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 ma ...

. It is located in 3800 m above sea level in

Lomanthang Rural Municipality Lomanthang ( ne, लोमान्थाङ) is a rural municipality in Mustang district in Gandaki Province of western Nepal. It is located at the northern end of the district, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and ...

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 Ahmad or AMAD may refer to: Given name *Amad Al Hosni (born 1984), Omani footballer * Amad Diallo (born 2002), Ivorian footballer Other *Activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD), distribution of particle sizes in the context of radiation prote ...

. 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 centuryJwajalapa

. 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 Tr ...

, Tenjur,

Astha Sahasrika Prajnaparamita ''Astha'' is a monotypic moth genus of the family Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because ma ...

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 (''Extrem ...

in 2015. The palace was restored with help from

Gerda Henkel Foundation Gerda is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: A *Gerda Ahlm (1869–1956), Swedish-born American painter and art conservator *Gerda Alexander (1908–1994), Danish teacher and therapist *Gerda Antti (born 1929), Swedish ...

. 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

References

Palaces in Nepal 15th-century establishments in Nepal Forts in Nepal Buildings and structures in Mustang District {{Nepal-stub

History

Architecture

Conservation effort

Gallery

See also

References