Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. It is renowned for the richness of its religious and artistic heritage. The ancient "City Core" of Kathmandu contains 106 monastic courtyards (bahi), as well as hundreds of shrines and temples.http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/index.php?cid=7&pr_id=7 As is true elsewhere in Nepal, denizens of Kathmandu are predominantly Hindu, though a sizable Buddhist minority is also present., and all local spiritual culture - whether Hindu or Buddhist - is steeped in autochthonous animist and shamanic influences.http://www.focusnepal.com/index.php?action=AboutNepal Kathmandu's highly syncretic culture may be owed to its strategic position on ancient trans-Asiatic trade-routes and its susceptibility to conquest.http://www.focusnepal.com/index.php?action=AboutNepal

In the first decade of the 21st century, Nepalese political conflicts brought Kathmandu under the global media spotlight. In 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra gunned down his entire family in the royal residence (now a museum) and then committed suicide.http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOHNx5wqAzoR3Uc79spn-FzvERg Diprendra's uncle assumed the throne until 2008, when the monarchy was overthrown and Nepal declared a republic.http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOHNx5wqAzoR3Uc79spn-FzvERg

The transition to democracy came at the heels of violent civil war between royalist forces and Maoist insurgents. The rebels were led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a.k.a. Prachanda ("the Fierce One), who later became the first Prime Minister of the republic.http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOHNx5wqAzoR3Uc79spn-FzvERg

Kathmandu was founded in the 10th century AD at the confluence of the Bagmati and the Bishnumati rivers, although there is evidence of prior settlement in the area dating as far back as 167 BC.http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/index.php?cid=4&pr_id=4 Its famed architecture, replete with outdoor shrines, pagodas, and temples, came into existence during the "Mala Period," that is, between 1200 and 1768. http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/index.php?cid=4&pr_id=4

In 1934, a horrific earthquake destroyed much of Kathmandu's infrastructure. In rebuilding what the earthquake had destroyed, care was taken to approximate the original designs of the buildings as closely as possible.http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/index.php?cid=4&pr_id=4

The city took its current shape in the 1980s, when a surge of foreign investment allowed for the building of new suburbs, industrial parks, and commercial centers.http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/index.php?cid=4&pr_id=4 These were built on the periphery of ancient Kathmandu, giving the city its distinctive character -- a modern, urban "rim," circling a traditional, architecturally preserved "City Core."http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/index.php?cid=4&pr_id=4

Kathmandu lies near Nepal's center, with snow-peaked mountains, the Himalayas, to its north. Eight distinct rivers flow through it. It occupies the Kathmandu Valley, at an elevation of 1,300 meters above sea-level.http://www.kathmandu.gov.np/index.php?cid=3&pr_id=3 Kathmandu is the social, cultural, economic, and political hub of Nepal, and the largest city in the nation.

"Aama Bombo," a shaman and spiritual healer of international fame, lives on the outskirts of Kathmandu.http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/about-us/grandmother-bios#amma She is purported to treat over 100 people each morning, providing her services to an enormous range of clients, from the poorest beggars of Kathmandu to members of Nepal's royal family. She also purportedly "foretold," via supernatural means, the royal massacre.http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/about-us/grandmother-bios#amma