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BANEPA , 26km east of Kathmandu, was for centuries an important staging post to Tibet, and now - such is progress - it's an obligatory pitstop for buses heading up the Arniko Highway. The roadside buildup is pretty unattractive, and unfortunately there's not much left of the old bazaar: a fire burned most of it down in the 1960s, and earthquake damage has led to the replacement of many other old buildings. Cheap cotton cloth, woven here on semi-mechanized looms, is an important local industry. There are a few Nepali businessmen's lodges around the main intersection, but they're all noisy, dirty and lacking in hot water - it's hard to think of a reason why you wouldn't stay in Dhulikhel or Panauti instead. Beginning at the first roundabout north of the Arniko Highway, a road leading northeastwards to Panchkhal first passes by Scheer Memorial Hospital, established by the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Chandeshwari Mandir , overlooking a new set of cremation ghats beside a wooded ravine. The three-tiered temple, which is best known for the psychedelic fresco of Bhairab decorating its exterior, commemorates Bhagwati, who according to one of the purana (Hindu scriptures) slew a giant called Chand here, earning her the title Chandeshwari ("Lord of Chand"). The arch over the entrance to the temple compound depicts the scene. Chandeshwari's image is the object of a chariot festival here coinciding with Nepali New Year (April 13 or 14). A second unpaved road heads 3km northwestwards to NALA , a quiet, parochial village near the head of the meandering Punyamati Valley. Fanning out at the base of a hill, the classically Newar houses look like a landslide of bricks, frozen in mid-tumble. Nala's main temple, a poorly maintained seventeenth-century pagoda dedicated to Bhagwati, is unusual for having four tiers - even numbers are usually avoided as they're considered unlucky. The weathered image of eighteen-armed Bhagwati is ferried around on a chariot on the third day of Indra Jaatra in August-September. From Nala you can continue west along a wide dirt road, passing a Lokeshwar temple on the outskirts of town, to reach Bhaktapur in 10km. Three lesser tracks branching off from it ascend to Nagarkot via different routes
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