Panauti travel | Around the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal | Visit Nepal 2020
Panauti
Panauti Village is a small town located 32 km south-east of Kathmandu. It is one of the oldest towns in Nepal. It still has the feeling of the medieval period and it has a lot of ancient houses and temples. The town is located junction of two holy rivers of Roshi Khola and PungamatiKholaa. Panauti Village is filled with ancient temples and settlements. The town has been left the same way the founders left it in the medieval period. Panauti Village has never been damaged extremely by the earthquakes. So, the structures and temple were never altered or structurally improved in any way. These architectures have the essence of traditional skills and materials. The wood carving in the doors, windows, and beams of temples attract the eyes and show the skill of the Newari craftsman.
Panauti Village was a small state given by King Bhupatindra Malla to his sister as a dowery on her marriage. It was the trading hub along the salt trading route from Tibet to India. After the construction of roads on the ancient route, it became more accessible for the pilgrims to reach Panauti. Later it became a major tourist attraction because of the culture and lifestyle. There were few tourists traveling to Panauti Village just to experience the culture and lifestyle of ancient Nepal while getting to know the lifestyle of the local people. The Panauti has become more popular because of the homestay program recently launched by the women and housewives of Panauti. Tourism has become the additional source of income to these families running the homestay program in their houses. This has provided tourist chance to experience the local lifestyle and foods without needing to travel to far to enjoy something that has not been altered or modernized just for tourist shake.
A homestay
Panauti Village homestay is opened by the women of Panauti for sustainable income and tourism promotion in Panauti. The 17 households have opened their houses to the guest from all over the world. This program lets the guest be part of the Nepalese family and find out the intricate details of the Nepalese household ad the traditions. The homestay program is capable of hosting more than 50 guests at once without compromising on the hospitality. You will stay with the host family, enjoy the local food, maybe learn to prepare them in cooking class, help in the field, go on the sightseeing tour of Panauti with the host family and join in the festivals and celebrations.
Heritage
There are a lot of ancient temples and housing in Panauti. You can casually walk in the town looking at the well preserved historic and religious monuments. Indreshwor temple is in the center of the Panauti. Is mostly remembered by the tourist because of the erotic carvings in the beams of the temple. This Shiva temple is in the middle of the square guarded by stone lions on the entrances.
Krishna temple is in the banks of the junction rivers behind the Indreshwor temple. Krishna temple depicts Lord Krishna as a carefree boy with the flute. The temple is built on top of the brick platform with wood carved columns on both the floors. Tribeni ghaat is one of the holy places to cremate the dead. There are many shrines near the ghaat.
Brahmayani temple was built to honor the chief goddess of the village. The three-tier temple was built in the 17th century. Every year at the end of monsoon season the goddess is taken out of the temple and paraded around the town in a chariot. tola Narayan temple is a white dome with an impressive black stone statue of Narayan inside. The inscription inside states the details on the offering of gold equal of his weight by king Jayasingh Malla.
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The admission of 300 NRs. includes a visit to the little museum, a nice treat. One problem with museums in Asia is they do not always have the items marked well in English. Most of the things were self explanatory, an entire room of artifacts. This one was my personal favorite.
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| Bhirab's Arm |
These masks are the kind used for festival ceremonies. It is said that the devotees who wear them become possessed by the actual god during these ceremonies and it can be quite a site. The masks can weigh over 20 pounds/40 Kg. and the devotees will wear them for the entire day, walking while fasting-eating nothing and drinking only ceremonial alcohol.
One day while at Kathmandu’s Darbur Square there was a very special festival whereby elderly devotees wore masks like these while walking from a rural village and kept them on all day. This festival only happens each 12 years. It was quite a site, especially considering the fact that it is believed that the actual gods are walking among us during these festivities.
This is Bhirab during Indri Jatra. This devotee wore the mask all day while running through the crowd prior to the chariot precession. It is tradition for the young men to heckle Bhirab during this festival and he is quite capable of dealing with them. Sometimes he even hurts them. It really would seem divine intervention would be needed for this type of activity, no food, no shoes and only alcohol during this late summer festival.
Back to the Panauti Heritage City and temple: I always like to find out about guest houses in these rural areas so we stopped by Ananda’s Guest House and Café for lunch. It seemed to be the only place to stay within walking distance to the temple. No, not a Western concept in sight. We tried to order lunch but there was no food. The owner suggested finger chips/French fries, so we ordered milk tea and two orders of finger chips, and then we waited. We waited some more and finally we were served. Then the owner wanted to show me the rooms. Even my Nepali friend was becoming impatient.
Panauti travel guide
According to the owner, this place is mentioned in the Lonely Planet. I would not recommend this place. There was no glass in the windows and the building was obviously several hundred years old and looks to have had zero maintenance. It was downright scary to me. It being late January I cannot imagine anyone paying 500 NRs. to stay there for a night, but the owner continued to remind me that they do not include VAT or service charge, which would potentially increase the price to 615 NRs. He insisted that it is a real bargain.
The owner proudly told me that they even have authentic, Nepali mattresses on the bed. Yes, this is a real ‘Nepali experience.’ There is a brand new guest house in the town, but it is a bit further to walk to the temple area. I am not trying to be classist or touristy; no windows mean anything can fly or crawl in during the night. There didn’t seem to be an inverter system, so the only light would come from this window or a candle. Do you see a safe place to put a candle? Although I am not including their contact information, you can easily find it near the old temple grounds.
I am including another, newer hotel's contact information at the end of this post. Hotel Panauti is new and quite nice. Rooms start at 500 NRs. with shared bath or 1,000-1,500 NRs. with attached bath. This was the off-season prices.
I am including another, newer hotel's contact information at the end of this post. Hotel Panauti is new and quite nice. Rooms start at 500 NRs. with shared bath or 1,000-1,500 NRs. with attached bath. This was the off-season prices.
Booking Advice This is why I advise against booking directly or long term from a booking site in Nepal: A Tourist's Manual, eBook. If you come at high season and do not want to stay at the Lonely Planet’s 5 star choices, you should never book directly to the hotel from the internet. You should always use an internet booking site for the first one or two days and no more.
If you like the guest house and want to stay there for a week or more you should talk with the manager about a reduced rate to continue your stay. If you don’t like it just start shopping for a better guest house with a better price. They are everywhere in the valley and there is always a way to get a room out on the trekking trail. For more tips, you can check out my eBook, Nepal: A Tourist's Manual.
Know that all internet prices are inflated when it comes to Nepali guest house rooms. Some are more than quadrupled over the walk-in price. If you book for two days and love it, what if it is booked after that? As unlikely as this would be, they will either make room for you or will get on the phone with their competitors to get you a comparable room. That’s just the nature of the hospitality service.
One other tip from the book: Never arrive with a person of the opposite sex without stating that you are married if you want to share a room. There is an old law that you must be married to stay with someone, but many in the tourist business use it to sell additional room.
Hotel Panauti, Ltd. hotelpanauti@yahoo.com http://panautihotel.com Phone: +977 011-440055, 011-440469. Dharma Narayan Sonam, 9841-416526.
Hotel Panauti, Ltd. hotelpanauti@yahoo.com http://panautihotel.com Phone: +977 011-440055, 011-440469. Dharma Narayan Sonam, 9841-416526.
Panauti Museum and Municipality, 0977-011 or 0144131, email: panautimuseum@yahoo.com http://panautimun.gov.np
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| Temples are often home to many children. They are usually very poor. Please do not give them candy or money. |
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