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162-739: The Durbar Square is a generic name for the Malla palace square and can be found in Kathmandu and Patan as well. The one in Bhaktapur was considered the biggest and the grandest among the three during its independency but now many of the buildings that once occupied the square has been lost to the frequent earthquakes . During its height, Bhaktapur Durbar Square contained 99 courtyards but today hardly 15 of these courtyards remain. The square has lost most of its buildings and courtyards to frequent earthquakes, particularly those in 1833 and 1934 and only

324-415: A Vishvarupa , a cosmic form of Hindu divinities , which experts initially believed represented a cosmic form of Shiva with his consort Parvati . In 2001, the first proper research on the murals was conducted by historian Purushottam Lochan Shrestha which reveled some new details. The female figure, initially believed to be Parvati , had a nevus on her chin and the words ' Sri Bhupatindra ' written, in

486-517: A Yagya called Siddhāgni koṭyāhuti Māhāyagya . The fire for the Yagya was continuously lit for 48 days while the ashes from the fire were kept on the spot until January 1704. Even today, the spot where the Yagya was performed is believed to have retained the warmth till date. The construction of the temple was completed after a few months in the year 822 of the Nepalese era during the first day of

648-455: A cosmic Shiva and his consort Parvati . This particular mural, although somewhat damaged has been hailed, by some historians as the magnum opus of Nepalese painting . Historian Purushottam Lochan Shrestha further writes that: "If this mural was painted in the walls of a European palace or in the Louvre instead of a poor and unknown country like Nepal, it would certainly be in the list of

810-521: A moustache , Vétāla is believed to be a mischievous child. Vétāla is worshipped as the protector of Bhaktapur and of Bhairava . A statue of Vétāla is installed in front of the chariot of Biska Jatra . He is also believed to appear frequently in locales around the Nyatapola temple as a child during the time of the Biska Jatra festival. A folklore prevalent in Bhaktapur tell the tale of

972-473: A protectorate of Bhaktapur . Lokaprakāsha died from smallpox just a year after his coronation and the throne of Patan became empty again. This time, the nephew of Yog Narēndra Malla, Indra Malla, was crowned but the power remained in the hands of Yogamati. Moreover, Lalitpur secretly made an alliance with Kantipur and in 1708 the combined forces of Kantipur and Lalitpur attacked the " Obhu " fort of Bhaktapur four more times but were unable to breach

1134-416: A stone mason , Tūla Simha, worked for 499 days. Similarly, another worker, Chatra Simha, worked for 285 days. However, the time it took from the laying of the foundation to completion of the construction took only six months. So, the stone work and woodcarving began two years before the foundation was laid. As per the sources, on 23 October 1701, Bhupatindra Malla invited his ministers, chief courtiers and

1296-509: A balcony. Although the renovation was not perfect as the top floor windows in the western and eastern façade still lack the floral tympanum it once had and the wooden struts supporting them were once decorated with the images of various deities but now are plain wood. Chyasilin Mandapa , translating to "octagonal pavilion" from Newar , was a two storey structure that existed south of the palace of fifty five windows. In local folklore , it

1458-436: A brief introduction of the palaces, temples and other historical monuments located in the square, starting from the westernmost parts: They are situated on the westernmost part of the square, beside two large stone statues of guardian lions . They are placed on the entrance to the now lost Basantapūra palace (See Lost Heritages ). The statue on the left depicts Ugrachandi, a fierce manifestation of Chandi , who herself

1620-463: A bullet hole in its leg from 1769, a remnant of the Battle of Bhaktapur . The Palace of Fifty-five Windows, a name derived from the local term Nge Nyapa Jhya Lyaku ( Newar : 𑐒𑐾𑐒𑐵𑐥𑐵 𑐗𑑂𑐫𑑅 𑐮𑐵𑐫𑐎𑐹 ‎) is the only palace in the square, whose façade has been altered the least since its completion in 1708. It was commissioned by Bhupatindra Malla after an earthquake in 1681 destroyed

1782-608: A document from 1830 puts the height of this palace at around 23.3 meters. The Basantapūra palace is cited as an inspiration for the Nautalle Durbar , which is also called the Basantapūra palace, in Kathmandu , commissioned by Prithvi Narayan Shah after his victory over the Kathmandu Valley . Today, most of the components of the Basantapūra palace has been lost to time. It is said that Dhurba Shusmer Rana,

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1944-471: A few of the damaged buildings were restored. Detailed information and pictures can be found in : https://www.bhaktapur.com/ The term Lāyakū ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐮𑐵𑐫𑐎𑐸 ‎) is used to refer to any of the Malla dynasty palace or palace square. In order to differentiate it from the palace square of other cities, the name khwopa ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐏𑑂𑐰𑐥 ‎), the Newar name of Bhaktapur

2106-504: A guest of Capuchin Catholic friars living in Bhaktapur . He described Bhaktapur as: Badgao (Bhaktapur) stands on a hill some six or seven miles from Kathmandu. The air is much better, and with its fine houses and well laid out streets it is a much gayer and more beautiful city than the other two; it has several hundred thousand inhabitants who are engaged in trade Similarly, he described Bhupatindra Malla as: The old Kinglet of Badgao

2268-486: A large stone inscription beside the pavillion contains a poem about the six seasons composed by Jitamitra Malla and his court. During the Rana regime , the building housed the tax division of the city . The building has been described by German architect, Götz Hagmüller as the "jewel in the crown" and the most "gorgeous" building of the square. Severely weakened by the earthquake of 1934 , it collapsed nine hours after

2430-507: A ledger book which states that: On the 10th day of the dark half of the month of Jyeshtha of Nepal Sambat 819 (= 12 June 1699), Sri Sri Sumāti Jitamitra Malla performed a siddhi homa . Scholar Bhim Nidhi Tiwari theorised that Jitamitra Malla may have died around January 1705. A contemporary chronicle ( Thyāsāfu in Nepal Bhasa ) from 1708 report the death of Jitamitra's younger brother Ugra Malla. The same chronicle also mention

2592-545: A lot of guests were to be invited in the wedding, the income of the royal family couldn't handle the expenses alone. So, the Malla kings and especially Jitamitra Malla collected culinary ingredients from the cities within the Kingdom of Bhaktapur . This form of taxing was called " sevākū ". The first of these "sevākū" was collected from Nala . Jitamitra Malla wrote "...As per the orders of Sri Sri Sumāti Jitamitra Malla , Nala

2754-497: A lotus in which the creator deity Brahma is seated, who is being attacked by demons. In his two hands, Bhupatindra Malla holds the chariot of Rama and Ravana and depicts their battle from the Ramayana . In his shoulders are miniatures of Ganesha and Kumara and near his feet is a mini Vishvarupa figure of a half man half bull, representing Nandi . Thus this mural depicts, Bhupatindra Malla and his queen Vishva Lakshmi as

2916-576: A part of their own kingdom. Similar to Lalitpur, the monarch Bhaskar Malla was just eight years old and the power was on the hands of his mother, Bhuvana Lakshmi. The queen mother of Kantipur , went to Lalitpur to bring Lokaprakāsha to her kingdom. The twenty-year-old mother of Lokaprakāsha, Yogamati asked Bhupatindra Malla for help against Kantipur 's plan. With Bhupatindra's help, Lalitpur captured Bhuvana Lakshmi and imprisoned her for four days. The citizens of Kantipur then kidnapped Lokaprakāsha but Bhupatindra Malla rescued him and declared Lalitpur

3078-459: A path". The temple is alternatively named after the enshrined deity, Hari–Shankara , a syncretic form of Vishnu and Shiva . The temple was architecturally very similar to the Nyatapola ; it stood on a pedestal containing statues of its guardians, in Lapan Dega's case, lions and garudas and it rose three storey from the pedestal. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 earthquake and

3240-421: A rectangular platform which is frequently used by people as a stage to watch festive processions passing through the square. It was the tallest temple of the square; a terracotta temple that stood on a pedestal containing sculptures of its guardians, namely lions , elephants and cows . The temple enshrined a lingam associated with Silu , a lake in northern Nepal that is considered sacred to Shiva , hence it

3402-535: A result, the windows on the top floor which previously protruded out of the façade forming a balcony like structure were simply plastered to the façade and European style roof tiles were used instead of the Nepalese traditional ones. In the 19th century, the palace was used as for administrative purposes including a post office and as such the frescoes in the second floor were greatly damaged and covered in soot, ink and glue stains making them unrecognisable. After

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3564-555: A skilled ruler and since childhood he was given a chance to rule alongside his father. He was also keen on building, having built a hiti and a public shelter (called a phalcā in Nepal Bhasa ) at Thimi as a prince. His most famous contributions are the Nyatapola Temple , a Nepalese-style five-storey temple completed in a six-month period between 1702 and 1703 and the palace of fifty-five windows, both of which are often considered an apogee of Nepalese architecture . He

3726-534: A small two storey pagoda was commissioned by Ganga Rani and was located on the immediate south of the western corner of the Nhēkanjhya Lyākū palace where the National Art Gallery is housed today. Ganga Rani was a queen regnant of Bhaktapur who jointly ruled the kingdom with her sons from 1559. The only known visual depiction of the lost temple are two paintings done by Oldfied in 1853. It

3888-406: A structure originally built during the reign of Jayayakshya Malla in the 15th century. The palace was built for musical purposes as indicated by 147 miniature carvings of musical raga on the cornice separating the ground floor from the first. Despite being used as government offices, police stations and post offices in the 19th and 20th century, the palace of fifty five windows contains some of

4050-444: A trip to Britain , commissioned a British style building named " Lāl Baithak " in its place. The western half of the palace was also altered to some degree in 1856, as although the interiors were built in a British style , the outer façade still retained some of the old Newar windows including the old palace's namesake lattice window. The earthquake of 1934 destroyed the western half of the palace and its namesake window, including

4212-425: A worker who attended the construction of the Nyatapola temple daily, did no work but ate the most lunch. When the other workers noticed him, they quickly reported to Bhupatindra Malla but the king consoled the workers by saying that "he will be of some use, some day". Eventually, when the time came to install the heavy golden pinnacle on the top of the temple, the same worker who did no work before, quickly grabbed

4374-399: A young Bhupatindra Malla. Although it is unclear how a popular figure such as Bhāju Kasa was antagonized in folklore. Before, Bhāju Kasa took office, legal documents contained Annapurna Lakshmi, Bhupatindra Malla's great-grandaunt, as the witness. Her name first appeared in a legal document from 30 December 1667 during the reign of Jagat Prakasha Malla , Bhupatindra Malla's grandfather. She

4536-473: Is a courtyard named, Mālati chuk which is one of the few remaining of the 99 courtyards of the royal palace. The courtyard is noted for a set of stone inscription set up by Bhupatindra Malla and his father Jitamitra Malla which contains short descriptions of the festivals celebrated in Bhaktapur . The courtyard once housed a golden water spout ( hiti in Newari ) as well but it has been stolen. This hiti

4698-471: Is among the most popular and influential of the Malla kings and also has great cultural importance in Bhaktapur. The silhouette of his gold-plated bronze statue at the royal palace complex is often used by various organizations and corporations as a symbol to represent Bhaktapur . Bhupatindra Malla was born to Jitamitra Malla by his queen consort Lālamati on kārtika śukla khaṣṭhī ( the sixth day of

4860-469: Is attributed to Bhupatindra Malla who is believed to have commissioned the building to protect his residence, the palace of fifty five windows from the harmful "energy" radiated by the lingam housed in the nearby Yaskhasvara temple which pointed north towards his residence; its unusual eight cornered roof believed to drive away the harmful "radiation". In actuality however, the Chyasilin Mandap

5022-478: Is based upon the folklore of Bhāgirāma Kāyastha (alias Bhāju Kasa), the chief minister in Jitamitra Malla 's court. Although Jitamitra Malla himself speaks highly of Bhāju Kasa, even declaring him as the second greatest in the kingdom after him in one of his inscriptions, the folklore of Bhaktapur sees him as an antagonist figure who tried to usurp the throne and assassinate a young Bhupatindra Malla with

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5184-455: Is clear that Bhupatindra Malla organized a siddhāgni kotyāhuti yagya in order to offer an extremely small metallic bell, the same type of yagya done to commemorate the construction of the Nyatapola temple . As per historian Purushottam Shrestha, the reason for performing such complex ritual for the act of offering a small bell can be attributed to the plague epidemic that ravaged Nepal for seven years from 1716 to 1723. The bell however

5346-410: Is derived from a lattice window ( jhya ) which had a glass pane ( nhēkan ) placed in it. The window, which has been lost today was placed by Bhupatindra Malla with the intention of exhibiting a glass pane which he had received as a gift from a Mughal emperor . The palace is also known by other names such as Simhādhwākhā Lyākū ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐳𑐶𑑄𑐴𑐢𑑂𑐰𑐵𑐏𑐵 𑐮𑑂𑐫𑐵𑐎𑐸 ‎), named after

5508-458: Is named as Silu Mahadeva ( Newar : silu māhādyaḥ ). The temple, based on its architecture is thought to be from the 17th century or earlier but its exact antiquity is not known yet. The temple was destroyed in the earthquake of 1934 and was subsequently like other post earthquake restoration back then, replaced with a small dome like structure. The post 1934 structure was aptly referred as phasi dega, translating to pumpkin -like temple. After

5670-525: Is prefixed. The term Lyākū originates from the Sanskrit word rājakula, meaning "royal palace". Today, the term Bhaktapur Durbar Square and its Nepali translation is also widely used. The Durbar Square of Bhaktapur once fortified and occupied a very large area. After, Bhaktapur was defeated by the Gorkhali forces, the palace square fell into disrepair and the earthquakes of 1833 and 1934 reduced

5832-524: Is spared by the assassins who run their knife on a goat instead and is picked up by a family of Tibetan artisans who raises him and eventually Bhupatindra Malla gathers his own army and takes back the throne. It is said that then Bhupatindra Malla executes Bhāju Kasa and puts his usurping stepmother on house arrest in the Thanthu Lyākū palace. In actuality however, Bhāju Kasa was an extremely popular figure in contemporary Bhaktapur whose popularity caused to be

5994-493: Is still a mystery. Catching and taming of wild elephants was considered a sign of masculinity in medieval Nepal . There are three instances of Bhupatindra Malla hunting for wild elephants in the Terai forest . The first hunt was held on 24 March 1708. There are no further details about this hunt as the chronicle simply mention that Bhupatindra Malla chased elephants on Fālguna sudi 13 of Nepal Sambat 829. The second hunt

6156-453: Is still sung by some Dapha groups of the city . The priests of the Taleju temple located in one of the courtyards of the palace, to this day, ring the bell once everyday during the puja of the goddess. There are similar large bells in the palace complex of Kathmandu and Lalitpur and among them Bhaktapur 's is the oldest. The Taleju bell is hung atop a stone pedestal which forms

6318-423: Is the fierce manifestation of Parvati while the statue on the right depicts Ugrabhairava, a fierce manifestation of Bhairava , who is a fierce manifestation of Shiva . Today, these statues are a tourist attraction in Bhaktapur and the local government describes them as "a masterpieces of the medieval period". They were commissioned by Bhupatindra Malla and based on the inscription on it pedestal, installed on

6480-462: Is the tallest building in Bhaktapur and holds a great cultural significance to the locals despite being off limits. The square that houses this temple is the most important area of the town. Likewise, the Nyatapola is the tallest in Nepal as well and is considered the greatest contribution by Bhupatindra Malla. The construction of the temple was completed in six months. Before the construction of

6642-477: Is to provide the following to Purvarāma who will bring them to the royal court..." on his letter. The list of ingredients asked from Nala included, a buffalo costing six mohars , two ducks, two goats, forty eggs, 2.18 liters oil, 160 kg flattened rice , 2 kg salt, fish, dhau , 3.2 liters milk, banana, pork, venison and different varieties of sesame . Diksha ceremonies were generally held in an eclipse , solar eclipses being more favoured. There

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6804-545: The 1934 earthquake , as is the case with many heritages in the square. A gold plated bronze statue of Bhupatindra Malla , who ruled Bhaktapur from 1696 to 1722 is placed in stone column at the center of the square. The monarch dedicated his image, seated in Vajrasana and Añjali Mudrā to their tutelary goddess , Taleju in a similar to Pratap Malla in Kathmandu and Yog Narendra Malla in Lalitpur . The statue has

6966-495: The 1934 earthquake , used to exist north of it. Unlike the Siddhi Lakshmi temple, it was not restored after the earthquake and instead a one storey building has been constructed in order to shelter the image of the deity. It is believed that Yantra Vatsala was built in a similar style to its sister temple, Siddhi Vatsala but a complete pre- 1934 picture of the temple has not been discovered. Annapurna Vatsala, another of

7128-585: The Akshaya Tritiya of 1706. Recently, a hoax has surfaced about these statues which says that Bhupatindra Malla had cut off the hands of the artisan who carved the statue of Devi so that he may not replicate it in Kantipur or Lalitpur and then he went on and carved the Bhairava statue with his feet after which his feet was also cut off. While it was true that there was a fierce competition between

7290-539: The Kingdom of Bhaktapur , the citizens from the Kingdom of Patan also volunteered in the construction. By early February 1703, the construction of the plinth was completed. The construction was halted temporarily in April for the Bisket Jatra festival. The construction work accelerated after the end of the festival and by the end of April, the lowermost storey was finished. In early May, Bhupatindra Malla started

7452-420: The Kingdom of Lalitpur had to pay a hefty amount to Bhaktapur and Gorkha , Makwanpur and Tanahun if an alliance was made with Kantipur without their consent. This treaty greatly angered Yog Narendra Malla and in 1705 he attacked a fort called " Obhu " that belonged to Bhaktapur . However, due to the fort's strength Yog Narendra Malla's force were not able to capture it. His forces continued to attack

7614-529: The Mallas and the main figure in the tympanum depicts an anthropomorphic form of the goddess. The Yakshasvara temple is often called the "Pashupati of Bhaktapur " because of the architectural similarities with the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu . The temple was consecrated by Karpura Devi in 1484 and was dedicated to her deceased husband, Yaksha Malla . This is one of the few temples in

7776-537: The New Road Gate in Kahtmandu . The Taleju Bell ( Newar : tava gāṅ , lit.   ' big bell ' ) is a large bell dedicated to Taleju , the tutelary goddess of the Mallas , offered by the last monarch of the city, Ranajit Malla on 6 January 1737. The construction of the bell started on June 1732 and took four years and six months to complete. A Newar language song composed during its inauguration

7938-400: The Newari script , on her coiffure, thus identifying her with Vishva Lakshmi , the queen consort and wife of Bhupatindra Malla . Aptly, the central face of the male figure also matched with the face of Bhupatindra Malla . Apart from the royal couple, the mural incorporates various religious stories. In Bhupatindra Malla 's navel sits Vishnu in his Narayana from and from his navel sprouts

8100-525: The Nyatapola temple being his most revered contribution. An integral part of the local folklore, Bhupatindra Malla is regarded as a great builder and a lover of arts whose reign is considered the cultural high point of Bhaktapur. In particular, he was a scholar of the Maithili language and composed 26 plays in Maithili throughout his lifetime. His parents, Jitamitra and Lālamati, wanted him to be

8262-464: The Nyatapola temple , the tallest building in Bhaktapur was a Shiva temple in the palace complex. The Shiva temple also features a five-level platform similar to the Nyatapola . So, it is possible that Bhupatindra Malla may have used the Shiva temple as a base when drawing the architectural drawing for the temple. It was said that Bhupatindra Malla was skilled in woodcarving and Vastu shastra and

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8424-401: The Nyatapola temple . The palace once covered a large area and was the largest and tallest palace of Nepal before being partially destroyed in the earthquake of 1833 , as seen in the watercolour done by Oldfield in 1856 which shows the partially destroyed palace in the deep right part of the painting. In fact, the painting by Oldfield is one of only two known visual depictions of the palace,

8586-463: The Ramayana titled Dukhi Vāro and the play was shown around the town . The digging work for the foundation of the temple was completed by late December 1701. Bhupatindra Malla himself laid three bricks on the foundation thereby commencing the construction work. The construction work gained further momentum as almost all the citizens of Bhaktapur came to volunteer. Likewise, citizens of Thimi , Banepa , Dhulikhel and other smaller settlements under

8748-464: The Thanthu Lyākū palace which was built by himself and spent the rest of his life in pilgrimage and other religious activities. Just a few months after his coronation , Bhupatindra Malla inaugurated a play named " Kolāsuravadhopākhyāna " in early March 1697. For this occasion, he offered a ritual oil lamp called tvādevā to Nāsadyah, the deity of music and dance. Yog Narendra Malla became

8910-489: The earthquake in 1934 , the 32 carved wooden struts containing various depictions of Krishna standing above couples in erotic poses were taken to Kathmandu and later used to decorate a modern gate in New Road, Kathmandu . When the Chyasilin Mandap was being restored in 1987, the restoration team's request that the struts be returned was denied and the team subsequently used plain wooden struts. The old struts are still at

9072-402: The earthquake of 1833 was demolished by Dhir Shumsher Rana who established a kitchen garden in its area. Later in 1947, a government school was shifted to the area which still stands there. The palace was also called " nakhachhe tavagola kwatha " (meaning "a large fort meant for festivals"), during the Malla dynasty . When it was still standing, Basantapūra palace was the largest palace of

9234-405: The king of Lalitpur . For this, he gave two elephants and one camel to the king of Lalitpur while Bhaksar Malla of Kantipur received a camel and an elephant each from him. Based on the stone sculpture of a camel pair at a temple in the palace square of Bhaktapur , it becomes clear that these camels were Dromedary . In the entirety of Nepal , there are only two depictions of camels ,

9396-811: The temple in Puri ). Among these the Jagannath temple was the largest and was destroyed in the earthquake of 1833 after which a shed like structure was built. It is presently being restored to its original architecture. In 1667, the Gopinath Krishna temple was consecrated in the Nepalese style akin to the Dwarkadhish Temple which replaces Kedarnath as one of the Char Dham in Indian traditions. Similarly, all five of these temples were restored in

9558-408: The waxing moon in the month of Ashadha (late June–early July 1702). All in all, it took six months to build the temple. When construction finished, a grand feast was organized by a grateful Bhupatindra Malla and almost 20,000 people attended. Bhupatindra may have also authored the " Siddhāgni Kotyāhuti Dévala Pratisthā ", manuscript detailing the construction work of the Nyatapola temple with

9720-492: The 17th century monarch of the city , Jitamitra Malla , is currently the only surviving physical description of the palace complex. The inscription goes: "The wise king[ sic ] Jitamitra Malla in order to please his family goddess , during the ministership of Bhagirāma built this Thanthu Layaku . This palace should not be harmed by anyone; its courtyards, gardens, balconies and hiti should be maintained as per traditional rules. The reigning monarch shall be responsible for

9882-493: The 18th century by Bhupatindra Malla to its present state. It is believed that each of the four temples stood on the direction of the four corners of the roof of the Gopinath Krishna temple. While it is true for three of the temples, the domed temple of Ramesvar is joined with the floor plan of the Jagannath temple, although it is said to be the product of renovation works in 1856. The name of this palace, Nhēkanjhya Lyākū ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐴𑑂𑐣𑐾𑐎𑐒𑐗𑑂𑐫 𑐮𑑂𑐫𑐵𑐎𑐸 ‎)

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10044-467: The Golden Gate as "the most lovely piece of art in the whole kingdom ; it is placed like a jewel, flashing innumerable facets in the handsome setting of its surroundings". The Golden gate has attached to in on either sides, two Newar language inscriptions of Ranajit Malla , the king who commissioned the gate. The gate serves as an entrance to the shrine of Taleju , who was the tutelary goddess of

10206-532: The Nritya Vatsala is a stone temple and is generally referred as Lohan dega , translating to "stone temple". It is dedicated to Siddhi Lakshmi, a form of Devi and is also referred as the temple of Siddhi Lakshmi. The temple is especially noted for its guardian statues, which includes a man and a woman holding a child and a chained dog, a pair of camels , horses , rhinoceroses and mythical beasts. Its sister temple Yantra Vatsala, before being destroyed in

10368-627: The Vatsala temple is located south of the Yakshasvara temple is more commonly called the " Guhyeswari of Bhaktapur ". The image of the deity the small shrine is similar to the Annapurna temple located in Asan, Kathmandu . The temple of Annapurna Vatsala is rather small when compared to its sister temple, it is not known whether it is a reduced structure as a result of a hasty restoration work after

10530-533: The administrative offices were shifted in the 1980s, the West German government funded committee studied the frescos in the palace and the frescoes were cleaned by them, although some of the damage was irreversible. Similarly, in 2006 the city government of Bhaktapur renovated the entire palace; the European roof tiles were replaced with the traditional pōla appāh and the top floor windows were renovated as

10692-406: The attacks on Bhaktapur stopped as a crisis of succession was created in Lalitpur . After the death of Yog Narēndra Malla, the throne of Lalitpur became empty. Bhupatindra Malla helped in the crowning of Lokaprakāsha Malla, the son of Yogamati who herself was the daughter of Yoga Naréndra Malla. Since, Lokaprakāsha was just seven years old, Kantipur saw this as the chance to make Lalitpur

10854-411: The best preserved murals from the Malla dynasty . Unlike most Nepalese paintings, the murals were signed by its painter as well, but significant parts of his signature has peeled off and the only readable part of his inscription mentions him being a Chitrakar from Yāché (name of a locale in Bhaktapur ). Owing to it being used as a government office for almost two centuries, many parts of murals in

11016-431: The big influence that Lālamati, who even consecrated several gilt bronze statues of herself and Jitamitra Malla , and Ugra Malla had during Bhupatindra Malla's reign. Similarly, Bhupatindra Malla's rock inscription at a quarry in the eastern part of Bhaktapur states that "Bhupatindra Malla, in order to build a stone temple in his father's name had these rocks collected". So, Jitamitra Malla 's death just like his birth

11178-651: The bright half of the month of kārtika ) in Nepal Sambat 795, equivalent to 3 November 1674 on the Gregorian calendar . There was another son born to Lalamati and Jitamitra Malla before the birth of Bhupatindra Malla. The contemporary expenditure book has a record of the Annaprashana ( Newar : macā janko ) ceremony of a prince in April 1674 ( NS 795), before the birth of Bhupatindra Malla. This prince has simply been referred as "Jitamitra Malla's Prince" in

11340-471: The ceremony. The dancers from Kantipur performed a dance named " Bhimānanda pyākhan " for which they were paid 20 rupees . Similarly, dancers from Thimi and Sāngā, which lied within the Kingdom of Bhaktapur , were only paid 8 rupees for their performance during the weeding. The preparations for the wedding ceremony to be held in November began from June. During a marriage of the Newar prince, there

11502-412: The chief minister Lakshmi Narayana Joshi. In 1689, Yog Narēndra Malla with the help of Jitamitra Malla successful isolated Kantipur and the combined forces attacked several forts that belonged to Kantipur while the infant king was being paraded around the town. Bhupatindra Malla with the help of Gorkha , Makwanpur and Tanahun forced Yog Narendra Malla to sign a treaty in 1701 according to which

11664-406: The chief minister, Bhāju Kasa, who also wanting to usurp the throne himself decides to help her and the couple manages to persuade Bhupatindra Malla to visit a nearby forest with some hired assassins. The assassins however finding him innocent and touched by his pleadings leave him in the forest and run their knives on a goat . Bhupatindra Malla is later found by a family of Tibetan craftsmen and it

11826-418: The coronation of Bhupatindra however, Bhāju Kasa disappears from records. Moreover, Bhupatindra's chief minister Hāku Vāro (colloquially Hāku Bhāju) also didn't serve him throughout his reign, unlike the case of his father . It appears that Bhupatindra became more biased towards his mother Lālamati, particularly because he wanted to avoid his minister gaining as much power and popularity as Bhāju Kasa did during

11988-536: The courtyard but was shifted to one of the restricted courtyards in 1957. The Luṁ dhvākā ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐮𑐸𑑃 𑐢𑑂𑐰𑐵𑐏𑐵 ‎; Sanskrit : 𑐳𑑂𑐰𑐬𑑂𑐞𑐡𑑂𑐰𑐵𑐬 ‎; meaning "golden gate") which serves as an entrance to the inner courtyards of the former royal palace was constructed between 1751 and 1754 by Subhākara, Karuṇākara and Ratikara. The project was initially planned in 1646 by Jagajjyoti Malla who brought two goldsmiths, Guṇasiṃhadeva Nivā and Mānadeva Nivā from Lalitpur . The smiths died before

12150-418: The current king of Bhaktapur. The doubt regarding the death of Jitamitra Malla was further supported by a line from the document containing the religious rites performed by him, which dated to around June of 1699 mentions a homa ritual performed by Jitamitra Malla. Because of these evidence, historians pushed forward the idea that Jitamitra Malla voluntarily gave up the throne for Bhupatindra Malla and spent

12312-415: The details of the cost of the construction, the timeline of the construction, names of the workers who worked on it including their work time and wages. Vira Vétāla ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐰𑐷𑐬 𑐰𑐾𑐟𑐵𑐮 ‎), also commonly called Vétadyah ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐰𑐾𑐟 𑐡𑑂𑐫𑑅 ‎) is considered the vahana of Bhairava in Bhaktapur and is a popular deity in Bhaktapur. Although he is depicted with

12474-417: The details of the dishes served during the feast following this ceremony. Bhupatindra Malla's childhood has been highly dramatised in the folklore of Bhaktapur . The story, although historically inaccurate quite popular in Bhaktapur . The story goes that Jitamitra Malla 's junior queen despised Bhupatindra Malla and wanted to make her own issue the future king of Bhaktapur . So, she asks for help from

12636-416: The earthquake hit. Contrary to the wishes of the locals of Bhaktapur , the then governor of the city decided against restoring the pavilion; its ruins, including carved pillars, struts and windows were sent to be used in Kathmandu . The locals of Bhaktapur detested the governor's decisions and it was said that a divine snake spawned from the ruins of the pavilion to attack the governor. The building

12798-401: The either side of the main portal to the interior of the palace. An inscription in the pedestal of these statues dates them to 9 February 1698 and attributes them to Bhupatindra Malla and his uncle Ugra Malla. Bhupatindra Malla and Ugra Malla set up guthi and gave it the job of washing these statues with ghee six times a year on the dates mentioned in the inscription. Behind the palace

12960-544: The expenditure book and finds no mention in any other sources. Bhupatindra Malla was raised by his mother Lālamati who played a very important role to shape the psychology of the young prince. Many of Bhupatindra Malla's pre-marital rite of passage have been recorded in the contemporary expenditure books, like the Chudakarana , Upanayana and the Diksha . For instance, the Chudakarana ceremony of Bhupatindra Malla

13122-411: The feast. In the feast following the wedding, all the citizens of Bhaktapur were invited. Likewise, 16,244 citizens from other cities within the kingdom were also invited. Jitamitra Malla himself wrote a Newari play titled " Madālasā Harana " which was performed during the wedding. Dancers from the royal court of Kantipur as well as other citizens from Kantipur were invited to perform in

13284-457: The first being a stone sculpture at a temple of Bhaktapur and the other in a latticed window in Bhaktapur as well. It becomes clear that the Kingdom of Bhaktapur had some camels, a non-native and a rare animal for Nepal . The presence of camels became the subject of pride for Bhaktapur . The temple containing the sculpture of the camel pair was built during the reign of Bhupatindra's father . So, Bhaktapur might have had camels even before

13446-459: The first half of the 20th century and the glass pane was kept by Bhupatindra Malla to exhibit it to the locals. This window has often been dubbed as the first use of glass pane on a window in Nepal. Both the glass piece and the window itself were lost after the earthquake of 1934 destroyed the palace. There are two large stone images of Narasimha and Hanuman beside the two large stone lions on

13608-498: The fort while Yog Narendra himself was operating from Changu . As the threat of attack on Bhaktapur grew, Bhupatindra Malla with his son Ranajit , retreated to Banepa and declared it the kingdom's temporary capital. On 28 October 1705, Yog Narēndra Malla was poisoned in Changu , probably by the spies of Bhupatindra Malla. As a result of the poisoning, Yog Narendra Malla died on Wednesday, 28 October 1705. After, Yog Narēndra's death,

13770-465: The fort. Gaurivivāha ( lit.   ' marriage of Gauri ' ) was a Nepal Bhasa play detailing the marriage of Parvati to Shiva . The play written by Bhupatindra Malla himself which was shown in the Kingdom of Patan in early January 1707. The money collected from the play was used by Bhupatindra Malla to offer a bell to the lord of dance, Nrityasvara . Many historians and authors have wrongly written that Jitamitra Malla died around

13932-440: The glass pane and after the earthquake it was haphazardly reconstructed in its present form. It is very likely that the 1698 form of the palace was a remodeled version of a previously existing palace which was probably damaged by an earthquake in 1681 . The namesake of the palace, the lattice window with a glass pane was placed right above the main portal on the second floor. Glass was considered extremely rare in Nepal, even till

14094-399: The god of music , hence the prefix Nritya is added in the name. The antiquity of this temple is not known but the present form of the temple was built by Bhupatindra Malla . The construction of the current form of the temple began around February 1715 as indicated by a rock inscription in a quarry east of the city , but the temple seems to have been in existence before 1715. A bell hung on

14256-413: The greatest paintings of the world". Other murals in the palace include scenes from the life of Krishna , a hunting scene in the Terai forest and miscellaneous murals of the royal family and everyday objects. This palace was damaged by the earthquake of 1934 ; the top floor was entirely destroyed. Like most reconstruction at that time, the palace of fifty-five windows was reconstructed haphazardly. As

14418-431: The help of Jitamitra Malla's youngest queen. The story also assumes that Bhājyā Pūkhū, a large rectangular tank on the eastern border of Bhaktapur with a Shiva temple in its center which was commissioned by and named after Bhāju Kasa, was in fact built by Bhāju Kasa in order to win the support of the junior queen. In reality however, the pond existed since the 12th century and Bhāju Kasa only commissioned its renovation as

14580-458: The idea that Bhupatindra Malla succeeded his father via a revolt just like in the case of Pratap Malla , after putting him in house arrest. Under the direction of his father , Bhupatindra Malla had renovated a stone spout ( hiti ) and a resting place ( phalcā ) in Thimi . When Bhupatindra Malla became sufficiently skilled to rule on his own, Jitamitra Malla abdicated the throne. He lived in

14742-399: The king of the Kingdom of Lalitpur (present day Lalitpur, Nepal ) after he started a revolt against his father Srinivasa Malla. Yog Narēndra Malla was an ambitious king who upon his coronation in 1684 made an alliance with Jitamitra Malla in order to isolate and take over Kantipur . At that time, Kantipur's monarch was an infant Bhupālēndra Malla and the power was mostly on the hands of

14904-439: The king would talk with each other from their rooftops. When the queen noticed them, she started to worry that the gazers might fall in love with each other. So, she requested her husband to construct a tall temple dedicated to Goddess Siddhi Lakshmi, that will calm the angry Bhairava while secretly hoping that it would block the view of the woman's house from the palace. Ugra Malla (official name Sri Sri Jaya Ugra Malla Deva)

15066-442: The kingdom who feared the same fate. With the hopes of preventing the epidemic, Bhupatindra Malla and his court performed a siddhāgni kotyāhuti yagya in order to offer a bell to Siddhi Vatsalā who is regarded as a powerful mother goddess . The 18th century Plague epidemic was the most deadly epidemic in history of Nepal. It appears that Lālamati Dévi ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐮𑐵𑐮𑐩𑐟𑐷 𑐡𑐾𑐰𑐷 ‎), Bhupatindra's mother,

15228-433: The large phalcā , the tava sattala . This temple too was destroyed in the 1934 earthquake . Its pagoda roofs can be seen in pre– 1934 photos and paintings of the square. Translating to "upper palace" from Newar , Thantu Layaku occupied an extensive area containing numerous buildings, courtyards and gardens. Today, only a single courtyard of the palace containing a golden fountain survives. An inscription set up by

15390-582: The late years of the 17th century states, "This is the kingdom (referring to Bhaktapur ) won by Bhupatindra Malla", perhaps indicating a usurpation. Furthermore, a contemporary Paubha painting of Shiva which contains the miniature of the royal family of Bhaktapur does not have a miniature of Jitamitra Malla . The royal family depicted composed of Bhupatindra Malla on his throne, his uncle Ugra Malla, his mother Lālamati, his sister Bhānumati and his queen Vishva Lakshmi seated together and in prayer to Shiva . Jitamitra Malla's name appears for one last time in

15552-465: The learned and patient king Jitamitra Malla who is the greatest in the kingdom . After him, the intelligent minister Bhāgirāma is the greatest. Meanwhile, Lakshmi Narayana Joshi, the minister of Kantipur became jealous of Bhāju Kasa's influence and fame in Bhaktapur . So, the kingdom of Kantipur warned Jitamitra Malla of an attack if Bhāju Kasa was not removed from office. Jitamitra Malla couldn't remove Bhāju Kasa due his immense popularity among

15714-501: The locals. As a result, the forces of Kantipur surrounded the western gate of Bhaktapur for about a month after which they ransacked Bhāju Kasa's property. Bhāju Kasa then fled away to Lalitpur . There Yog Narēndra Malla, the king of Lalitpur found Bhāju Kasa innocent and convinced Lakshmi Narayana Joshi to reinstall him the court of Jitamitra Malla . After returning to office, Bhāju Kasa's popularity grew even more, perhaps surpassing that of Jitamitra Malla . This immense popularity

15876-443: The magistrate for Bhaktapur in the late 19th century used the wooden tympanum of its entrance gate, which was commissioned by Bhupatindra Malla during its restoration, and its windows as firewood. Similarly, In 1947 when a government school was shifted to its area, the school building was made right on top of the foundation of the old palace and since the school is still present in the area, excavation work has not been done. Today,

16038-466: The maps for the temple were made by him with the help of other experts. Similarly, before the Nyatapola was constructed there existed a temple referred as " Ngātapūlū " in the " Siddhāgni koṭyāhuti devala pratishṭhā" manuscript . Even before the construction began formally, the woodcarving and sculpting work had started. In the " Siddhāgni koṭyāhuti devala pratishṭhā " manuscript , it is written that

16200-500: The name of her deceased son. Hāku Bhāro, colloquially Hāku Bhāju was the chief minister in Bhupatindra Malla's court. Hāku Bhāro replaced Bhāgirāma Kāyastha (colloquially known as Bhāju Kasa ) , who was the minister in Jitamitra Malla 's court. Soon after he took tenure in 1676, Bhāju Kasa's fame started to grow among was the people of Bhaktapur . An inscription form Khaumā district in Bhaktapur mentions: Hail

16362-485: The only remaining part of the palace are the two large statues of guardian lions and a pair of statue of Ugracaṇdī and Ugrabhairava, the destructive forms of Devi and Shiva . Not much is known about this palace, which once existed east of the Basantapura palace. The palace was likely demolished during the restoration work commissioned in 1856 by Dhir Shumsher Rana . Two artworks by Henry Ambrose Oldfield depict

16524-475: The other one being a fresco at a restrictive courtyard in the palace square, where only priests are allowed and photography is prohibited and such is the only publicly available image of the now destroyed palace. In 1769, after the defeat of Malla rulers of Bhaktapur by the Gorkhalis , the buildings within the former palace square were left in a state of disrepair. The palace after being partially destroyed in

16686-441: The palace have been irreversibly damaged. Some of the murals in the palace have been plastered over by a new layer when the building was being used by the army in the 20th century. Still, after extensive restoration work, many of the important murals of the palace have survived. The former private chamber of the palace contains a 2.1 m long mural of a multi-armed, multi-faced male figure embracing his female consort. The scene resembles

16848-462: The palace of fifty-five windows and the Nyatapola temple . Queen Vishva Lakshmi supported her husband in many of his ambitious construction works. According to some folklore, the tall Nyatapola Temple was commissioned by the Queen herself. The story says that once the Queen noticed her husband King Bhupatindra Malla gazing at a woman every morning. Since the woman lived near the palace, she and

17010-468: The palace seems to have functioned as a fort with a tall observatory on its rooftop and was likely functioned as an arms storage as well. Recently, while doing minor construction work in the area, a small part of a sculpture was found, which along with figurines of deities also contained a small inscription with the name of Jagajjyoti Malla . There are two other extant Narayana temples in the square built as Shikhara . The extinct Narayana temple built as

17172-417: The palace square. The goddess Bacchalā is locally believed to shield the city from an epidemic and hence all of these temples were consecrated with the intention of preventing one. The centrally located Nritya Vatsala ( Sanskrit : Nṛtya Vatsalā ; Nepal Bhasa : Nṛtya Bacchalā ) is the most well known of the Vatsala temples. The image of the goddess enshrined is placed above a representation of Shiva as

17334-431: The palace. His usurping stepmother is imprisoned within the palace while Bhāju Kasa is taken to a forest near the western gates of Bhaktapur where he is executed. Despite being a popular folklore, it has no historical basis. Not only are there no records of Jitamitra Malla's queen apart from Lālamati, a young Bhupatindra Malla is depicted in a few contemporary paintings and there are ledgers books of various ceremonies of

17496-466: The palace. However, the antiquity of this building is not properly known. This palace is mentioned in an inscription during the reign of Jitamitra Malla (reign 1672–1696), so it must date from before his reign. Similarly, during the Battle of Bhaktapur , it is said that Ranajit Malla took shelter in this palace as the invading Gorkhali armies started to enter the palace square. The word word Chaukota literally means "four forts" in Sanskrit and as such

17658-408: The path ' ) was the tallest Nepalese pagoda style temple of the square. It was erected by Srinivasa Malla of Lalitpur in 1657 as a sign of friendship between him and Jagat Prakasha Malla of Bhaktapur . The temple was constructed right on the traditional path that festive processions took while passing through the square, hence the temple was given the name Lāpān Dega meaning "temple that blocks

17820-470: The plinth of the temple is locally known as 'the barking dog bell" as it is believed that, when rung, the bell's sound causes dogs in the vicinity to start barking. The name Nṛtya Bacchalā is rarely used to refer to the temple, instead Lohan dega , translating to "stone temple" is more generally used. Near the western part of the square are two Vatsala temples, both of which were consecrated in 1695 by Jitamitra Malla . The temple of Siddhi Vatsala, similar to

17982-406: The post 1934 structure was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake , the temple was restored to its original pre- 1934 form. These two structures are colloquially referred as tāhā phalcā meaning "large phalcā "; a phalca being a communal resting place common in Nepal . Yetachapari located on the central part of the square whereas its sister structure, Tava Sattal is located on the eastern part of

18144-455: The project even started but a model of the gate they made still survives and appears that the project was postponed, presumably due to lack of gold. It wasn't until 1751, after getting the funds from Ranajit Malla , that their descendants Subhākara, Karuṇākara and Ratikara began the work finishing it in 1754. Today, it is considered one of the most important works of Nepalese art. Percy Brown , an eminent English art critic and historian, described

18306-489: The reign of Bhupatindra. Apart from the camel trade by Bhaktapur with its neighbours and the few depictions of it in Bhaktapur as well, other mentions of camels has not been found in Nepalese history yet. Ippolito Desideri was an Italian Christian missionary who arrived in Nepal on 27 December 1721 on his return trip from Tibet . He stayed in Kathmandu and Patan for a while and only entered Bhaktapur on 14 January 1722. He stayed in Bhaktapur until 25 January as

18468-446: The reign of his father . Lālamati appears as a witness in all royal cases since the reign of Bhupatindra. Lālamati helped her son greatly during his reign, especially in political issues. Lālamati outlived both her husband and her son and died in the second year of her grandson 's reign. Even after their death, Lālamati consecrated gold-plated statues of Jitamitra Malla and she set up a Guthi land to light oil lamps for Taleju in

18630-488: The rest of his life performing pious deeds. The idea was that Jitamitra Malla wanted to avoid a conflict with his heir as was the case with Pratapa Malla and his father Lakshminarasingha Malla in Kantipur and Yognarendra Malla and his father Srinivasa Malla in Lalitpur . This idea was further brought into main stream by Nepalese playwright Bhim Nidhi Tiwari in his historical drama, Mahārāja Bhūpatīndra. Recently however, historians like Om Prasad Dhaubhadel put forward

18792-481: The rest of the administrative division of Bhaktapur in his palace where he proposed his plans build the Nyatapola Temple . As soon as the decision to build the temple was made by the meeting, preparations for construction started. Trees were cut in the forests surrounding Bhaktapur and the very next day on 24 October, Bhaktapur received wood from Banepa and woodwork for the temple began. Similarly, on Sunday 27 October 1702, Bhupatindra Malla, in order to prepare

18954-427: The royal astrologer Jayanarayana wrote (this document) to Kalyana Simha. During the reign of his father Jitamitra , the chief minister Bhagiram Pradhananga (colloquially Bhāju Kasa) became popular and even claimed himself to be the most skilled in the kingdom after the king . His rapid popularity spawned rumors that he was planning to assassinate the young prince Bhupatindra and claim the throne for himself. After

19116-681: The royal palace' in Nepal Bhasa , the Kvathū Lyākū is the westermost part of the palace and is bounded by the Khaumā district in the west and the Vyāsi district in the north. This part contains the Lyākū Dhvākhā gate, the ruins of Basantapūra and Chaukota palace and a replica of the Char Dham of India. Dathū Lyākū , literally means 'middle palace' and contains the principal buildings and temples of

19278-508: The same space as the Nyatapola . By late December, the Ngātāpulu temple was destroyed and some of the surrounding houses were demolished in order to make space for the big temple. The house owners were given land in the eastern part of the town and the locale is today named Pālikhéla ( lit.   ' ground given in exchange ' ). However, one of these owners was saddened by the loss of his ancestral home and to show his sadness authored

19440-504: The same time Bhupatindra Malla was crowned. But there are some chronicles ( Thyāsāfu in Newari ) that say that Jitamitra Malla after leaving the throne once his son became capable of reigning, lived in Thanthu Lyākū, a palace constructed by Jitamitra himself and spent the rest of his life in religious activities. However, Jitamitra Malla's last days are still a mystery. Records of Jitamitra Malla disappear suddenly after Bhupatindra's coronation. During his own reign, Jitamitra Malla

19602-444: The sight of a comet around the same time which was considered a bad omen. Historian, Om Dhaubhadel has theorised that Bhupatindra Malla may have put his father in house arrest in the Thanthu Lyākū palace and crowned himself in a similar manner to what Pratap Malla did. It is really hard to prove or disprove this as the Thanthu Lyākū palace no longer exists and most of its inscription may have been lost with it. Thus, this theory

19764-456: The square and was believed to contain halls for music and sports. Some experts believe that the palace was built entirely for housing entertainment rather than for living. After the Gorkhali forces defeated Bhaktapur in 1769, they went on a looting spree of the former royal square and their documents showed that this palace was the source of most of the loot taken from the square. Similarly,

19926-657: The square that is actively worshipped by the locals. Housed inside is a Lingam similar to that of the Pasupatinath temple in Kathmandu. This temple is also noted for its erotic wooden carvings. South of the temple is a small shrine dedicated to Annapurna and is also often called the " Guhyeshwari of Bhaktapur". There are five temples dedicated to different forms of the mother goddess Vatsalā ( Sanskrit : वत्सला, meaning "loving mother") or Bacchalā ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐧𑐔𑑂𑐕𑐮𑐵 ‎) in Bhaktapur , four of which are in

20088-500: The square to its present size. The former palace ground have been used as government offices, schools and private houses. Like the ones of Kathmandu and Patan , Bhaktapur Durbar Square contains various temples, palaces and courtyards all of which were built in the traditional Nepalese architecture . In general, the Durbar Square is divided into three parts based on its location: Kvathū Lyākū , literally meaning 'lower part of

20250-459: The square. Besides the aforementioned monuments, Bhaktapur Durbar Square has lost many heritages particularly due to the earthquakes in 1833 and 1934 . Following is a list of the major lost heritages of the square: The most important building of the western part of the square was the Basantapūra rājakula , formerly a nine storey palace. The building was originally commissioned by King Jagat Prakasha Malla of Bhaktapur in the17th century but

20412-605: The square. This part contains the two main royal palaces, the Luṁ dhvākā (or the Golden gate) which servers as the main entrance to the inner courtyards of the palace and a few temples. The final part of the palace square is Thanthū Lyākū , literally meaning 'upper palace', it is the least preserved of the three parts as the former palaces and temples after being destroyed by an earthquake in 1833 has been replaced with government offices, schools and even residential buildings. Following are

20574-433: The subject of harassment from his counterpart in Kantipur . Similarly, there is no any historical evidence of Jitamitra Malla 's junior queen as he likely only had Lālamati as the only queen. Historian Dhaubhadel suspects that Bhupatindra Malla may have put both his father and his stepmother in house arrest in Thanthu Lyākū palace and then erased any evidences of his stepmother. But this theory ultimately fails to explain

20736-418: The tank and the temple in its middle likely suffered heavy damage from the earthquake in 1681 . The story further says that after gaining support of the junior queen Bhāju Kasa uses the new gained power to trick a young Bhupatindra Malla to go to a secluded forest with some hired assassins while Bhāju Kasa and Jitamitra Malla 's junior queen rule Bhaktapur. The story now shifts to a young Bhupatindra Malla who

20898-408: The temple was shifted to the museum of Bhaktapur . This temple was also known as Mashanesvara Mahadeva temple and was another lost temple located in the eastern part of the square and built in the Nepalese pagoda style . The lingam enshrined in this temple pointed eastwards instead of the usual north, hence the temple is referred as Purvesvara or the eastern lord. This temple was located behind

21060-414: The temple's plinth mention it was offered by Bhupatindra Malla himself in 1699, so it is likely that the temple was remodeled in 1715. There was an epidemic of plague that started in the Kathmandu Valley around the time this temple was being remodeled, so some historians are of the opinion that the temple was remodeled with the belief that the goddess Bacchalā will suppress the pandemic. The bell hung on

21222-401: The three cities, there are no historical records of the artisan's hand being cut off. It is likely that these statues were carved by a group led by Tulasi Lohankarmi who just a year before carved a ten foot statue of Devi for the Nyatapola temple . For his work, Tulasi was rewarded with a tola of gold along with his wage when the temple was inaugurated. The replica of the Char Dham of India

21384-407: The throne and executes Bhāju Kasa and puts his usurping stepmother in a house arrest. This event likely didn't happen and was not a true historical event but can be regarded as folklore . The main point to disprove this story is that Jitamitra Malla didn't have multiple queens. There are no mention of Jitamitra having any queen other than Lālamati. Moreover, there are chronicles documenting

21546-435: The two large statues of guardian lions (s imhā ) and Mālatīcuka Lyākū after the name of the courtyard north of the palace. It was the main residence of the royals of Bhaktapur . The construction of the palace was completed in 1698 ( Nepal Sambat 818) during the reign of Bhupatindra Malla . The current façade of the palace dates from 1856 when the eastern part of the palace was demolished by Dhir Shumsher Rana , who after

21708-459: The two of them plotted to murder a young Bhupatindra Malla. They convinced two assassins to kill the young prince in a nearby forest. The assassins however couldn't kill the pleading young prince and left him in the forest. Bhupatindra Malla would later be picked by a family of Tibetan artisans who raised him until adolescence and taught him his true identity. Bhupatindra Malla returns to Bhaktapur where due his popularity gathers his own army and storms

21870-403: The uninhabited mountains. Inside the stone Siddhi Vatsalā temple in the palace square of Bhaktapur is a small metallic bell which contains a short Newari inscription. The inscription reads "...may all be fortunate, after performing a siddhāgni kotyāhuti yagya , Sri Sri Bhupatindra Malla offered this bell inside the stone temple on the first day of Bhadra of Nepal Sambat 835....". It

22032-662: The upkeeping and restoration of this palace". Based on the inscription, the palace can be dated to around 19 June 1678. Durbar Square Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.132 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 945032002 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:02:34 GMT Bhupatindra Malla Bhupatindra Malla ( Nepal Bhasa : 𑐨𑐹𑐥𑐟𑐷𑐣𑑂𑐡𑑂𑐬 𑐩𑐮𑑂𑐮 ‎; 3 November 1674 – 15 April 1722)

22194-463: The use of steel structures over traditional construction methods was criticized by the local government and conservationists. The architects and engineers from Bhaktapur Development Project claimed that Chyasilin Mandap was an ambitious structure and had they not used modern steel beams during its restoration in 1987, it would not have survived the 2015 earthquake . When the pavilion was destroyed after

22356-461: The various rituals of a young Bhupatindra Malla and even a painting of a young Bhupatindra Malla. So, the story seems very unlikely. Initially, when history in Nepal was still in its infancy, it was believed that Bhupatindra Malla was crowned on 21 September 1696, after his father's death. However, a treaty signed between Yognarendra Malla of Patan and Bhaktapur five months after the supposed "death" of Jitamitra Malla titles Jitamitra Malla as

22518-430: The various types of bricks , gave his ministers about 244 mots 1 suki money as advance and the purchasing of bricks also began. Bhaktapur continuously received wood from the surrounding areas and by mid-November 1702, the work for 529 fyé gān (small bells hung in the roof that ring with the wind) began as well. It seems that there was already a temple called "Ngātāpulu" in the manuscripts , which once occupied

22680-461: Was offered to Goddess Taleju on 1 July 1714 by Bhupatindra Malla. A gold inscription at the Taleju temple mentions this event as "Bhupatindra Malla brought back a female elephant, Vasanti from Makwanpur . A lot of effort was put to bring her back and Sri Sri Bhupatindra Malla offered Vasanti to Goddess Taleju". In 1914, Bhupatindra Malla had to sue for peace with Bhaksar Malla of Kantipur and

22842-402: Was Bhupatindra's uncle who assisted him during the early years of his reign especially in political matters. Ugra Malla was equally active and ruled alongside his brother and Bhupatindra's father, Jitamitra Malla . Ugra Malla was featured with his brother in most paintings of Jitamitra . Ugra Malla died c.  1708 . He was colloquially referred as mēlamhā jūjū. The Nyatapola temple

23004-463: Was a Malla Dynasty King of the Kingdom of Bhaktapur (present day Bhaktapur , Nepal ) who reigned from 1696 until his death in 1722. He is the most widely known king of Bhaktapur and is among the most popular of the Malla dynasty . He is popularly known in Bhaktapur as nepaḥ juju , meaning the king of the Newars . His reign was characterized by the construction of numerous palaces and temples with

23166-460: Was a ceremony called " vātā chóyā " and " kū chóyā " was held which involved sending different varieties of bread to the bride's residence. For that ceremony, the bakery work started on 25 June 1687. On 26 June 1687, the Bhāju (a Newari term for the chief minister) of Jitamitra Malla 's court gave 600 rupees to the customs officer in order to gather all the necessary ingredients for the feast. Since

23328-491: Was also an avid lyricist and playwright with some of his songs still being sung in Bhaktapur. Bhupatindra Malla was also a politically strong figure in the Nepal Valley and established the reputation of Bhaktapur as a strong military principality similar to that of Kantipur . He has been described by Ippolito Desideri as "the first ruler of Bhaktapur to not pay tribute to the king of Kantipur ". Bhupatindra Malla

23490-422: Was also placed by Bhupatindra Malla along with gilt copper statues of Hindu deities. Unfortunately, the sculpture decorating the courtyard has been stolen as well. Bhupatindra Malla also built a single-storey temple with a gold-plated roof in the courtyard which was destroyed during the earthquake of 1934 and was not reconstructed. There was also a large relief of Barahi and two other goddesses placed in

23652-498: Was also rich, and a very capable man. He had always refused to pay tribute to the ruler of Kattmandu, but was at last forced, not only to pay, but to give more, after spending large sums in war. During the short time I was at Badgao this ruler twice sent for me, showed me much honour, and when I left, gave me a letter to the King of Bitia ( Bettiah ), whose kingdom I was to traverse; he also gave me an escort to protect me until I had crossed

23814-490: Was an annular solar eclipse on 5 November 1687, just a day after the wedding day in which Bhupatindra Malla conducted his Diksha ceremony. In Bhaktapur however, the eclipse was partial which started at 8:06 in the morning, reached its peak at 9:10 and ended at 10 in the morning. A priest named Jayamuni directed the ceremony for which he received 500 rupees as Dakṣiṇā . The preparation for this ceremony had begun from 22 September 1687. Contemporary ledgers contain

23976-419: Was commissioned by Srinivasa Malla of Lalitpur who erected this building as a sign of friendship between him and Jagat Prakasha Malla of Bhaktapur . Chyaslin Mandap was not a religious building; it was used by the monarchs of Bhaktapur to meet with ambassadors and other officials, by the court to watch the festival procession that pass through the square. The pavilion was also used for literary purposes as

24138-580: Was commissioned by Yaksha Malla in the 15th century with the intention of giving old, weak and handicapped citizens the satisfaction of worship the Char Dham without having to go on a pilgrimage to these sites. The temples within the Char Dham includes terracotta temple of Kedarnath (akin to the temple of same name in Uttarakhand ) and Badrinanth (akin to temple of same name in Uttarakhand ), domed temple of Ramesvar (akin to Ramanathaswamy Temple ) and Nepalese pagoda styled temple of Jagannath (akin to

24300-453: Was damaged in the earthquake of 1681. His grandson, Bhupatindra Malla had it repaired in May 1702 when he also inaugurated the sculptures of Ugracaṇdī and Ugrabhairava, the destructive forms of Devi and Shiva placed near the entrance of the palace. These statues were likely carved by a group of artisans led by Tulasi Lohankarmi, who just a year before also carved a ten foot statue of Devi for

24462-482: Was done on 1 March 1685 in Dumāju chuka , a courtyard of the royal palace . The rituals done during this ceremony and the expenditures incurred in it are recorded in the expenditure book. Similarly, his Upanayana ( Classical Newar : Būdān ) was held on 3 February 1686. Likewise, the expenditure incurred, and the rituals performed for the ceremony has been recorded in detail in the expenditure book. Bhupatindra Malla

24624-463: Was his main helper during his reign. She appears as a witness in all treaties and legal documents involving the royal court. Lālamati is referred as Rājamātā (meaning queen mother), in inscriptions and legal documents. An example of this comes from a section of a legal document from 26 December 1714 about Bhupatindra Malla selling land to a person named Kalyana Simha: ... In the presence of Rājamātā Sri Sri Lālamati Dēvi and Sri Sri Ranajit Malla ,

24786-417: Was known to document events in the form of dhara pau (translating to ledger books) which contained financials of royal ceremonies and the details of every single religious rites that he performed. Sudden disappearance of his records have led to some theories that Bhupatindra Malla may have usurped the throne from his father who was put into house arrest in the Thanthu Lyākū palace. A ritual book dated from

24948-603: Was likely demolished in 1856 by the then magistrate of Bhaktapur , Dhir Shumser as the temple does not appear in future paintings or photos. Vatsala phalcā was a small phalcā or a communal resting place that was located on the southern part of the square, just south of the Yakshasvara (or the Pasupatinath) temple. It was destroyed in the 1988 earthquake but the plinth in which the phalcā stood still exists today. Lāpān Dega ( Newar : 𑐮𑐵𑑃𑐥𑐵𑑃𑐡𑐾𑐐 ‎ ; lā(ṅ)pāṅdega , lit.   ' temple that blocks

25110-401: Was married to Vishva Lakshmi on 4 November 1687, when he was 13 years old. According to contemporary ledgers , the bakery work for the wedding started on 25 June 1687. By September, Jitamitra Malla had sent letters to officials in Thimi , Banepa and other cities within the kingdom . The letters contained the amount of tax money required from the cities and the ingredients required for

25272-410: Was offered on 3 September 1715, a few months before the plague epidemic which began around May 1716. However, months before the epidemic began affecting people, it had started to affect livestock and wild creatures. Contemporary chronicles mention the mysterious death of hundreds of cattle , poultry , pigs , wild hogs , deer , mice before the plague began. These deaths must have scared people of

25434-416: Was on 21 December 1711 in the forests of Terai . This time, Bhupatindra Malla was accompanied in his hunt by Mānikasena, the king of Makwanpur . A fresco inside the royal palace of Bhaktapur depict this scene. The final hunt was in 1714 in the forests of Makwanpur Terai as well. This time however, he tamed a female elephant and brought it back to Bhaktapur . The elephant was named " Vasanti " and

25596-491: Was restored in 1987 by the West German funded Bhaktapur Development Project. The restoration team were able to locate the carved pillars, struts of the pavilion, however its carved windows depicting stories from the life of Krishna could not be located. The restoration also became a topic of contention between the Bhaktapur Development Project and the local government of Bhaktapur ; in particular

25758-402: Was subsequently never restored. The city government of Bhaktapur had a plan to restore the temple but the 2015 earthquake put that plan into hold. Not only the temple, but the pedestal in which the temple stood has also disappeared except for the stone lions that once served as guardians for the temple; they still stand in their original place. The stele of Harihara that was once enshrined in

25920-441: Was the first female to appear as a witness in a legal document in Bhaktapur's history. From 1667 to 1676, Annapurna Lakshmi's name appeared as a witness in legal documents. Vishva Lakshmi doesn't appear much in legal documents, treaties and there are no mentions of her in anything related to the politics of the valley. Vishva Lakshmi however is known to have supported her husband in the numerous construction works, particularly

26082-413: Was the probable source of a folklore in Bhaktapur. It accounts that Bhāju Kasa assisted the youngest queen of Jitamitra Malla attempted to usurp the throne. Firstly, in order to gain the trust of the queen, Bhāju Kasa made a large rectangular pond overnight in western Bhaktapur . The pond is named Bhājyā Pūkhū after Bhāju Kasa himself and had a Shiva temple in the middle. Then after gaining her trust,

26244-520: Was under their raising that Bhupatindra developed his love for arts. Meanwhile, Bhāju Kasa and the junior queen successfully becomes the defacto albeit unpopular rulers of Bhaktapur. After some years Bhupatindra Malla, being taught his real identity returns to Bhaktapur as a young man who immediately becomes popular among the locals. Bhupatindra Malla manages to gather a small army with the help of which, Bhupatindra Malla attack Bhāju Kasa and his stepmother. This time, Bhupatindra Malla successfully takes back

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