BHAKTAPUR: CITY OF MAJESTY

    BHAKTAPUR: CITY OF MAJESTY

BHAKTAPUR STREET SCENE

NYATOLA TEMPLE WITH MOUNTAINS

      Imagine a medieval city of the 800's filled with hundreds of magnificent temples,  palaces, water fountains,  private residences right here in Nepal?

    We have fallen in love with Bhaktapur and its magical  atmosphere.  Our
Sunny Guest House suite looks out over the magnificent setting.  Temple bells   are chiming day and night by Hindu and Buddhist believers.  I do agree with the words of  EA  Powell in 1929 from his book  "The  Last Home of Mystery":


     "Were there nothing else  in Nepal,  save the Durbar Square of  Bhatgaon (Bhaktapur), it would still be amply worth making a journey  half way round the globe to  see"

    Bhaktapur grew up to service the old  trade route from India to Tibet, but the city  became a formal entity under King Ananda Malla in the 12th century.  It's history goes back to the early 8th century and it  used to be the  capital city of whole Nepal  until  the 12th to the  15th century.  The ancestors have protected the city until recent times with boundary walls and city gates.  Even today, it is preserved with significant entry fees from tourists, municipal restoration programs and  support from United Nations and other countries.

NAYATAPOLA TEMPLE

     The Newari people are the ethnic group responsible for the magnificent architecture, sculpture, and art.  They are the people responsible for much of the magnificent building in Lhasa, Tibet.  Kublai Khan of China was so impressed with the Newari architecture that he hired  Newari to build in his kingdom.

Thaumadi Tole

    Thaumadi Tole is the square that we overlook from our guest house and we have spent several  days getting to know the area.  Narrow cobblestone and  brick streets wind between the red-brick houses,  joining squares and courtyards peppered with temples, statues, and wells.   At its peak the city boasted  172 temples and monasteries, 77 water tanks,  172 pilgrim shelters, and 152 wells.

   The 100,000 residents of Bhaktapur are mostly farmers and  peasants.  Right now we can see rice drying and vegetable gardens in many residential areas of the city.  There  are  also businessmen, handicraft producers of pottery and wood carving,  and public employees.  We have so appreciated the kind helpful attitudes of everybody we have  met.

NYATAPOLA TEMPLE

     The most glorious structure in the  Thaumadi Tole is the five-story Nyatapola Temple.  It is the highest temple in Nepal and with its Himalaya backdrop is a picturesque scene. This beautifully proportioned temple was built in 1702 during the reign of King Bhupatindra Malla and the construction so sturdy that only minor damage was caused by the 1934 earthquake.

     In  the photo you can  see the stone figures at the five different levels of the entry stairway.  The temple is dedicated to Sihddhi Lakshmi, a bloodthirsty incarnation of the  goddess Durga (Pavarati).  We were awed by the beautifully well-preserved sculptures of the goddess appearing in her brutal incarnations surrounded with the naga and fearsome snakes.   Even  though the temple is Hindu, Buddhism  is represented with its eight lucky signs carved beside the temple doorway.

     Nearby and in the same square is the BhairabTemple, dedicated to Bhairab, the fearsome incarnation of Shiva.  Built in the 17th century and expanded in 1717 and a third level was added after the 1934 earthquake.  Some of the beautiful elements are the two brass lions holding the Nepali national flag, the only flat that is not  rectangular or square.  The entry door is beautifully carved in brass and there is a colorful painting of Bhairab on rattan with  a gruesome garland of buffalo guts!

     The most meaningful experience of that day was the visit to temple Mahadev Narayan  observing the prayer ceremony (which included Hindu, Buddhist, and moral stories ) attended by the older residents of Bhaktapur (mostly men wearing the Dhaka topi and a handful of women.  We heard that this is the oldest temples of the city (since 1080) and an important place for pilgrimage.

     I find Hinduism, a religion dating back some 3500 years ago, a most complex and  detailed religion which makes it difficult to understand the gods involved  in each temple.  The deities all have many manifestations with  different names.  Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune,  has an incarnation of the bloodthirsty goddess, Durga (Pavarati).

    Vishnu (producer and destroyer) is the probably the mot important god in Nepal.  He had many other manifestations and appears as bushy eyebrowed  Bhairab when he is in his fearful  manifestation.