Tudikhel Of kathmandu

Tudikhel was built by Bhimshen Thapa. At the beginning of the 19th century, Kathmandu’s Tundikhel was used for military parades, which first brought the Nepal Army into the massive open space in the heart of Kathmandu.

By the late 20th century, the army had become entrenched in its parade grounds, cordoning off most of the main field and also encroaching upon the portion south of Shahid Gate where it built a recreational area. The army, despite protests, continues to build new structures, while the local community and the general public have no access to the area.

Tundikhel once constituted one large undivided open space, almost five kilometres in length and 300 metres in width, from Tindhara all the way to Tripureshwor. But today, it is barely half its original size, as successive governments from as far back as Pratap Malla and the Rana regime to the present-day federal government continue to divide up Tundikhel.