The Gorkha Palace, located in the

Gorkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...

district of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, is a historic landmark built in the 16th century by

Ram Shah Ram Shah ( ne, राम शाह; reign before 16061636) was the king of the Gorkha Kingdom (present-day Gorkha District, Nepal). He was the son of King of Gorkha Purna Shah and brother of Chatra Shah. He acceded in the throne in c. 1606 after ...

. The palace is built on top of a hill at an altitude of about . This palace is an hour walk from the downtown Gorkha bazaar. The palace is the birthplace of the king

Prithvi Narayan Shah Maharajadhiraj Prithvi Narayan Shah (1723–1775) ( ne, श्री ५ बडामहाराजाधिराज पृथ्वीनारायण शाह देव) was the last ruler of the Gorkha Kingdom and first monarch of the ...

who was born in 1723 and started the

unification of Nepal The Unification of Nepal, also known as Expansion of Gorkha Kingdom, officially began in 1743 AD (1799 BS) after King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha launched an aggressive annexation campaign seeking to broaden his own kingdom's border. After ...

. Prithvi Narayan Shah was born in the Dhuni Pari, a part of the Palace.

The Palace

The palace lies on the hilltop and is completely fortified. It is an example of Newari architecture. The walls of the palace are about three feet thick. The floors are supported by extended wooden beams. Gorkha palace at the hill - panoramio

Temples inside and near the Palace

Gorkha Durbar also has religious importance due to the placement of various Hindu temples inside the palace. In the western part of the palace lies Kalika temple which was built during the 17th century. The temple has wooden carvings of birds, animals and deities. The temple of Goddess Gorakhkali lies on the southwestern side of the palace. Gorkha palace, gorakhnath temple - panoramio

Gorkha palace, gorakhnath temple - panoramio

The

Goraknath Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath, c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His followe ...

temple is located near the Gorakhali temple. Goraknath was a Hindu yogi who was an influential founder of the Nath Hindu movement and also one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. This place holds a fair every year on the day of

Baisakh Purnima Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhism, Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival ...

(the full moon day on the month of Baisakh) in Gorakhnath Cave. There is also a cave that is claimed as the shelter of Gorakhnath where he meditated

Tantra Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...

Gorkha temple in front of palace - panoramio

Museum

The museum located inside the premises of the palace houses various items including armours, paintings and the Divya Upadesh of Prithvi Narayan Shah.

Surroundings

The palace also serves as a viewpoint to observe

Manaslu Manaslu ( ne, मनास्लु, also known as Kutang; muh-NAA-slu) is the eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. The name Mana ...

Himalchuli Himalchuli (also sometimes written as two words, Himal Chuli) is the second-highest mountain in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, and the 18th-highest mountain in the world (using a cutoff of 500 meters prominence, or re-ascen ...

Annapurna Annapurna (; ne, अन्नपूर्ण) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the tenth highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the difficu ...

and

Ganesh Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...

peaks of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

in the Northern side while planes of Gorkha and surrounding villages in the southern side. The “eternal flame” lies on the southern part of the palace which has been lit since the unification of Nepal.

Impact of 2015 earthquake

The

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw or 8.1 Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (''Extreme ...

partially damaged the palace. It took over two years for the reconstruction process to start by the Department of Archeology and the work started on November 15, 2017. As of 2022, the repair work is still ongoing. Gorkha Tallo Durbar

Tourism

According to the Gorkha Museum, 48,233 people visited the palace in 2015–2016. In 2016–2017, there were 72,648 visitors and in 2017–2018, there were 77,753 visitors.

References

{{Reflist Shah palaces of Nepal Forts in Nepal 16th-century establishments in Nepal Buildings and structures in Gorkha District