Kathmandu Durbar Square, the administrative center of the Malla-era Kantipur kingdom from the 12th to 18th centuries, concentrates Hindu and Buddhist temple architecture within a single plaza that still functions as a ceremonial and commercial space. The April 2015 earthquake collapsed nine major structures here including the Maju Deval, the Trailokya Mohan Narayan temple, and portions of Hanuman Dhoka palace. What remains standing offers incomplete but direct engagement with Newari construction methods and the layered authority of monarchy, priesthood, and living divinity that defined the Kathmandu Valley's political structure for six centuries. Entry costs 1,000 rupees for foreign visitors, collected at checkpoints on the square's north and south approaches, with a SAARC-national rate of 150 rupees.
Hanuman Dhoka, named for the vermillion-smeared Hanuman statue that guards its entrance, served as the royal residence until Narayanhiti Palace replaced it in 1886. The complex sprawls across ten courtyards, though only portions open to visitors. The earthquake damaged the upper stories of several wings but left the Basantapur Tower, the tallest of four corner towers commissioned by Prithvi Narayan Shah after his 1768 conquest of the valley, structurally intact. The tower's nine stories display woodcarving techniques that distinguish Newar architecture from both Tibetan and Indian traditions — windows framed by struts depicting deities in erotic and martial poses, latticed screens that ventilate while maintaining privacy, and roof eaves extending far enough to shelter the carved wooden facades from monsoon erosion. Nasal Chowk, the coronation courtyard, remains closed to reconstruction efforts, though the Tribhuvan Museum occupying the palace's western wing continues operating with displays of Shah-dynasty regalia and European furniture acquired through 19th-century diplomatic missions.
The Taleju Temple, rebuilt in 1564 by Mahendra Malla, dominates the square's southern edge with a three-tiered pagoda structure rising 36 meters. The temple opens to Hindus once annually during Dashain festival in October, housing a form of Durga that served as the Malla dynasty's tutelary deity. The goddess resides in three locations — the Taleju Temple itself, a smaller shrine within Hanuman Dhoka, and in human form as the Kumari. The Kumari Ghar faces Durbar Square's western side, a three-story building with a small interior courtyard where the living goddess occasionally appears at an upper-story window most mornings between 9 and 11. Visitors gather in the courtyard but photography of the Kumari is prohibited, a rule enforced by attendants. The selection process draws from Newari Buddhist families of the Shakya caste, requiring a girl between ages three and seven who meets 32 physical attributes including unblemished skin, specific tooth arrangements, and a voice like a duck's. Candidates undergo testing that includes spending a night in a room filled with severed buffalo heads from Dashain sacrifices — the future Kumari must show no fear. The selected girl lives in Kumari Ghar with attendants, her feet touching the ground only during specific festivals, until her first menstruation ends her tenure. Former Kumaris have described difficulties reintegrating into conventional life after years of divine isolation, though recent Kumaris attend school within the residence.
The Shiva-Parvati Temple, identifiable by the painted wooden figures of the deities leaning from an upper-story window, survived the earthquake with minor cracking. This two-tiered temple from the 18th century offers the clearest example of how Newar builders integrated residential architecture with sacred function — the temple doubles as a rest house, with the deities occupying what would be a bedroom balcony in a merchant's home. Reconstruction scaffolding surrounds multiple structures across the square, with completion timelines subject to funding availability and the specialized labor required for historically accurate restoration.