I've never seen such a magnificent old city as Patan Durbar Square, located about eight kilometers south of Kathmandu.
Patan, the old name of the present-day Lalitpur, is considered the third-largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu and Pokhara.
While the old city of Patan offers a nostalgic tour of its royal past, there's one place to visit, learn and appreciate -- the Patan Durbar Square.
I'm lucky to have visited one of the three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The other two Durbar Squares are in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, but I needed help to visit them.
But then, as I entered Patan Durbar Square, I could feel it had a rich cultural past and the most magnificent royal palace worth visiting.
It has 155 courtyards and 55 major temples significant to Hindus and Buddhists. I was able to get inside one of the main temples and had a great appreciation of architecture and the arts.
Patan is a city of fine arts. And the marvelous architectures are reminiscent of how skills are ingrained in their culture, preserved, and passed on to the next generations. Their craftsmanship is superb and brilliant as they create wood, stone, and metal carvings.
Patan has preserved its rich tradition of artistic craftsmanship from the local woodcarvers and handicraft makers. From the time of Royal King Newar, creative skills still live on.
I was fortunate to have visited Patan Durbar Square in 2013 before it was hit by a strong earthquake in April 2015. Some of the temples and structures were heavily damaged. The good thing is that it was reconstructed just like the original structure.
Patan Durbar Square is a truly unforgettable experience. Walking on the red-tiled bricks while staring at the red wall bricks was like a teleport to the old days of fine arts and excellent craftsmanship.
©️ 2021 Del Cusay
