Dharahara

Dharahara, also called Bhimsen Tower, was a nine-storey, 61.88m tower at the center of Sundhara in Kathmandu. It was built in 1832 by Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa under the commission of Queen Lalit Tripura Sundari and was a part of the architecture of Kathmandu recognized by UNESCO.The tower had a spiral staircase containing 213 steps. The eighth floor held a circular balcony for observers that provided a panoramic view of the Kathmandu valley. It also had a 5.2m bronze mast on the roof.Most of the tower collapsed in the 25 April 2015 Nepal earthquake, but the base remains. Sixty bodies were found in the rubble. Reconstruction of the tower is to commence in November 2017.HistoryDharahara in Kathmandu was the tallest building in Nepal and the second such tower built by Bhimsen Thapa. The first tower was built eight years earlier in 1824 and was 11 stories high, two stories taller than the Dharahara. Dharahara is said to be built for Queen Lalit Tripura Sundari, who was the niece of Bhimsen Thapa.During the earthquake of 1834, both towers survived, but the first Bhimsen's tower suffered severe damage. A century later, on 15 January 1934, another earthquake completely destroyed the first tower, and only two of the 9 stories of the second tower remained. The then Prime Minister of Nepal, Juddha Shumsher, subsequently carried out renovation work of the Dharahara tower to fully restore it. After the original Bhimsen Tower was destroyed, Queen Lalit Tripura Sundari's tower became known as 'Bhimsen Stambha' or 'Bhimsen Tower'.