Kathmandu - Durbar Marg

Durbar Marg, constructed during the city's period of expansion under the Ranas, is the expensive face of Kathmandu. Here all the trappings of tourism are found: luxury hotels, restaurants serving international cuisine, pricey boutiques, travel agencies and airline offices.

A statue of King Mahendra, father of the present King, stands in the center of the roundabout at the junction of Durbar Marg with Jamal. The ancient settlement of Jamal was a victim of the Ranas' enthusiasm for building. The none too scrupulous rulers seized land from farmers and monasteries, demolishing an old bahal to make way for the new road. The bahal, one time abode of the White (Sveta) Matsyendranath, stood where the god's image had been found in a field, an event commemorated every year at the Matsyendranath Jatra. Shveta Matsyendranath's chariot is assembled and driven three times round the spot over which the statue of King Mahendra now presides.

Also on Durbar Marg, the greater part of which was built during the Rana era, are the campus of Tri Chandra College and a mosque used by the Valley's Muslim minority.