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Kathmandu
The Kathmandu valley has an exotic setting. A
tier of green mountain wall above which tower
mighty snow capped peaks surrounds it. It consists
of three main towns of great historic, artistic
and cultural interest: Kathmandu, Patan and
Bhaktapur. The Kathmandu valley covers an area of
218 Sq. Miles. It is situated 1360 m. above sea
level. The seven world Heritage Sites in the
Kathmandu valley designated by the United Nation
Educational, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
are the highlights of the valley. Nepal is the
only country in the world where seven world
heritage sites within 20 km radius. |
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Lumbini
Lumbini, the monument of world peace declared in
1998, is the birthplace of Lord Buddha (Siddhartha
Gautam- born in 623 B.C.). It lies in Rupandehi
District in western part of Nepal. The Enlightened
One is the pilgrimage destination of the world’s
millions of people faithful to all schools of
Buddhism. It is also the place were he gained
enlightenment and became famous. Here one can see
Maya Devi temple, the place where she gave birth
to the lord, and an Ashoka pillar which has
inscriptions identifying the spot as the
birthplace, ruins of ancient stupas and
monasteries, and Pushkarni pond where Queen
Mayadevi took bath before giving birth. The
Lumbini region has been developed through Lumbini
Trust, a non governmental organization. Newer
temples and monuments are being developed by
different foreign countries. All temples found in
this region form this place a royal Buddhist
pilgrimages destination. The China temple located
in Lumbini is a complex of pagodas, prayer rooms
and meditation cells developed by the Buddhist
Association of China. There is also Myanmar Temple
also known as Lokamani Cula Pagoda which soars
into the sky. The International Gautami Nuns
temple is also found here, which is a replica of
the Swayambhu stupa in Kathmandu. Many other
temples are currently under construction.
 The
beautiful World Natural Heritage site, Chitwan
National Park, located 166km southwest of
Kathmandu and nearly 204km southeast of Pokhara,
is the main attraction of Chitwan and is home to
variety of flora and fauna. Covering an area of
932 sq. kilometers the park extends over deciduous
forest foothills and river floodplains, being one
of Nepal's largest forest area with wide range of
wildlife like the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger, rare
one horned rhinoceros, several species of deer,
sloth bear, leopard, wild boar, gaur, wild
elephant, four horned antelope, striped hyena,
pangolin, Gangetic dolphin, monitor lizard,
python. The swampy areas of Chitwan provide home
for numerous species of crocodiles and Dolphins.
Rare and endangered fish eating Gharial, Gangetic
crocodiles and four species of fresh water
dolphins. Bird watching is another attraction as
it is habitat of 815 species of birds with
possibilities of watching more than 450 species.
Some of the resident species are Peacocks,
Woodpecker’s Hornbills, Bengal Florican and Giant
Hornbill, Lesser Florican, Black Stork, White
Stork and Redheaded Trogons. Winter birds such as
Waterfowl, Brahminy Duck, Pintails and Bar headed
Geese are some of the cold weather visitors. In
the summer the forest is alive with migrants such
as the Flycatcher, the Indian Pitta and Parakeets.
The park is actively engaged in the scientific
study of several species of wild flora and fauna.
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