the Western Development Region. It is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nepal.
Tourism
Pokhara is a major tourist hub of Nepal offering a combinatin of nature and culture with a distinct tourist district in the subdivision of Baidam, Lakeside and Damside. It is mostly known as starting and ending point for Annapurna treks.

Pokhara is quite a modern city with only few touristic attractions in the town itself. Most interesting is the old centre in the north of the city (purano bazar) where still many old shops and warehouses in the Newari style can be found. Mule caravans still arrive there from Mustang.

On a hill overlooking Phewa Tal from the south is the World Peace Stupa (at 1,113 m) QTVR built in 1996 with a view of the lake, across the city and of the snow peaked mountain range consisting of namely, Fishtail, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri Himals (mountains).


Barahi Mandir in Phewa TalTemples worth visiting in the older part of town are Bindhyabasini Mandir and Bhimsen Mandir, the latter with erotic carvings; another temple, Barahi Mandir, is located on a tiny island on Phewa Tal. Not accessible and only visible from the lake is the royal summer residence (called Ratna Mandir) at the lake in Lakeside.

The best viewpoint of Pokhara is Sarangkot (1600 m) to the west of the city. Paths and a road lead to the top from where one can enjoy spectacular views of the Annapurna range, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri and the city itself.

The modern commercial city centre at Chiple Dhunga and Mahendrapul (now called Bhimsen Chowk, named after a Shahid(Martyr) in Jana-aandolan II, April, 2006) is halfway between the lake and Purano Bazar, the old centre. Apart from this there are several subcentres in other parts of town: in the north in Bagar, in the south between Prithvi Chok and Srijana Chok (mainly hardware stores), and in the east, on the other side of the Seti, in Ram Bazar.

The shortage of touristic sites in Pokhara is made up by its scenic views in and around town. Most of them are not mentioned in any guide or map. The Seti Gandaki (White Gandaki) and its tributaries have created spectacular gorges in and around the whole city. The Seti gorge runs through the whole city from north to south. At places it is only a few metres wide, but 100 m deep with a water depth of 20 m.


Bindhyabasini Temple in the eveningIn the middle of the city, the gorge widens to a canyon looking like a crater. In the north and south, just outside town, there are awesome canyons, in some places 100 m deep. These canyons extend through the whole Pokhara Valley. Impressive views are possible from the Prithvi Narayan Campus and from the other side at the foot of Kahu Danda (conjunction of several rivers and canyons). Behind the INF-Compound one can see the Seti River disappear into a slit in an almost 100 m wall, especially impressive in monsoon.

Another place worth visiting is the Patale Chhango (Hell's Falls), more commonly called "Devi's or David's Falls" for the tourist with some melodramatic story behind it. The water of these falls comes from the Fewa Lake flowing to the Seti. The falls plunge into a hole and disappear. In monsoon this sight is most spectacular. Nearby, across the street is a little cave (Gupteshwor Cave). A more exciting cave is at the opposite end of the city in Batulechaur (Mahendra Cave). Betulechaur is known for the musicians caste of the Gaine.
  BHAKTAPUR
Bhaktapur (27.67°N 85.43°E. Also Bhadgaon or Khwopa) is an ancient Newari town in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It is located in Bhaktapur District and has approx. 78.000 inhabitants. This city has a special type of cap and is called Bhaad-gaaule topi and a local variety of yoghurt or curd ju-ju Dhauking of curd. We can see the use of this cap in the following video - a Newari song - as well as in the images below. From time immemorial it lay on the trade route between Tibet/China and India . This position on the main caravan route made the town rich and prosperous: each autumn the traders from Tibet came with sheep ("changra"), fitting nicely with the main Nepali holidays, 'Dasain' (Hindi: Dussehra), when nearly everyone in Nepal sacrificed male animals to the goddess Durga. On the return trek the traders brought back to Tibet grains, sugar or Buddhist scriptures. This prosperity fueled the cultural life: ie. the temple builders developed a Pagoda-style, spreading it through Tibet all the way to Japan. Finest of all is the five-tiered, heaven piercing Nyatapole. Bhaktapur is a popular day-trip destination for tourists visiting Kathmandu. Lately, with the horrendous air-pollution of Kathmandu, more and more tourists are staying in Bhaktapur for a few days, before arrangements for trekking are finished. For foreign tourists the entry fee is NPR750/$10; for nationals of SAARC-countries and China (sic!) the fee is NPR50.

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