Thursday, October 17, 2024
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We joined the rush hour traffic to visit
the city of Lalitpur aka Patan |
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Crossing Bagmati River (we are downriver from
Pashupatinath Temple, the cremation temple) into Lalitpur |
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| Brightly clothed people pass Ram Temple and monkeys |
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| We walked through the gateway into the historic district |
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| K-Mart |
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| Another jumbled mess of wires and cables |
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| Community water station (KSS) |
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| The electronics and generator shop |
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Patan is known for Nepali crafts; here is some
intricate metalwork, with some of the faces
protected from the elements |
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The typical housing has living quarters
above workshops and retail |
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| Baked goods |
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All types of woodwork in Newari
architecture that is known for bare-brick
façades and intricate wooden windows;
the Newars are the indigenous people of Nepal |
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We arrived in Patan Durbar Square, our
third palace square in Nepal, with
Bhimsen Temple (rebuilt 1682 after a fire),
which is dedicated to the god of
trade and business (KSS)
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In front of the Bhimsen Temple is a
column with a lion, which is the means of
transport for Bhimsen, and a flag standard |
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Manga Hiti Ceremonial Pavilion
overlooks the hiti/drinking fountain |
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Manga Hiti, where people come for the water pouring from
three spouts shaped like a makara/crocodile-like mythical beast |
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Vishwanath Temple dedicated
to Shiva (KSS) |
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| The temple has ornately carved roof struts |
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Sculptures of mahouts/elephant caretakers on their
beasts of burden, and one is crushing a man under his foot |
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On the other side of Vishwanath Temple is a statue
of Nandi the bull, the transport of Shiva |
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| The pigeon feeding area |
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Column topped by Garuda, the bird man
and the transport of Vishnu; he is
facing the Krishna Mandir, a 17C
shikhara-style temple dedicated to
an incarnation of Vishnu |
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A better view of Garuda with
Vishwanath Temple in the background |
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Narasimha Temple (1589, being rebuilt
after the 2015 earthquake) is in shikhara-style |
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Harishankar Temple (rebuilt after the
2015 earthquake) and the King
Yoganarendra Malla column (1700) |
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A close-up of King Yoganarendra who is
with his two queens while a bird sits on
the head of a cobra hanging over the king |
There is a legend that as long as the bird remains, the king can always return to his palace and a door and window are left open and a hookah is ready. Should the bird fly off, the elephants in front of Vishwanath Temple will walk to Manga Hiti for a drink.
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| Taleju Bell (1736) |
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An interesting water feature, Maharani Hiti,
with a sculpture of a Malla queen |
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Chyasin Dega Krishna Temple (1723)
is an octagonal temple in Shikhara style |
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Facing all the temples is the Royal Palace
(14C, expanded 17-18C) |
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The main entrance to the palace through
the Golden Gate (1734) with the gilded
window above where the king
once made appearances |
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The southern entrance to the palace has a string of
buffalo guts across the doorway |
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Mul Chowk is the largest and oldest of the palace courtyards;
here a mask dance was in progress |
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| Mul Chowk Bidyapith Temple |
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| Animals are tied to this post for animal sacrifices |
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| Temple drums |
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Entrance to the Taleju Bhawani Temple, flanked by
statues of the river goddesses |
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On the left is Jamuna on a makara/
crocodile-like mythical beast |
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| On the right is Ganga on a tortoise |
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| The gilded door |
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| The door was securely locked |
Next: Patan Museum.
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