Warren Richardson Images

Durbar Square, Katmandu.

The preference for the construction of royal palaces at this site dates back to as early as the Licchavi period in the third century. Even though the present palaces and temples have undergone repeated and extensive renovations and nothing physical remains from that period. Names like Gunapo and Gupo, which are the names referred to the palaces in the square in early scriptures, imply that the palaces were built by Gunakamadev, a King ruling late in the tenth century. When Kathmandu City became independent under the rule of King Ratna Malla (1484–1520), the palaces in the square became the Royal Palaces for its Malla Kings. When Prithvi Narayan Shah invaded the Kathmandu Valley in 1769, he favored the Kathmandu Durbar Square for his palace. Other subsequent Shah kings continued to rule from the square until 1896 when they moved to the Narayan Hiti Palace.

Pray wheels spin on a daily bases, whistling there prays through the winds.

Religion in Nepal encompasses a wide diversity of groups and beliefs; however, Nepal's major religion is Hinduism which accounts for 81.3% of the overall population as of 2011. According to a survey, Nepal is the most religious Hindu nation throughout the world, with most of the important Hindu pilgrimage centers concentrated in this country. It is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious nation through democracy.

Flower chains and money and food and drinks are placed on the altar as a sign of respect.

According to Hindu mythology, the goddess Sita of the epic Ramayana was born in the Mithila Kingdom of King Janaka Raja.

A woman and her daughter prepare candles for religious purposes.

The national animal of Nepal is the cow, which is considered a sacred animal in Hinduism. Because of this, the slaughter of cows is illegal in Nepal.

The smell of incense lingers, candles illuminating quietness, soft souls, gentle breeze along.

Kalbhairav,this huge stone image of Bhairav represents deity Shiva in his destructive manifestation. It is undated,but was set in its present location by King Pratap Malla after it was found in the field north of the city. This is the most famous Bhairav and it was used by government as a place for people to swear the truth.

Her last good byes to her father as she lays him to rest by using fire at one of Nepal's holiest places Pashupatinath.

Shiva is widely regarded as the guardian deity of Nepal. Nepal is home to the world-famous Pashupatinath Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where Hindus throughout the world come for pilgrimage purposes.

7 Men sit and watch the world go by,  Durbar Square.

Kathmandu Durbar Square (Basantapur Durbar Khsetra) in front of the old royal palace of the former Kathmandu Kingdom is one of three Durbar (royal palace) Squares in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Several buildings in the Square collapsed due to a major earthquake on 25 April 2015. Durbar Square was surrounded with spectacular architecture and vividly showcases the skills of the Newar artists and craftsmen over several centuries. The Royal Palace was originally at Dattaraya square and was later moved to the Durbar square. The Kathmandu Durbar Square held the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city. Along with these palaces, the square surrounds quadrangles, revealing courtyards and temples. It is known as Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square, a name derived from a statue of Hanuman, the monkey devotee of Lord Ram, at the entrance of the palace.

Nepalese people believe in luck, by giving money to help pay for food to animals with genetic defects, Nepalese believe that it will enrich their lives within the way of wealth.

Woman feeding the birds at Durbar square, Kathmandu.

The square is still the center of important royal events like the coronation of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1975 and King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah in 2001. Though there are no written archives stating the history of Kathmandu Durbar Square, construction of the palace in the square is credited to Sankharadev (1069–1083). As the first king of the independent Kathmandu City, Ratna Malla is said to have built the Taleju temple in the Northern side of the palace in 1501. For this to be true then the temple would have had to have been built in the vihara style as part of the palace premise surrounding the Mul Chok courtyard for no evidence of a separate structure that would match this temple can be found within the square.

Hidden temple in one of the back streets of Katmandu.

Every nook and cranny of Kathmandu teems with medieval temples and shrines. And this has rewarded Kathmandu with the title "City of Temples." If you walk through the street of Kathmandu, chances are you will come across a temple in every 15–20 minutes. And for this reason, Kathmandu is called a City of Temples.

Sellers watch a buyer as a Cow takes what it want for free.

Asan Tol is a ceremonial, market and residential square in central Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. It is one of the most well-known historical locations in the city and is famed for its bazaar, festival calendar and strategic location.

Local barber tends to his customers as it is quite common for Nepalese man to pride themselves on their presentation by the way they look.

Asan is also one of the popular tourist spots in the city because of its architectural sights and charming ambiance. There are banks, restaurants and a post office. Two taxi stands and bus stops are situated on the eastern side.

One of Katmandu's local butchers prepares his products for sale. He told me that he will need to sell all of the meat within the day as it is fresh. If it does not sell he will need to get rid of it as it will go bad.

Local Nepalese children beg whilst looking through a shop window at foreign items that only foreigner can afford.

Most children (60.5%) worked up to 19 hours in 2008, while 32.2% worked 20 to 40 hours a week and 7.3% worked for more than 40 hours in a week. This trend is consistent in both rural and urban areas. In the 2003/2004 Nepal Living Standards Survey Statistical Report Volume II, it was found that the poorest consumption quintile has the highest percentage (18.7%) of child laborer’s who for more than 40 hours a week as compared with the rest of the consumption quintile. Also, according to Edmonds (2006) female children work more hours than their male siblings. In the same study Edmonds states that the majority of child labourers work in the agricultural sector and in domestic labour.

Things are not what they seem, take away all of that plastic, Leaving things the way they where.

Poverty is not having enough material possessions or income for a person's needs. Poverty may include social, economic, and political elements. Absolute poverty is the complete lack of the means necessary to meet basic personal needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. The threshold at which absolute poverty is defined is always about the same, independent of the person's permanent location or era.

Durbar square, Kathmandu. Every morning locals come out to pray hoping for change within their prays. For some it's not the case due to hardship of not being accepted, leaving them with no option but to take to the streets in their way of survival.

Governments and non-governmental organizations try to reduce poverty. Providing basic needs to people who are unable to earn a sufficient income can be hampered by constraints on government's ability to deliver services, such as corruption, tax avoidance, debt and loan conditionalities and by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. Strategies of increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically include welfare, economic freedoms and providing financial services.

More and more it is becoming a problem in Nepal's society to sustain a balanced lifestyle, with only tourism as one of the main incomes for Nepal. Farmers are now coming to Katmandu in search of a better life which sometimes results in them coming homeless.

There is disagreement among experts as to what would be considered a realistic poverty rate with one considering it "an inaccurately measured and arbitrary cut off". Some contend that a higher poverty line is needed, such as a minimum of $7.40 or even $10 to $15 a day. They argue that these levels would better reflect the cost of basic needs and normal life expectancy.

Starving to death in front of the American Embassy in Katmandu.

On the other hand, relative poverty occurs when a person cannot meet a minimum level of living standards, compared to others in the same time and place. Therefore, the threshold at which relative poverty is defined varies from one country to another, or from one society to another. For example, a person who cannot afford housing better than a small tent in an open field would be said to live in relative poverty if almost everyone else in that area lives in modern brick homes, but not if everyone else also lives in small tents in open fields (for example, in a nomadic tribe).