Thursday, October 17, 2024
 |
We joined the rush hour traffic to visit
the city of Lalitpur aka Patan |
 |
Crossing Bagmati River (we are downriver from
Pashupatinath Temple, the cremation temple) into Lalitpur |
 |
| Brightly clothed people pass Ram Temple and monkeys |
 |
| We walked through the gateway into the historic district |
 |
| K-Mart |
 |
| Another jumbled mess of wires and cables |
 |
| Community water station (KSS) |
 |
| The electronics and generator shop |
 |
Patan is known for Nepali crafts; here is some
intricate metalwork, with some of the faces
protected from the elements |
 |
The typical housing has living quarters
above workshops and retail |
 |
| Baked goods |
 |
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 |
 |
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)
|
 |
In front of the Bhimsen Temple is a
column with a lion, which is the means of
transport for Bhimsen, and a flag standard |
 |
Manga Hiti Ceremonial Pavilion
overlooks the hiti/drinking fountain |
 |
Manga Hiti, where people come for the water pouring from
three spouts shaped like a makara/crocodile-like mythical beast |
 |
Vishwanath Temple dedicated
to Shiva (KSS) |
 |
| The temple has ornately carved roof struts |
 |
Sculptures of mahouts/elephant caretakers on their
beasts of burden, and one is crushing a man under his foot |
 |
On the other side of Vishwanath Temple is a statue
of Nandi the bull, the transport of Shiva |
 |
| The pigeon feeding area |
 |
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 |
 |
A better view of Garuda with
Vishwanath Temple in the background |
 |
Narasimha Temple (1589, being rebuilt
after the 2015 earthquake) is in shikhara-style |
 |
Harishankar Temple (rebuilt after the
2015 earthquake) and the King
Yoganarendra Malla column (1700) |
 |
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.
 |
| Taleju Bell (1736) |
 |
An interesting water feature, Maharani Hiti,
with a sculpture of a Malla queen |
 |
Chyasin Dega Krishna Temple (1723)
is an octagonal temple in Shikhara style |
 |
Facing all the temples is the Royal Palace
(14C, expanded 17-18C) |
 |
The main entrance to the palace through
the Golden Gate (1734) with the gilded
window above where the king
once made appearances |
 |
The southern entrance to the palace has a string of
buffalo guts across the doorway |
 |
Mul Chowk is the largest and oldest of the palace courtyards;
here a mask dance was in progress |
Video of the mask dance:
 |
| Mul Chowk Bidyapith Temple |
 |
| Animals are tied to this post for animal sacrifices |
 |
| Temple drums |
 |
Entrance to the Taleju Bhawani Temple, flanked by
statues of the river goddesses |
 |
On the left is Jamuna on a makara/
crocodile-like mythical beast |
 |
| On the right is Ganga on a tortoise |
 |
| The gilded door |
 |
| The door was securely locked |
Next: Patan Museum.
No comments:
Post a Comment