NUWAKOT DURBAR (Saat Talle Durbar)

Located in Bidur municipality in Kathmandu’s neighboring hill district of Nuwakot is where the Saat Talle Durbar or “The Seven Storied Palace” is at. This old part palace part fortress was built by Prithivi Narayan Shah during his efforts to conquer Kathmandu. At the time, Nepal was a loose collection of small kingdoms. The ambitious Shah king, who was the militaristic king of Gorkha at the time, launched a campaign to extend his territory. The primary objective of his campaign early on, was to conquer the Newari city states in the Kathmandu valley which would provide him with enough resources to conquer the rest of Nepal. His strategy was to annex all of the territory surrounding the valley so that he could control Kathmandu’s imports and exports. To oversee this operation, Shah shifted his capital from Gorkha to Nuwakot which had seen three Malla kings before he captured the place. He commissioned artisans and masons from Patan to build the Saat Talle Durbar in what is modern day Bidur municipality.

A tall looming figure on the top of a hill, this palace is composed of raw history. Made of bricks with wooden internal structures, this building is built with old Newari aesthetics combined with a militaristic approach. If one was to study the layout of the building then one would notice that this palace was A quasi fortress:
The Saat Talle Durbar was turned into a museum in April 2011. Tickets are priced at twenty rupees for adults. Ten rupees for students with an pictured identity card and on Saturdays, it is just two rupees for students. Surrounding the palace is an old Newari village with a Taleju temple and a Bhairab temple. Two historical buildings from the past which are located in front of the palace have been turned into police and army barracks.