Bungamati and Khokana

Bungamati and Khokana lie fifteen minutes apart on a ridge south of Patan, and both are Newar farming villages laid out around a central square with fields worked from the settlement. Bungamati is the home of Rato Machhindranath, whose image spends half the year here and half in Patan and is carried between them in one of the valley's great chariot festivals; the village is also a centre of woodcarving, with workshops around the square. Khokana is known for mustard oil, still pressed in a traditional wooden beam press in the village, and for a street plan of a single main road with side lanes that is unusual in the valley. Both were badly damaged in 2015 and rebuilding continues.

What you actually see

• Woodcarving workshops - carvers working around the Bungamati square.
• The mustard oil press - the wooden beam press worked in Khokana.
• Newar village life - grain drying and farming worked from the squares.
• Rebuilding - reconstruction after the 2015 earthquake.

When to go

October to April for the weather; the Rato Machhindranath festival in spring is the great event at Bungamati. Grain drying in the squares happens after harvests in autumn.

Honest expectations

The 2015 earthquake destroyed a great deal in both villages, including the Machhindranath temple at Bungamati, and much of what stands is new. Woodcarving workshops are commercial and expect sales. Facilities are minimal.

Nearby

Patan lies north; Khokana and Bungamati are fifteen minutes apart.