All heritage sites in Valley to reopen today

All heritage sites in Valley to reopen today
Patan-Durbar-Square

People walk in Patan Durbar Square as pigeons fly, in Lalitpur, on Friday. The heritage site reopened for visitors on Thursday. Photo: Bal Krishna Thapa/ THT

The Department of Archaeology has informed that all heritage sites of the Kathmandu Valley will formally reopen for the general public from Monday.

Tourists and general public were prohibited from entering the heritage sites after the structures of Seven Protected Monument Zones of Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Property were fully or partially damaged in the April quake.

The seven protected monuments zones include the durbar squares of Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu), Patan and Bhaktapur, Buddhist stupas of Swoyambhu and Boudhanath and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changunarayan.

Pashupatinath

Durbar squares of Patan and Hanumandhoka were reopened for the general public on June 11 after the completion of debris management. The debris of other heritage sites is being managed to formally reopen them for the general public on Monday.

Earlier, the government had decided to reopen all the heritage sites on August 17 but the DoA, the Department of Tourism and Nepal Tourism Board collectively rescheduled the reopening of the remaining heritages sites from Monday to spread positive message to foreign tourists willing to visit the heritage sites of Nepal.

Suresh Suras Shrestha, Under Secretary at the DoA, said tourists will be given guided tours at the heritage sites for their safety. Tourists are forbidden to cross the security lines. Signboards placed in the heritage zones will guide the tourist to take a proper walking route to observe the structures.

Patan-Durbar-Square1

“Tourists are prohibited from roaming around the heritage sites in person. A group of tourists should be formed along with local guides to provide them information about the ruined structures and survived monuments,” he said. Tourists going for a tour to severely damaged Changunaryan of northern Bhaktapur and Swoymbhunath will be strictly managed. The tourists and visitors will be allowed to visit only the safe premises.

unesco-heritage-reopen

According Shrestha, severely damaged Changunaryan is still not that safe for tourists and public visit though. Most of the structures around it are on the verge of collapse amid constant aftershocks.
The Department of Archaeology   has requested the Department of Tourism and Nepal Tourism Board to make arrangement of security personnel on the premises of the heritages sites to prevent any untoward activities and ensure the security of the visitors.

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Cultural heritage sites to open for tourists from June 15

Cultural heritage sites to open for tourists from June 15

The government is opening some cultural heritages sites in Kathmandu Valley for tourists from June 15. The government had barred entry of tourists in these sites following the earthquake of April 25.

(Photo: The Guardian)

(Photo: The Guardian)

The meeting of Tourism Recovery Committee (TRC) held on Monday took the decision. The meeting, which was chaired by tourism secretary Suresh Man Shrestha, saw participation of high ranking officials from the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), Department of Tourism, Department of Archaeology (DoA), archeological experts, presidents of different tourism organizations, executive committee members and administrative chief of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), among others.

Bhesh Narayan Dahal, director general of DoA, said they would formally open Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swoyambhunath and Patan Durbar Square for visitors from June 15. Other heritage sites like Bouddhanath, Budhanilkantha and Pashupatinath are safe for tourists, he added.

Speaking at the meeting, Tourism Secretary Shrestha said there is a need to organize effective international media marketing campaign and organize fam trips for celebrities, tour operators and travel writers to Nepal to disseminate positive message about Nepal. “This will help us tell the rest of the world what we still have to offer after the earthquake of April 25,” said Shrestha.

In the meeting, Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) expressed commitment to provide complimentary accommodation to participants of fam trips, while Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) has said it would arrange vehicles and tour guides for the participants.

Source: TAAN