Tansen is a small ancient hill town situated 4300 meters above sea level. Palpa, common name of Tansen city located in the Western part of Nepal is located in Palpa district, one of the 75 geographic districts in Nepal (see map below). The beautiful place is located on the way from Pokhara to Butwal and is considered one of the beautiful places in Nepal.

Major attractions here are the ancient culture, excellent mountain views, serene atmosphere and friendly people. The weather here makes it a pleasant place to visit in any season. On clear days Dhaul
agiri, Annapurna, Manaslu, Gauri Shankar and other peaks can be seen.
Dhaka – the most popular hand woven cloth of Nepal comes from this region. The Nepali topi (national cap) is made of Dhaka and You can see the weavers at work on their looms or see a bazaar of Dhakas in Tansen.

It is believed that the migrant from Kathmandu valley, specially the Newars played an important role in enriching the architecture and culture of Tansen, and this can be seen today in Tansen.

The place is made popular by Palpali Dhaka, a cloth used to make the National dress in Nepal. The Palpali Topi is a cap worn by many males in Nepal. The unique cap is only available in Nepal and is considered one of the National identification.

Popular Palpali products are:

• Palpali Dhaka (fabric and its products)
• Palpali Karuwa (Metal water bottle)

The hat is made of a fabric called Dhaka, which is also used for a type of blouse, a dhaka-ko-cholo. The
word topi means “hat” in the Urdu language. Ganesh Man Maharjan invented the Nepali topi, in the town of Palpa. Following are the different design of Nepali Caps (Topi) made from Palpali Dhaka:

Chukauni Festival in Palpa

Chukauni is a traditional food which is made mixing curd and boiled potatoes. The festival also exhibits the culture and tradition and products from Palpa district.

Rani Mahal, Palpa

from a Jun 10, 2010 @ 20:10 post

The Rani Mahal of Palpa is dubbed as the Taj Mahal of Nepal. The Mahal was built by Khadka Samsher after the death of wife Tejkumari. The beautiful palace rests alongside the Kaligandaki river in Palpa and is a very peaceful place. One has to walk walk about 4 hours to reach here from Tansen.

The building is believed to be in a very weak state. Efforts have been made to start renovation works to highlight this as one of the visitor attraction for the upcoming Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

 

Palpali Karuwa – a huge monument of water jug

Posted on — Dec 22, 2011 @ 17:15

A huge monument of Karuwa (traditional drinking water jugs with a short pipe on the side) is erected in Palpa to mark it’s popularity as the place of the origination of Karuwa. Palpa, Tansen is famous all over Nepal for the manufacturing of Karuwa.

Palpa’s Karuwa Factory is also a popular destination for visitors in the area. The factory was established to manufacture brass Karuwa.

Photo credits – Guru Prasad Gaire and Aakash Regmi