Social Cultural and Religious aspects of Nyatapola
Taumadi Square is a wide open space which is linked by a short pathway to the
eastern end of Bhaktapur Durbar Square. The square represents the function of
the ancient halves of Bhaktapur. In Robert Levy's words the square is "A
neutral ritual centre that affirms the unity of the town". This function
becomes most plainly apparent during the festival of Bisket, locally called as
"Biska Jatra". When the people of the upper town compete with the lower to
drag a towering ritual chariot containing an image of Bhairab out of the
square into the streets of their own sector of Bhaktapur. Taumadi is dominated
by two temples of unusual grandeur. One is a three storeyed rectangular temple
on east side is Bhairabnath-originally built by Jagatjyotir Malla as a single
storeyed structure in 1717 BS. Bhupatindra then restored the temple adding two
further tiers. After it collapsed in 1934 AD earthquake it was reconstructed
by the local people. Bhairab is the ferocious manifestation of Lord Shiva. The
next is Nyatapola-the tallest tiered temple of Nepal. Dating back to 1702 AD,
it is the most elegant asset of Nepal. The struts, doors, windows, tympanums,
attractively carved divine figures has perfectly portrayed the creative
tradition of Newar craftsman and medieval art and architecture. The next
fabulous example of art and architecture is Tilmadhav Narayan Chowk, situated
just in front of Nyatapola and dedicated to Tilmadhav Narayan. A few steps
ahead of it, to the south west lies the famous pottery square, and a few steps
ahead to upper town Dattatreya Square.
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
RENNOVATION
In the earthquake of 1990 BS the top roof of
Nyatapola temple had fallen down which was rennovated later by king Tribhuvan.
However the lower steps and roofs faced no damage. This also proves the
stability and good work of ancient period. Later in the earthquake of 2045 BS,
minute damages had occured but they were negligible.It is the result of good
architecture and double layered wall.The latest renovation was done by Bhaktapur
Municipality in 1996 AD the rennovation was completed within 9 months using some
new and some old materials. Some details are as follows:
| Timber used | Amount |
| Old | 400 cubic feet |
| New | 1200 cubic feet |
| Jhingati(New) | 50 % |
| Jhingati(Old) | 40 % |
| Jhingati(From local people) | 10 % |
KING BHUPATINDRA MALLA
King Bhupatindra Malla was the son of King
Jitamitra Malla and Queen Lalmati. He got the throne at the age of 22 after
his father's demise in 1696 A.D. He ruled in Bhaktapur for 26 years till 1722
A.D. It is said that he was a good ruler and forward thinker having keen
interest and knowledge in art and culture. This fact is verified by the
construction of Nyatapola Temple and many more monuments during his regime.
Besides that he had also done a remarkable work in the field of literature
especially in Maithali literature. He had written many songs, poems and dramas
and this shows his versatile nature.
Physical structure of Nyatapola temple
If we go through the name
"Nyatapola", it itself describes its physical structure. In local Newari
language "nyata" means five-storeyed and "pola" means tiers. So from the name
itself it is clear that Nyatapola is a five storeyed temple with the roof of
tiers. The base of the Nyatapola temple is rectangular terraced platform of
stones and have five stages or folds with steep stone-paved stairway. On each
stage, there is a pair of statues of different kinds on either sides of
stairway. On the bottom stage, there are statues of two wrestlers of Bhaktapur
naming Jaimal and Patta, who were believed to be 10 times stronger than the
ordinary citizens, followed by elephants ,lions, griffins and two other
deities - Singhini and Baghini . They are believed as door-keepers in charge
of paved stairway which do not allow the evil power to enter into the temple.
Amusing and interesting at the same time is that the statues are kept in such
a way that its strength is 10 times more than that of previous pair. At the
top fold is a square chamber enclosed by colonnade of wooden poles and pillars
which sustain the lowest and the heaviest roof. Inside which the statue of
goddess Siddhilaxmi Bhavani, the superior and most powerful tantric goddess,
is errected. The square chamber has gates in all four sides. But the main gate
is facing south. Above the main gate, there are beautiful torans which is
engraved with the image of Mahish Mardini. The roofs of the temple are covered
with special red tiles of similar shape and size. Though clay tiles has low
resistance to earthquake it has high stability and very good resistance
against insect and rain. Wind bells(ghanti) made of brass are hanging on the
rafter of each roof.There are 48, 80, 104, 128 and 168 bells in
fifth,fourth,third, second and first roof respectively. Besides that, the
floor of each of these storeys is a square entablature of brick which goes on
diminishing in size and area until the structure reaches fifth or the
uppermost roof with a gold final atop. Each of the roofs is sustained by
struts projecting at an angle of 45 degrees from the entablature which rests
for support on the pillars of the lower storey. The structure decorated by the
graceful carvings and vigorous sculpture which are characteristics of Nepalese
architecture and they are 108 in numbers. Besides these four Ganeshes known as
Drighu Ganesh is located in all four corners of the temple. But the statue of
the north east corner temple has been stolen. These Ganeshes have been
established for the protection of the Goddess and the temple. Nyatapola, the
temple of terribles as many people call, is an outstanding illustration of
medieval art and architecture. And it speaks for how rich we were in the
medieval period in the sector of art and architecture. Not only that, it also
has the importance from historic, cultural, social and archaeological view. It
is also a fantastic site for tourists and is an inspiration for learning
architecture techniques for the students like us. Above all it is a pride of
Nepal and a jewel of the World. Due to above reasons, Nyatapola temple was
listed as one of the world heritage sites in the year 1979 A.D. (2035
B.S).
Social Cultural and Religious aspects of Nyatapola
In Hindu community, temples and God and Goddesses placed
have great influence on social, cultural and religious aspects. Nyatapola too
from its time of establishment have a strong religious, social and cultural
values. According to tales and old traditions, the contemporary king
Bhupatindra Malla gave order to construct the temple to have control over the
harsh and angry nature of Bhairab (representing power and war) in a tantric
way; he enshrined their tantrik Goddess Siddhilaxmi. The Bhairab, whose temple
is just in front of the Nyatapola temple, is said to have come to Bhaktapur
from Benaras. Bhairab, along with Bhadrakali, is the principal personage of
the festival Bisket Jatra of Bhaktapur (celebrated on every new year day of
Bikram Sambat). Moreover, some of the Bhaktapur's inhabitants say that just as
Tirpurasundari is in the centre of Astamatrika, so is Bhairab (also known as
Aakash Bhairab) is the Astabhairab. From another tale Bhairab caused many
disasters at that time so to offset and to have control over such a personage
which compelled the contemporary king Bhupatindra Malla to take advice from
his advisor (mostly astrologers). According to their advice the king built a
huge and tall temple of tantrik Goddess Siddhilaxmi. The sanctum level of
Nyatapola is in the same height as that of first Gajur of Bhairab temple which
means Siddhilaxmi dominating Bhairab. From other beliefs it is also said that
the king constructed this temple so high that it can be viewed from his
55-window palace, as the king had a keen interest in constructing temples with
a high quality of craftsmanship. There is also an interesting fact that the
king himself carried first three bricks along with other workers ,which shows
the good relation between king and the citizens. Not only that it was also the
desire of king to make the temple and the willing of the people to get rid of
the anger of Bhairab. This very fact shows a social need with a religious
background. On the auspicious moment of laying the foundation of temple, one
jyapu ( peasant) sowed grains of paddy in his field and later on when he tried
to pull them out he has to use a spade .This has a link with the stability of
foundation as how much the earth was compact there. It is remarkable that the
temple didn't fell in the earthquake of 1934 A.D., except the topmost roof had
fallen. It was believed that the goddess wasn't allowed to be seen by ordinary
people and only Rajopadhya Brahamins had right to enter into the temple and
accomplish puja .This tradition is being strictly followed even today. This
restriction is made so that the tantrik power of goddess is not revealed to
ordinary people. At present, a priest of Karmacharya caste does the daily
"Nitya puja" every morning and performs "Aarati" every evening. The main puja
is done on two occasions. First on Bhadra Shukla parewa tithi when a goat is
sacrificed to goddess and a flag symbolising good luck is placed on its
pinnacles. Next on Ashad Sudi 1 when Panchaprachar puja (Tha puja or Tantric
puja) is carried out. Unlikely other temples, it doesn't has any Guthi ,
Jatras or Bhajans.
GODDESS SIDDHILAXMI
Goddess Siddhi Laxmi is the main deity enshrined in the
Nyatapola temple. She is believed to be the superior tantric goddess and
represents female force and creativity. The statue of Goddess Siddhilaxmi
inside the temple is 9 feet tall, carved in black stone. The statue has 9
heads arranged in 3 rows with 5,3,1 heads from bottom to top respectively. The
top single head is called Chandi Bhadrakali, the three heads of second row of
the statue is called Pratyangira and the third row with five heads is called
Siddhilaxmi. She has got eight pairs of hands. There are two statues of
Mahakal Bhairab and Masan Bhairab in either sides of Siddhilaxmi. They are
supposed to be helpers of Goddess Siddhilaxmi who provide the tantric power to
her. The five pairs of statues in the stairway are the guards to protect the
goddess and the temple from evil powers. According to local people the Godess
also gets the power from Mandala in which Astamatrika are located in eight
directions.
MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
The temple was
constructed and completed in 822NS Kartik Suddhi Tritiya, Thursday by king B.
Malla. The detailed records of expenditure and information on the involved
personnel, list and price of materials used for the construction has been
preserved in the National Archives office, Babar Mahal. This valuable paper
manuscript has been remarkably preserved and only pages from 264(b) are
missing. The manuscript is written in the traditional Newari script on yellow
Nepalese paper(Nepali Kagaj). Apart from some ink stained pages and a few rat
eaten ones the manuscript is in good condition.
Materials
TIMBER
In
the construction of Nyatapola temple, five different types of timbers are
used. They are :
Chap (Michelia champaca)
Sal (Sorea robusta)
Salla (Pinus roxburghii)
Deodar (Cedrus deodara)
Gobresalla (Pinus roxburghii)
STONE
Stones are mainly used in the construction of the
guardians (five pairs of large guardians) of the temple on the façade. Among the
guardians, the first one Jaimal and Patta are made of monolithic stones called
'Kothka'. These stones were brought from Chobhar. Stones are also used in the
steps and at the edges of the plinths. The circum-ambulatory columns also have
the stone base. The 'Jalahari' (Water drainage system) on the north (Mandala
like) ritual spot on the north-east corner of the third plinth are also made of
stones. These stones are brought from village of East Nala, Sanepa, Panauti,
Sanga, Dhulikhel, Khadapu and Chaukwalh along with different Toles of Bhaktapur.
BRICKS
Different types of bricks
are used in the construction of the temple, general bricks for the load bearing
wall, the Telia brick(wedge shaped brick having glazed surface) for the façade.
These bricks have mud mortar. From the manuscript , the total number of bricks
used were 11,35,850 and Telia Int used are 1,02,364. The sizes of the bricks
used in the plinth wall have the dimension 8.5" X 4.5" X 2". These bricks were
brought from Thimi, Bode, Nagadesh.
METAL
Metals are
mainly used in the construction of pinnacle and wind bells. For small bells:
| Metal | Approximate Weight(in Dharni) |
| Main(wax) | 24 |
| Kaas | 17 |
| Pittal(brass) | 31 |
| Iron | 13.5 |
| 85.5 |
| Metal | Approximate Weight(in Dharni) |
| Copper | 148 |
| Galeko Pittal(Brass) | 1 |
| Kacho Pittal | 2 |
| Kaash | 4(demanded) |
| Khaposat | 3 |
| 154 |
PLAN
The structural plan of high
stepped plinths is still unknown . foundation of the temple is unmanifest .It
has not been clear that whether the nyatapola temple stands on huge masonary
square field with soil or upon a hillock of trodden soil which is
circumscribed by stepped plinths of brickwork. The plan is flexible to seismic
effect. This seismic resist technology is used at that time of construction or
the structural engineers on today want to fit it in the flexible theory of
seismic resist. In the 1934 A.D. earthquake, only the upper most roof of the
temple fell whereas the Bhairab temple alongside had collapsed wholly .This
resist to earthquake can be due to its square symmetrical plan,pyramidal
structure and very large foundation with high plinths which reduce
liquefication.
WALL
The massive
load bearing wall of the temple comprise material of high compressive strength.
These walls are covered with another layer of bricks to increase its durability
by protecting it against rain, vermin and abrasion and to improve the thermal
and moister performance of the wall and also to give an aesthetic look to its
appearance. The brick facing are trapezoid in shape and brick adjoins brick edge
on the outer face and the mortar is mostly within and so the mud mortar cannot
be easily washed away. The mortar constitute yellow clay with "Mass" and
"Chaku". The fine lines between the edges of bricks are often scaled with a
water proofing agents i.e. a mixture of oil(Tel), resein(Saldup) and red
earth(Sindhur).
ENTRANCE
The
entrance have massive double door. The door consists of an interior
frame(Duchu) and exterior frame(Bha) which are joined together by floor wooden
ties(Tas) pinned together with wooden nails(Chukus). There is pediment(Torana)
fixed to the upper frame for decoration. Carvings around the door frame,
window frame, and in the torana have carvings of tantrik Goddesses and
goddesses Siddhilaxmi. Torans are the quality of art and architecture of
medieval period. Since Goddess Siddhilaxmi is the Tantrik Goddess and ordinary
people are restricted to enter the temple so as to represent the images of
Goddess their carvings are on this Torans.
BEAM
The temple has a tied beam (Lakansin).In these tied beams
total of 20 vertical wood columns stand such that in each face we see 6 columns
with 5 voids between them. The load of the lintel(Nina) is transferred to these
columns through a Meth(wooden bracket like capital). The meth is carved as an
arch. This column takes the load of the external part of the first roof only. It
also gives some space around the wall of the main core of the temple used as
"Pradakshina Path"(cloister or circum-ambulatory path) for the worshipers. Over
the Meth the beam passes throughout the length of the temple, a small portion of
which extends outwards. These exposed surface has been carved with the faces of
lion one above the other. Above these beams there is a cornice whose one end has
been exposed to the external space and another end has been penerated inside the
load bearing wall(9" in average). Above the cornice there rests struts(Tundal)
which support the whole load of the roof and transfer it to the load bearing
wall. This load bearing wall, of the second floor is smaller in comparison to
the wall above the surrounding of the main core. The upper part of the struts
supports a long beam over which rafters' extreme end rest. These rafter rest on
two such types of beams. These rafters start from 2nd wall which are tied by the
wedges(Chukul) which again rest on another wood plank peneterating the
wall.
ROOF
There are total of 5 tiered roofs decreasing in dimension from
bottom to the top. The first roof covers the third plinth. This first
overhanging roof is 49' 6" square in dimension. These roofs protects the wall
and wooden components from the external degrading agents. The upper part of
2nd, 3rd, 4th storey are supported by 2nd load bearing wall. The little upper
portion of the 1st roof is exposed with bricks of 6 or 7 brick level. Also the
3rd shifted wall where the rafter stands and again the same with the 1st roof
structure. In the same way 4th roof has been placed. The uppermost roof is
somewhat different. A single ornamented brass pinnacle(195") lies on the
centre part of the roof. The 5th shifted wall is the last load bearing wall on
the top of the temple. The middle portion of the rafter rests on this 5th
shifted wall. All the rafters are concentrated at the centre vertical column
over which the pinnacle lies. These rafters have been tied to the straight
wood which is again tied to the lower end by the beams and passes through the
5th shifted wall.
Bhairav
Nath Temple
This temple is situated at
south east front of Nyatapola with a path to Kwachhan tole between them. It was
first built by Jagat Jyotir Malla as a single storeyed rectangular temple, later
restored to three storeyed temple with seven metal pinnacles by king Bhupatindra
Malla. The main image placed inside the temple is of Bhairab and is a body
without the head. In the front wall of ground level of this temple there is a
small image of Bhairab known as Nasadyo flanked by a pair of metal statues of
guardian lions. Akash Bhairab is regarded as a third representation of Bhairab
which can be seen painted on a straw mat hung on the right front wall of first
floor. The observer of the temple will never miss the kinkinimala hanging metal
border in the upper most roof, there are 56 struts each of which are carved with
wooden images of Goddesses which supports the three roofs of temple. The spaces
between the struts are packed with lattice screens and some of them on the lower
tier are made of gilt copper. The famous Bisket Jatra of Bhaktapur city is
dedicated to Bhairabnath in which a chariot is dragged throughout the city. This
jatra is held on the new year day of Bikram Sambat. This temple is also a good
example of medieval art and architecture.
Café Nyatapola
This is a two storeyed rectangular building originally
called as Aisamari Satta. "Aisa Mari" is a special kind of a bread and "Satta"
means public rest-house(mainly for travelers). At present it is used as a café
for tourists but originally it was constructed by the contemporary king as the
rest-house for travelers, a place for performing Bhajans, shelter for far
travelers. The struts and wood carvings has added more flavour with the taste of
art of that time. The wood carvings on struts are designed beautifully and the
wooden bars on both floors have their own beauty and importance.
Narayan Chowk
It is an enclosed complex situated in front of
Nyatapola. The main deity enshrined in the main temple is Tilmadhav Narayan, a
manifestation of Lord Vishnu. In front of the temple there are two stone pillars
with beautifully carved metal shankha and padma on left one and gada and chakra
on right one. On the right front of the temple there is a Shiva linga popular as
Tileshwor Mahadev and on the right side of the temple there is a stone pillar
carved with Baraha Avatar of Narayan. And the pillar stands on a stone tortoise
statue. Behind this pillar there is a square shaped platform with Shiva Linga on
it and a statue of Saraswati(the Goddess of Knowledge) on its side wall. Near
the temple there is a well made for public use. The temple is surrounded by the
old traditional residential houses and in this many religious ceremonies take
place as Bhajans, Bel-Bivaha etc.
Chaturbrahma Mahabihar
This Buddhist monastery is
situated at north west corner of Nyatapola temple known as Chaturbrahma
Mahabihar. This Mahabihar is mainly dedicated to Dipankar Buddha. There is a
open courtyard in this Bihar surrounded by traditional buildings with wonderful
traditional windows, wood carvings resting on struts carved with different
divine structures. There is a small stupa in the centre of courtyard and a
pillar near it with a small stupa in it. The puja takes place every morning and
evening. At present the Mahabihar is under restoration by Bhaktapur
Municipality. During our visit some people were performing Bartabhanda ceremony
which shows its social importance. More than that the presence of Buddhist
monastery in the area dominated by Hindu temples shows the unity of the people
of different cast and religions. It also proves that there was no restriction in
religion and social gathering since that time and every cast and religion was
equally treated.
Traditional houses around Nyatapola
On the beauty of
traditional houses, houses around Nyatapola seems to be successful to keep the
artistic traditional and cultural taste of Bhaktapur on their own. Since
Bhaktapur is dominated by Newars we can obviously get the different taste of
Newari art and architecture around Nyatapola Temple too. These houses have
fulfilled every aspect of a typical Newari house as low height, lattice windows,
attic roof, beautifully carved pillars and windows etc. The main construction
materials used are timber, mud mortar, burnt bricks etc. The existence of these
traditional houses till today after hundreds of years explains its resistivity
against natural disasters, climatic conditions, storms, rain and
earthquakes.
