Lo Manthang Palace (Nepali: लोमान्थाङ दरबार) is a historical palace in
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 ...
. It is located in 3800 m above sea level in
Lomanthang Rural Municipality of
Mustang district. The palace is under consideration to be listed in
UNESCO World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
site.
History
The Lo Manthang Palace was built at around 15th Century by the first king of Mustang, king
Amad Pal. He first built a fortress wall around the settlement of Lo. Later, he constructed the four-storey palace in 1440 AD. Mustang was under the influence of
Jumla in the 16th to 18th centuries. When Jumla was annexed to Nepal in 1789 AD, Mustang became an integral part of Nepal along with the palace. However, the king of Mustang was recognized as a local king.
Architecture
The palace is five storied.
It is constructed in mud, stone and wood with nine corners. There are wall paintings and inscriptions in
Ranjana Script
The Rañjanā script (Lantsa) is an abugida writing system which developed in the 11th century[Jwajalapa](_blank)
. The main entrance to the palace is in the east. The palace is painted with white lime. The palace houses a collection of texts such as
Kanjur
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur ('Translation of the Word') and the Tengyur or Tanjur (Tengyur) ('Translation of Treat ...
,
Tenjur,
Astha Sahasrika Prajnaparamita and
Satasahasrika Prajnaparmita. The wall around the palace and the city acts as fortress. Near the palace, there are three red monasteries, twelve ''chortens'' and a ''mani'' wall. There are 60 spouts and 25 doors in the fortress wall.
Conservation effort
The palace was damaged by
Gorkha 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 ...
in 2015. The palace was restored with help from
Gerda Henkel Foundation. The restoration was completed in 2073 BS.
Gallery
File:Lo Manthang Royal Palace.JPG
File:Mustang-Lo Manthang-Koenigspalast-02-2015-gje.jpg
File:Mustang-Lo Manthang-Koenigspalast-08-Haupteingang-2015-gje.jpg
File:Mustang-Lo Manthang-Koenigspalast-12-Fenster-2015-gje.jpg
See also
*
Palaces in Nepal
References
Palaces in Nepal
15th-century establishments in Nepal
Forts in Nepal
Buildings and structures in Mustang District
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