Bungmati, Khokana and Kirtipur Day trip
Bungmati and Khokana are the traditional Newar villages located in the southern part of Kathmandu. Bungmati also considered craftmen's village as there are lot of family dedicated producing different types of handicrafts. They make wood carving, metal works and even paintings. In the central part of the village there is a square with a temple of Shikhar architecture. The temple is the winter residence of Rato Machhendranath. Machhendranath is the patron deity of Newar Buddhist. Besides the main temple there are quiet a good number of small shrines located in the village. Street here is part of day to day life and many people just sit around the temples and squares. Most of the Peoples are farmers and have their own farmland near by the village. After crossing the main part of village there is a center for disabled children and a public high school. The walk from Bungmati to Khokana is hardly about half an hour and gives a huge photo opportunity for those who are interested.
As we reach Khokana, another traditional Newar village near from Bungmati, the streets seems much wider. Khokana is famous for its traditional oil machine, which is still used to take out the oil from mustard. At the beginning, they roast the mustard and put in the wooden machine to take the oil out. After passing through traditional machine, looks like a big bim of wood, it goes through modern machine too. Central part of Khokana there is a temple of mother goddess Rudrayani. Small ponds are frequently seen as the water from here is used in case of fire and to regulate the ground water system.
Kirtipur, the city of glory was once an entry point to Kathmandu. This old Newar village is spreaded along the top of the long ridge. The king from western part of Kathmandu who like to conquer Kathmandu back in 18th century entered the valley from this town. kirtipur is very famous for its temple of Baghbhairav, Bhairav in the form of the tiger. The temple dates back to 11th century but many of the reconstruction is done after that. Chhilancho stupa located in the southern part of Kirtipur constructed back in 16th century is one of the popular stupas from kathmandu valley. The highest point of Kirtipur also houses a temple of Shiva and Parbati. This Umamaheswor temple is constructed in 17th century and a popular view point of Kathmandu valley. The major part of Kathmandu valley is visible from here. Closely packed houses with tiny streets is typical characteristics of Kirtipur.
