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Patan the beautiful

Patan, also known as Lalitpur, is probably one of the oldest Buddhist cities in the world. With its four ancient Ashokan stupas, said to have been built by Ashoka himself. The Buddhist community believes that the city was planned in the shape of a dharmachakra with at the centre the royal palace and its Durbar Square. The area, a perfect example of Malla architecture, has been subject to relatively minor changes, retaining its authenticity and integrity.
Outside Durbar square there are several other interesting historic structures like the 15th century Kwa Bahal (the golden temple) the temple of Kumbeshwar the tallest in the city, the Mahabouddha Temple.
The Patan Durbar Square compound is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Patan

Patan Durbar Square

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Durbar Square
Smaller than that of Kathmandu, Patan Durbar Square contains nevertheless some very special buildings. The Square is located in the very heart of the city at the meeting-point of the two trading routes now known as Mangal Bazaar. Usually the taxi drivers leave you on the southern side of the square, all the temples are on the eastern side of the square facing the royal palace.

Patan

Patan Durbar Square

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Starting from the East side and going from South to North we see:
Krishna Mandir (Chyasim deval), a stone temple with an octagonal plan, behind it a large lotus-shaped pool;
Taleju Bell
Hari Shankar Temple (xviii c.) (half Vishnu, half Shiva deity) a three storeyed pagoda temple with two stone statues of reclining elephants, the roof struts are carved with scenes of condemned being tortured in the various hells;
the Statue of King Yoganarendra Malla on top of a pillar praying in front of his Degutaleju temple of the opposite Royal Palace, to be noted the small bird above the hood of the cobra that protects him;
behind the pillar there are two minor stone temples, the first one is a shikkara temple plastered in red dedicated to Narisingha, the other one is a small two storey pagoda dedicated to Narayan;
Narayan temple (xvi c) guarded by two stone lions; the temple conceived in the pagoda style defined by the Pashupati temple of Deopatan, is the oldest of the square; it is a two storied building standing on a three stepped platform, the four facades are all identical, the roof struts, positioned above a cornice of lion masks, are decorated with deities in bright colours, the tripartite monumental portal is overlaid with minute woodcarvings, the side facing the Royal Palace is emphasized by a narrow stairway lined with stone dvarapala figures;
Krishna Mandir (xvii c.) with its sikhara emerging from the arched lower storey and the series of smaller pavilions of the second level, in front there is a pillar with a statue of Garuda;
Vishwanath Temple (Shiva) (xvii) a two storeyed pagoda temple on a three levels plinth with two large stone elephants on one side and the bull Nandi on the other; the roof struts are decorated with erotic themes, the temple was built by the king in front of his palace to offer refuge to lord Visvesvara after the Aurangazeb destruction of its temple of Varanasi; nearby Mani Gupha Temple (18th c.), a small featureless circular construction with a tiled roof;
at the northernmost end of the square, the Bhimsen Temple (god of trade) a three storeyed pagoda temple, the side facing the street is covered with marble and the roof strut are gilded;
Among the buildings closing the northern side of the square there is the famous ‘Café de Temple’ and the Ganesh temple.
Next to Manga Hiti, a pool with three stone crocodile-head waterspouts, the Mani Mandap pavilions.

Patan

Patan Durbar Square

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The entire eastern side of the Durbar Square is occupied by the Royal Palace (xiv-xviii). As the palace is no longer occupied it is possible to visit the chowks (courtyards), all accessible from the main road. From North to South:
the Golden Gate, Sun Dhoka, a magnificent gilded door with a fine golden torana with images of Shiva and Parvati while the window above shows Avalokisteshvara, the gate leads to the Mani Keshar Narayan Chowk now occupied by the superb Patan Museum, with outstanding collections of Hindu and Buddhist bronze sculptures,
the three-storeyed Degutaleju Temple (xviii c) the largest and most spectacular of the square, stands on a tower like base inside the palace,
a doorway guarded by two stone lions gives entrance to Mul Chowk, in the centre of the courtyard there is the small gilded Vidhya Temple, dedicated to the royal family deity, on the buildings of the courtyard we noticed the finely carved and bright coloured roof struts and toranas, on the north-eastern corner the Taleju Bhawani temple with its octagonal roofs, on the south side the gilded statues of Ganga on the turtle and Jamuna on the makara mark the entrance of the Agam temple,
outside again, at the southern end of the square, the stone statues of Hanuman, Ganesh and Narsimha guard the entrance of the beautiful Sundari Chowk (regrettably closed at the time of our visit), above the entrance there are three windows with the central one originally gold plated while those on the sides are of ivory.

Nepal

Patan Durbar Square

This and more photographs can be found at:

Traveller Dreams

Related Pages
- Architecture of Kathmandu Valley
- World Heritage Sites In Nepal

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