Nepal’s Bhaktapur in Street Moments

The heritage old town of Bhaktapur (an hour away from Kathmandu, Nepal) is quite a vibrant place with a lot of street action, performances, cultural exchanges, history, architecture, archaic setting and more. All this provide great frames for the street photographer. If you are a street photographer who loves cultural or historical places, then this should be right up your alley. Here are some of my street moments from Bhaktapur. I hope you can feel the place through these photographs.


Like with most of the heritage zones of Nepal, Bhaktapur too has a large Durbar square. This used to be the place where the king gave speeches and sermons and all the locals used to gather. Today, if you stand in this Durbar square, you will see temples, statues, museums, palaces and much more. Basically, it is is the heart of the heritage site.


Bhaktapur used to be a lively kingdom in ancient times. Today, the locals live off agriculture and tourism. But, still follow an easy lifestyle. On a hot afternoon, you will see lots of such sights where people rest in the shade of the old buildings and gaze into the distance.


These fruit sellers are typically from India, especially the state of Bihar. They migrate here to make use of the high movement of tourists here and setup snack stalls or fruit stalls.


Bhaktapur clay is pretty famous in Nepal for its quality. It used to be a pottery center in the earlier days and today too ensures that this ancient art is well preserved through its pottery square. It is here in this pottery square that you can see pottery workers playing their magic with their hands and the clay.


Bhaktapur is a tourist hub and hence it is not surprising to find souvenir stores all around. These stores, which stock colorful souvenirs make for great sights and some of them will get you great deals too.


While I was in Bhaktapur, I noticed a lot of musical performances. Locals, would simply form groups, play their musical instruments, sing, dance and make merry. This is one such moment. And you would find more of this especially on festival days.