Patan Darbar Square - Kathmandu

Patan Durbar Square is situated at the centre of Lalitpur city. It is one of the three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of its attraction is The Ancient Royal Palace where Malla Kings of Lalitpur resided.

The Durbar Square is a marvel of Newa architecture. The Square floor is tiled with red bricks.There are many temples and idols in the area. The main temples are aligned opposite of the western face of the palace. The entrance of the temples faces east, towards the palace. There is also a bell situated in the alignment beside the main temples.The Square also holds old Newari residential houses. There are various other temples and structures in and around Patan Durbar Square build by the Newa People.

The history of the Durbar Square is not clear. Although the Malla Kings of Lalitpur are given credit for establishing the royal square, it is known that the site is an ancient crossroad. The Pradhanas who settled around the site before the Mallas have connections with the Durbar Square.Some chronicles hint that the history of patan Thakuri Dynasty built a palace and made reforms to the locality but the evidence is minute. Scholars are certain that Patan was a prosperous city since ancient times.

The Malla Kings did make important changes to the square. Most of the current architecture is from the 1600s, constructed during the reign of King Siddhinarasimha Malla and his son Srinivasa sukriti. Some of the notable Mallas Kings who improved the square include Purandarasimha, Sivasimha Malla and Yoganarendra Malla.

Patan is one of the oldest known Buddhist City. It is a center of both Hinduism and Buddhism with 136 bahals or courtyards and 55 major temples.Most of these structures are in the vicinity of the Durbar Square.

Krishna Mandir

Krishna temple is the most important temple in Patan Durbar Square. It is built in the Shikhara style imported from India although it is unique in its own way. The stone carvings along the bean above the first and second floor pillar is most notable. The first floor pillar carvings narrate the events of the Mahabharata, while on the second floor there are visual carvings from Ramayana.

The temple was built in 1637 by King Siddhinarasimh Malla. It is said that one night the King saw the gods Krishna and Radha standing in front of the royal palace. He ordered a temple to be built on the same spot.There are 21 golden pinnacles in the temple. Below the pinnacles are 3 stories. The first floor holds the main shrine of Krishna with shrines of Radha and Rukamani at each side. The second floor is dedicated to Shiva and the third to Lokeshwor(Lord Buddha).

The square is crowded with thousands of Hindu Pilgrims and devotees during Krishnastami.

Bhimsen Temple

Bhimsen temple was built by Srinivasa Malla in 1680. It is renowned for its three interconnected golden windows. Bhimsen is a great hero in Mahabharata. He was known to be very brave and strong. In Newa Tradition, he is worshipped as a god of business and trade.Tourists are not allowed inside the temple.

Vishwanath Temple

Vishwanath temple is dedicated to god Shiva. It was built in 1627 during the reign of Siddhinarasimha Malla. The roof supports are decorated with erotic carvings similar to imagery widespread in Shiva temples in India. The temple is guarded by two stone elephants in the front entrance. On the other side of the temple is the sculpture of a bull, Shiva’s vehicle. A stone linga is enshrined inside the temple.

Taleju Bhawani Temple

Taleju temple was built by Siddhinarasrimha Malla in 1640 and rebuilt by Srinivasa Malla in 1667 after a fire. Taleju Bhawani was the personal deity of the Malla kings. It is a five-storey temple with triple-roofs.14th Century chronicle of Gopala kings hint a Taleju temple was built by the Pradhanas before the Mallas.