The historical palace area of Nuwakot located at 76 km far west-north of Kathmandu has been regarded as an important place since ancient time. Before 1744 AD, nepal was devided into numerous tiny States. In order to build a single strong nation, Kind Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha led the unification campaign from this region. During that time, Nuwakot as a colony of Kantipur (Kathmandu) was regarded as the western main gate to enter the valley. This place was also popular as the main route for trade with Tibet.
Making the Nuwakot hill as the main fort including other eight forts- Belkot, Bhairabkot, Kalikot, Malakot, Dhuwankot, Pyaskot, Simalkot and Salyankot in its sourrounding area, collectively was named as ‘Nawakotta’ (nine forts). So it is believed that ‘Nuwakot’ was derived from Nawakotta. Due to the influence of Kantipur, different places, rest houses, dabalis, temples and stupas of archeological significance were built and various cultural customs were practised in Nuwakot during Malla and Shah periods which still have been observed with pride.
Most popular Saat Tale Darbar (Seven storey palace) was built by Prithvi Narayan Shah by evicting labourers from Lalitpur in 1762 and still it is regarded as a model of architecture. This used to be tropical place and it is notable that the King Rana Bahadur Shah met the British representative Mr. William Kirkpatric at this place in 1793 just after the war between Nepal and China. Just east-southern side of Saat Tale Darbar, here is a west facing palace made of oily bricks, called Rangamahal. It was built as a recreational spot for the three Malla Kings of Kantipur Valley. There are may dabalis and Resthouses which were built with religious and social purposes.
Cultural practices of Malla period continues to be the main attraction for tourists in this area. Some of the cultural festivals observed even today are Bhairabi Jatra or Sindure Jatra, Narayan Jatra, Gai Jatra, Shipai Jatra, Devi Jatra, Lakhe dance, Fulpati and Krishna Janmastami etc.
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