Prospects of religious tourism in Kirtipur – A hisotorical town with Newari culture
Shree Kumar Maharjan
With the initiation of the tourism industry in Nepal, Religious tourism is playing significant role in development and promotion of tourism. Nepal is well known country for the living Goddess Kumari; having festivals more than days in a year; gods more than the people in a country and temples more than the houses, it is home of several religions of the world and has large number of shrines dedicated to various gods/goddesses and catering to different religions. Pashupatinath temple, Manakamana temple, Janaki temple, Lumbini, Changu Narayan, Macchendranath Ratha Yatra, Gosainkunda and Dakshinkali temple are well known religious sites of the country. Regular and frequent visit to these sites by different foreigners and domestic visitors plays important role in improving lifestyles of the surrounding communities and advertising of tourism throughout the historical movement in Nepal.
Kirtipur is a small artistic municipality and an old settlement on a double hillock in the southwest of Kathmandu, located at 27o 38’37” to 27o 41’ 36”N and 85o 14’ 64” to 85o 18’ 00”E. It was established in the 12th century as an outpost of Patan, which later became an independent kingdom for short time period. This historical town has many cultural, natural, historical and religious things to see such as old shrines and temples and people dressed in traditional costumes while working on ancient looms.
The city is rich in cultural and religious heritages, being an oldest settlement in the valley. The majority of these sites are concentrated in the old core areas like Kirtipur, Panga and Chovar area, with some scattered around Salyanthan, Kauniachaur, and GodamChaur. The most significant cultural and religious sites are the Bagh Bhairab Complex, Chilancho Vihar, Uma Maheswor temple, Nagara Mandapa Kirti Bihar, Adinath temple, Jal Vinayak temple, Macchenarayan temple, Gumbas, and many more Buddhist monasteries, Sattals (Pilgrim’s houses), pagodas and temples, Patis (raised platforms for pilgrims) and Chaityas (small stupas) are found in each settlement. These sites have great cultural, religious and historical consequences and provide one of the potentials for tourism development of the city.
Taudaha Lake is another major attraction having cultural significance. Legend says that the lake was created by Manjushree to provide home for the Nags (snakes) that lived in the lake/water covered Kathmandu Valley before it was drained through the Chovar gorge. The lake is important as a source of water for the nearby people. In every Nag Panchami, there are huge crowd of the pilgrims to worship Nags (Snakes).
In addition to the old shrines, a number of new monasteries have been built in the city. The Nagara Mandapa Kirti Vihar in Nayabazzar (a Thai-style Theravada temple), Vihar of Chovar near Adinath temple and Kagyu Buddhism Institute (Buddhist Gumba near Kirtipur Municipality, Devdhoka) and other different monasteries and gumbas, stupas etc.
Though, Kirtipur city is the nearest city of the Kathmandu and oldest historical town, tourism industry has given little attention towards the city. The city is one of the safest places in term of environment point of view as well with compare to other cities and places of the valley. The existence of Tribhuvan University adds extra attraction for the students from all over the country. The majority of the population of the city is the Newars, since the settlement began. The cultures, arts, lifestyles and architecture of these ethnic people catch the tourists’ mind at any cost. There are lots of potentialities in terms of religious tourism in Kirtipur. But it is lacking at the back as compare to other historical cities in the valley.
Recently, there are different tourism promotion activities in city in order to grab large mass of internal and international tourists like establishment of Newa Lahana, an open museum with newari foods, organizing different cultural functions, launching local TV channels named Kirtipur TV channel and FM stations etc. These directly and indirectly help in promotion of tourism in Kirtipur. But still there is no tourism information center and municipality should think about promotion of religious tourism and integration of it with other tourism packages. For that Municipality should identify and select potential sites for religious tourism, organize exploration trip to different media partners, NTB representatives, organize trainings, workshops, and development tourism packages. Formation of Kirtipur Tourism Development Committee and Chovar Tourism Development Committee are good sign of its promotion in Kirtipur. But these organizations should work together and development joint plan for promotion of tourism covering whole Kirtipur area. There are huge prospects for development of tourism in Kirtipur. So, we Kirtipures have to grab these prospects and convert them into reality. This is right time to grabs the opportunities to development religious tourism, as government of Nepal is launching Tourism year 2011.
With the initiation of the tourism industry in Nepal, Religious tourism is playing significant role in development and promotion of tourism. Nepal is well known country for the living Goddess Kumari; having festivals more than days in a year; gods more than the people in a country and temples more than the houses, it is home of several religions of the world and has large number of shrines dedicated to various gods/goddesses and catering to different religions. Pashupatinath temple, Manakamana temple, Janaki temple, Lumbini, Changu Narayan, Macchendranath Ratha Yatra, Gosainkunda and Dakshinkali temple are well known religious sites of the country. Regular and frequent visit to these sites by different foreigners and domestic visitors plays important role in improving lifestyles of the surrounding communities and advertising of tourism throughout the historical movement in Nepal.
Kirtipur is a small artistic municipality and an old settlement on a double hillock in the southwest of Kathmandu, located at 27o 38’37” to 27o 41’ 36”N and 85o 14’ 64” to 85o 18’ 00”E. It was established in the 12th century as an outpost of Patan, which later became an independent kingdom for short time period. This historical town has many cultural, natural, historical and religious things to see such as old shrines and temples and people dressed in traditional costumes while working on ancient looms.
The city is rich in cultural and religious heritages, being an oldest settlement in the valley. The majority of these sites are concentrated in the old core areas like Kirtipur, Panga and Chovar area, with some scattered around Salyanthan, Kauniachaur, and GodamChaur. The most significant cultural and religious sites are the Bagh Bhairab Complex, Chilancho Vihar, Uma Maheswor temple, Nagara Mandapa Kirti Bihar, Adinath temple, Jal Vinayak temple, Macchenarayan temple, Gumbas, and many more Buddhist monasteries, Sattals (Pilgrim’s houses), pagodas and temples, Patis (raised platforms for pilgrims) and Chaityas (small stupas) are found in each settlement. These sites have great cultural, religious and historical consequences and provide one of the potentials for tourism development of the city.
Taudaha Lake is another major attraction having cultural significance. Legend says that the lake was created by Manjushree to provide home for the Nags (snakes) that lived in the lake/water covered Kathmandu Valley before it was drained through the Chovar gorge. The lake is important as a source of water for the nearby people. In every Nag Panchami, there are huge crowd of the pilgrims to worship Nags (Snakes).
In addition to the old shrines, a number of new monasteries have been built in the city. The Nagara Mandapa Kirti Vihar in Nayabazzar (a Thai-style Theravada temple), Vihar of Chovar near Adinath temple and Kagyu Buddhism Institute (Buddhist Gumba near Kirtipur Municipality, Devdhoka) and other different monasteries and gumbas, stupas etc.
Though, Kirtipur city is the nearest city of the Kathmandu and oldest historical town, tourism industry has given little attention towards the city. The city is one of the safest places in term of environment point of view as well with compare to other cities and places of the valley. The existence of Tribhuvan University adds extra attraction for the students from all over the country. The majority of the population of the city is the Newars, since the settlement began. The cultures, arts, lifestyles and architecture of these ethnic people catch the tourists’ mind at any cost. There are lots of potentialities in terms of religious tourism in Kirtipur. But it is lacking at the back as compare to other historical cities in the valley.
Recently, there are different tourism promotion activities in city in order to grab large mass of internal and international tourists like establishment of Newa Lahana, an open museum with newari foods, organizing different cultural functions, launching local TV channels named Kirtipur TV channel and FM stations etc. These directly and indirectly help in promotion of tourism in Kirtipur. But still there is no tourism information center and municipality should think about promotion of religious tourism and integration of it with other tourism packages. For that Municipality should identify and select potential sites for religious tourism, organize exploration trip to different media partners, NTB representatives, organize trainings, workshops, and development tourism packages. Formation of Kirtipur Tourism Development Committee and Chovar Tourism Development Committee are good sign of its promotion in Kirtipur. But these organizations should work together and development joint plan for promotion of tourism covering whole Kirtipur area. There are huge prospects for development of tourism in Kirtipur. So, we Kirtipures have to grab these prospects and convert them into reality. This is right time to grabs the opportunities to development religious tourism, as government of Nepal is launching Tourism year 2011.
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