Durbar Square is also home to some of Nepal’s most beautiful and ornate religious ornamentation. Two stone lions, surrounded by vibrant Shiva murals, stand silent guard at the entrance to Mul Chowk; beyond, in the northeast corner of the courtyard, is a gilded doorway flanked by statues of Ganga and Jamuna, personifications of two of India’s mightiest rivers. Sundari Chowk is a stunning courtyard with ornately carved wooden pillars, windows and doorways, set around a sunken water tank whose 72 niches are filled with statues of Hindu gods and goddesses.
Much of Patan-Lalitpur’s most flamboyant building work was overseen by the Malla kings, of whom one, King Yoganarendra (r.1684–1705) is commemorated with a statue in the Hari Shankar Mandir on the western edge of Durbar Square. True to form, it’s an extravagant construction: the king sits with his hands clasped in prayer, while a huge cobra rears up behind him – the naga (snake deity) was thought to bring life-giving rains to the Kathmandu Valley.
On the cobra’s head sits a small bird. It’s said that when the king renounced the trappings of royalty to become a holy man after his son’s early death, he proclaimed that as long as the bird was still there, he was alive and could yet return to his throne. To this day, a bed is kept ready for him in the palace.
Beyond Durbar Square
While most of Patan-Lalitpur’s headline attractions can be found in Durbar Square, perhaps the jewel in its crown – the Golden Temple – lies just to the north. Also known as Kwa Bahal and Hiranyavarna Mahavihara, this Buddhist monastery takes its English name from the beautiful golden metalwork which adorns its façade, decorated with images of the Buddha and of Tara, the pre-eminent female bodhisattva. The monastery has been active since the 12th century and upholds many of its ancient traditions to this day. The head priest, for example, is a 12-year-old boy who holds the office for a month before passing it on to one of his contemporaries. Legend has it that the temple’s founder, King Bhaskardev, dreamed that the temple should be built in a place where rats chase cats – to the benefit of the city's modern-day rat population, who gladly consume the offerings left for them around the temple. Watch your feet, too, for the resident tortoises, who are also allowed the run of the place – this time in tribute to Kurma, the Vedic equivalent of the mythical ‘cosmic tortoise’ who carries the world on his back.
