GARDEN OF DREAMS

While Newari architecture predominantly characterised the Kathmandu Valley, it was during the rule of the Rana rule (1846-1951) that we see foreign influences in the building types and styles.

​

In the 1890s, Prime Minister Chandra Rana ordered the construction of a new residence for his son, Kaiser Rana after demolishing the previous palace on that land. Called the Kaiser Mahal, one of the prominent features of the estate was a large neo-colonial garden designed through the patronage of  Field Marshall Kaiser Sumsher Jung Bahadur Rana by the landscape architect Kishore Narsingh, also the architect of Singha Durbar. Kaiser Sumsher, who visited several Edwardian estates in England at that time, was fascinated by English landscape design.  The Garden, that he commissioned, previously called the garden of six seasons after the six seasons in Nepal, included 6 different pavilions dedicated to six seasons, fountains, garden furniture, pergolas, balustrades, urns, paved perimeter paths, a sunken flower garden, an amphitheatre and a large central pond. The landscape was designed in such a way as to encourage meandering and the discovery of secret, intimate spaces . As the Rana rule came to an end, the garden was abandoned and the family sold a part of it to a developer after some time. The remaining land was donated to the Government in the mid-1960s, yet it was in a state of despair for quite some time. It was finally in the late 1990s at the behest  of the Austrian Development Aid that the Austrian architect Götz Hagmüller renovated the garden along with many other sites in Patan. 

​

Post restoration, the Garden of Dreams or Swapna Bagicha was restored as a neoclassical garden with updated modern facilities. As a public garden, the design facilitates a tranquil experience in a bustling city. Located at the entrance of the tourist district of Thamel, the Garden is used more by the tourists than the locals and stands in contrast to the bustling public life of the Kathmandu Durbar Square.