Maru Tole

Kathmandu


This tole (street) leads you away from Durbar Sq down to the Vishnumati River, where a footbridge continues the pathway to Swayambhunath. This was a busy street in the hippie era, but the famous pastry shops that gave it the nickname ‘Pie Alley’ have long gone. It's worth strolling down to see Maru Hiti, one of the city's many sunken water conduits.


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1. Kasthamandap

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Kathmandu owes its name to this ancient building, which was sadly destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.

2. Ashok Binayak

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At the top of Maru Tole, surrounded by the rubble of the temples that used to surround it, this tiny golden shrine is one of the four most important…

3. Maju Deval

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This 17th-century temple was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. All that remains is the temple's nine-stage ochre platform.

4. Singh Sattal

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Originally built with wood left over from the Kasthamandap Temple, this squat building was called the Silengu Sattal (silengu means ‘left over wood’ and a…

5. Kabindrapur Temple

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This wooden temple, also known as the Dhansa Dega, is an ornate 17th-century performance pavilion that houses the god of music.

6. Krishna Narayan Temple

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This three-tiered Narayan (Vishnu) temple to the west of the Shiva-Parvati Temple was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. A pile of bricks sits unattended…

7. Durbar Square

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Kathmandu’s Durbar Sq was where the city’s kings were once crowned and legitimised, and from where they ruled (durbar means palace). As such, the square…

8. Shiva-Parvati Temple

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Looking north from the plinth of the wrecked Maju Deval, a pair of much-photographed white images of Shiva and his consort look out from the upstairs…

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