Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Museum ( येँ लयाकु )

"UNESCO World Heritage The small, mountainous state of Nepal is bordered by India to the south, east, and west, with Tibet to the north. Kathmandu, the capital city, lies within the Kathmandu Valley, the most fertile and urbanized area of the country. It is a place of huge historic importance and home to many ancient buildings and monuments reflecting the country's rich cultural past. At the heart of Kathmandu city is Hanuman Dhoka (Gate of Hanuman the monkey god), the eclectic complex of temples, courtyards, and palace buildings that forms the Old Royal Palace of the Malla and Shah kings. It is a fascinating collection of buildings that has been added to throughout the centuries. Sources suggest that a royal palace stood here in the seventh century, but the complex as it appears today was essentially created between the sixteenth and early twentieth century. Within this period it was King Pratap Malla in the seventeenth century who carried out the most extensive building and planning of the palace. Numerous temples, courtyards, and gardens were laid out during this time, including the courtyards Sundati Chowk, Nasal Chowk (where royal coronations were held), and the Bhandarkhal Royal Garden. Pratap Malla also consecrated the image of Vishvaroopa and Hanuman in front of the main entrance and built the temple of Panchamukhi Hanuman in the Nasal Chowk The royal palace housed the royal family as well as providing administrative areas, ceremonial space, and temples. Documents from 1830 show that the complex included more than thirty five courtyards, but now, though still spectacular, it is greatly diminished and is under threat from encroaching urban development. Hanuman Dhoka, together with a number of other monuments and buildings in Kathmandu Valley. was designated a World Heritage site in 1979."