Bhaktapur duwar squar

Introduction

Bhaktapur is one of the three main cities of Kathmandu Valley. The name of the city is derived from different appellation. During the Lichhavi Period (3rd century – 9 century AD) it was called as Khopring Drang followed by Bhadgaon and Bhaktapur in medieval and modern Nepal respectively. In the vernacular language of Kathmandu Valley the place is known as Khopade and Khopadesa.

In the inscription issued jointly by Shivadeva and Amsuvarma of Sambat 516(594A.D.) the people are addressed to as the inhabitants of Khopring drang, which shows that the name of the place as Khopring drang and this inscription, is located at Golmadhi Tole in present Bhaktapur.The historians have narrated the word Drang as village, and tala as, developed settlement with market area. Therefore, there must have been many villages and settlements in and around the then Kathmandu Valley.
Bhaktapur Durbar Square

The history from 9th to 12th century goes almost blank in Bhaktapur. Gopal Raj Vamsavali and other chronicles credit Anand Deva as the founder of Bhaktapur city in 267N.S. (1197A.D.) and also mentions that he had built a royal palace called Tripura. Although we do not accept this to be fully true, it shows that Anand Deva could have transformed the village Khopring drang into Bhaktapur city. The royal palace of Bhaktapur city is located almost at the centre of the city. Most of the monuments located in and around Bhaktapur Durbar Square were constructed during seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During early medieval period, the palatial location was called with different names such as Tripura Durbar, Thanthu Rajkula, and Vasantpur Durbar and so on.
55 Windows Palace

Like other royal palaces of the Kathmandu Valley, Bhaktapur Durbar Square is also dotted with many courtyards (chowks), royal buildings, stone spouts and temples dedicated to different Gods and Goddesses and an example of high architectural buildings erected during different centuries by different kings. The Durbar Square, as in the medieval period, did not serve only as the royal residence but also as an administrative centre as well.

Mul Chowk, the main courtyard of the Durbar Square is the oldest part still surviving. The courtyard was made in 1324A.D.