Nepal: Patan, Nov 2024

Located in the south central part of Kathmandu Valley is the city of Patan or Lalitpur, about half an hour away from Kathmandu.  Lalitpur translates to “City of Beauty” in Sanskrit and is also known as the City of Artisans wiith the finest craftsmen skilled in the ancient techniques of metal craft.  Even until now, one can hear the tapping of tiny hammers as craftsmen create various sculptures and ornaments.  Patan was believed to be founded by the Kirat Dynasty, expanded by the Lichhavi Dynasty and then further expanded by the Malla Dynasty.  The city was initially designed in the shape of the Buddhist Dharma wheel with four Asoka Stupas built in 250 BC, one at each corner of its cardinal points.  Other than the over 1,200 Buddhist monuments, Patan is also known for its water conduits, stone spouts, and jaladroni water tanks.

Entrance to Patan

Patan

The UNESCO Patan Durbar Square, like its counterparts in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, is located in the center of the city and was once the royal palace of the Malla kings.  It is the oldest of the three royal cities of Kathmandu Valley.  There are over 600 stupas, 136 courtyards, and 55 temples located around Patan Durbar Square.

Patan Durbar Square

Patan Durbar Square

Chyasin Dega Temple

 

Patan Dubar Square

Sundari Chowk, built in 1628 during the reign of King Siddhi Narsingha Malla, is the smallest of Patan’s three palace courtyards.  Guarding the entrance are the statues of Hanuman, Narsingha, and Ganesh.  There is an elaborately carved step well, Tusha Hiti, in the center speculated to have served as the King’s private bath.  The step well together with the larger Bhandarkhal Water Tank outside are part of the Raj Kulo or Royal Channel that diverted water to supply the numerous neighborhood hitis or step wells.

Sundari Chowk

 

Man praying to the Statue of Narsingha outside Sundari Chowk.

Sundari Chowk

Sundari Chowk

There is an elaborately carved step well, Tusha Hiti, in the center of Sundari Chowk speculated to have served as the King’s private bath.

Built during the reign of King Siddhi Narsingha Malla, Mul Chowk is the largest and oldest courtyard located between Sundari Chowk and Keshav Narayan Chowk.  In the center of the palace square is the small Bidyapith Temple dedicated to Yantaju, an incarnate of Durga and a personal deity to the Malla Kings.  There is a wooden post next to the temple where animals for sacrifice were tied to.  Also on the square is the triple-roofed Taleju Bhawani Temple built in honor of the female royal deity, Taleju Bhawani.  Her secret mantra was thought to ensure uninterrupted royal rule and was passed from the king to his successor only when death appeared imminent.  The temple is only opened once a year for the King and a few select priests.  At the northeastern corner of the square is the five-storey Degutale Temple, built in 1661.  Degutale is another manifestation of Taleju and hence often confused with the Taleju Temple.

Mul Chowk

Mul Chowk

Built in 1734, Keshav Narayan Chowk is the youngest of the 3 royal palace courtyards in Patan.  In the center of the square is the small Keshav Narayan Temple.  There is a golden window here known as the Lunjhyah depicting a standing Avlokiteshvara surrounded by Hindu deities, implying that these deities are secondary to those of the Buddhist cosmos.  In Buddhism, the origin of the Hindu deity, Brahma, was explained as the awakening of a higher being who has exhausted his merits and fallen into a lower world which is still far superior to the realm of humans.  Awakening alone and without apparent cause, Brahma believes himself to be the creator of the universe. In the golden window, the Avalokiteshvara image has Vishnu above and his mount, Garuda, below leaving it ambiguous as to which religion is “dominant” over the other.  This shows that the Malla rulers aim to appease the Buddhists of the valley while not offending Hindu sensibilities.  This courtyard also houses the Patan Museum, inaugurated by the late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1997.  There is a beautiful golden gate with carvings of deities serving as the entrance to the museum as well as the square.

Keshav Narayan Chowk

In the center of Keshav Narayan Chowk is the small Keshav Narayan Temple.

View from Patan Museum

On the west side of Patan Durbar Square sits the octagonal-shaped Krishna Mandir Temple constructed in 1637.  Legend has it that its construction was inspired by a dream King Siddhi Narasingh Malla had.  He dreamt that the gods Krishna and Radha were standing in front of his palace and ordered a temple built on the same location.  After emerging victorious after called on Krishna during a war, the king built a replica of the temple inside the Sundari Chowk courtyard.  The sikhara-style temple is believed to be made of a single stone and is dedicated to Krishna on the first floor, Shiva on the second, and Lokeshwor on the third.  The pillars on the first floor recounts the events of the Mahabharata and those on the seond floor that of the Ramayana.  Krishna is said to be an earthly incarnation of Lord Vishnu and hence 4 full-size Vishnu statues riding on his mount Garauda surround the base of the structure.  In front of the temple is a column with a Garuda on top.  The temple is managed by local Brahmins and entrance is forbidden to non-Hindus.

Krishna Mandir Temple

Krishna Mandir Temple

Krishna Mandir Temple

Patan Durbar Square

Vishwanath Temple was built in 1627 during the reign of King Siddinarsingh Malla and is dedicated to Lord Shiva.  Twin stone elephants guard the front entrance and legend has it that the king will not enter heaven until the stone elephants descend from the temple and drink from the Mani Dhara water fountain.

On the northwestern side of Patan Durbar Square is the Bhimsen Temple built in 1680 during the reign of King Shrinivas Malla and dedicated to Bhimsen, the Newari god of trade.  The temple, like all Bhimsen Temples, have a rectangular ground floor plan with the god Bhimsen residing on the first floor.  It is the only monument on the palace square decorated with long pataka strips thought to represent a divine ladder for the deities to access their celestial abodes.  The eastern facing balcony is entirely covered in shiny gilding including the wooden brackets that depict Shiva, Parvati, Bhairava, and Ganesh which is considered unusual.

Bhimsen Temple

 

Next to Bhimsen Temple is this shrine said to be worshipped by those seeking marriage.

Patan

Patan

Patan

Hiranya Varna Mahavihara Monastery literally translates to “Gold-colored Great Monastery” and is informally called the Golden Temple.  Legend has it that Hiranya Varna Mahavihar was built by King Bhaskar Varman after he had a dream of a golden mouse chasing a cat around a temple.  Rice was kept at all four corners of the temple to feed the mice that live there.  The 3-storey Buddhist monastery is said to be founded in the 12th century and built in the style of a Nepalese bahal with a gilded golden roof giving the monument its informal name of “Golden Temple”.  The main gate is flanked by a pair of stone lions and the gate has a relief of Bhairava’s eyes on it.  The entry to the rectangular courtyard is protected by twin stone elephants where in the center stands a small temple housing the statue of Sakyamuni.  The temple is 4 storeys high with 3 slanting gilt roofs.  The lower facade shows scenes of the life of the Buddha, higher up are reliefs of the Five Buddhas with the outer two doubled, and above these is another row of the Five Buddhas flanked by Taras on both ends.  Above the first roof are the reliefs of the Three Jewels of Buddhism, namely the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.  The four corners of the courtyard house statues of four Lokeshvaras that are incarnations of Avalokiteshvara and four monkeys each holding out jackfruit offerings.  There are also some Hindu sculptures here such as incarnations of Vishnu and Shiva appearing as roof struts.  It is one of the most revered buddhist monasteries in Nepal.  The 800-year-old sacred Buddhist text, Pragya Paramita, is stored here and restored every 3 years.

Entrance to the Golden Temple

Golden Temple

Golden Temple

What is interesting is that the main priest of the temple is a young boy under the age of 12.  The young priest only serves for a month before handing his duty over to another young boy.  The tradition is said to have begun during the war between the Kirants and Lichhavis where nobody dared to leave their homes.  A religious buddhist family decided to send their young boy to tend to the buddha statue at the temple believing that no one would hurt a child.  The child thought Gautama Buddha would wash himself like everyone else so repeated called out to Buddha saying that the pot of water had arrived.  Heartbroken that the buddha never responded, he began to cry.  Buddha took pity on the child and performed the ablutions himself leading to the tradition of young priests serving the temple.

Patan by night

The 14th century Mahabouddha Temple is dedicated to Gautama Buddha.  The temple is also known as “the temple of a thousand Buddhas” because a Buddha image is engraved on every brick.  The shikhara-style temple is modeled on the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya in India.

Mahabouddha Temple

Mahabouddha Temple

Patan by night

Patan by night

Nyakha Chowk

Patan by night

Patan by night

Patan by night

Next post will be on Kathmandu Durbar Square.  Stay tuned!

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