Untold Stories Of Nyatapola
Posted On: December 14, 2022
The 11th of July, the Nyatapola temple’s birthdate, has always been a memorable day, also known as Bhushadan in Nepali. Nyatapola is Nepal’s tallest temple with a height of 108 feet. It is located in Taumadhi tole of Bhaktapur. It is an incredible work of art built over the course of 6 months during the Malla dynasty.
This construction has amazed today’s architecture when it comes to structural design and materials employed having survived major earthquakes in 1990, 2045, and 2072 B.S., respectively.
There are many legends and myths surrounding this temple. And, among them, the first myth comes with its location that why it was built at Taumadhi Square rather than any other location in Bhaktapur.
Because of the presence of the Bhairab temple in this square, the answer is highly popular among the people. The King decided to build the most beautiful and powerful deity in front of this temple so that she could control him, and it is thought that Bhiarav was controlled after the creation of Siddhi Laxmi Nyatapola temple, which is double the size of the Bhairab Temple.
There is another story about the foundation of this temple that is less well-known among the public. The Nyatapola temple was established between the princess’s house and Layaku Durbar during the Malla Period when King Bhupatindra Malla was in love with the princess and used to spend most of his time at Lyaku Courtyard starring at the princess’s house to admire the beautiful princess. As a result, King’s attention was diverted away from the princess and he was able to return to his normal routine.
The foundation of the Nyatapola temple was raised two and a half feet above ground level during construction, which alarmed the worker committee’s leader, who told the king, but the king asked them to continue working. Following the completion of the temple’s five basements, the king inquired of the leader as to the current state of the foundation.
To which the leader replied that there are just 2 inches remaining from the ground, after which work on the temple’s stories began. The king requested the level of foundation at the end of the five-story construction, and the leader smiled and commended that the calculation was excellent for the foundation required.
This demonstrates the king’s foresight and wisdom, as a typical person would never compute the foundation sinking due to the pressure of the structure above.
The contribution of people from both inside and outside Bhaktapur made it possible to construct the Nyatapola in just six months. People’s real dedication and hard effort have helped the temple to withstand natural disasters.
During the construction era, there was a plan in place to provide lunch during the day, which people appreciated after a long day’s labor. However, there was one boy who came every day for lunch but refused to do any work.
This went on for several days, and one of the workers complained, but the king ordered that he be fed as usual and that no one speaks to him. After the temple was completed, the only thing left was to install the pinnacle, which no one was prepared for due to its height.
Then the boy who used to come every day for lunch soared up to the temple’s pinnacle and installed it. The boy was later shown to be a Bhairab pet, i.e. Betal in disguise. As a result, today we can witness young boys and girls being worshiped as the god Betal’s formation.
There’s another interesting story about the Nyatapola, which was built in just six months. As per the story, a farmer living in Kwachhen tole, close to the taumadhi square, left the house for farming. It was the time of weed farming since there were only two crops farmed in a year, rice and weed, each taking 6 months to harvest.
So, when the farmer finished his weed farming and returned home after harvesting it he got into a dilemma. Cause, by the time of his return, he saw the 5 story temple in front of him on the way to his home.
Later, he discovered that the temple began construction shortly after he left and was even completed before he returned. It thus, denotes that the temple was built in one season. It may seem implausible, but the truth of this temple astounded many people.
While the monarch was socializing with his people on the Nyatapola temple’s stairwells, the eagle sat on the temple’s eastern side roof and began conversing with the king, surprising everyone who was present and wondering what they were talking about.
The queen was intrigued and inquired of the monarch about the conversion, but he refused to answer. The queen’s obstinacy forced him to tell the fact that his lifeline had come to an end and he had been invited by Lama. The king died, according to Sonner’s dialogue. As a result of this, the Nyatapola temple does not have any festivals or celebrations like other temples.
It is said that when a bird perches on the temple’s pinnacle, it foreshadows rain, allowing the farmer to prepare for his day in the field. There are a total of 529 wind bells adorning the temple’s exterior.
There are 168 bells in the first story, 108 in the second, 104 in the third, 80 in the fourth, and 69 in the fifth. One of the wind bells stands out because when it rings, it signals the arrival of rain.
The human resources and materials utilized in the temple’s construction were meticulously recorded and calculated. It is stated that 11,35,850 bricks were transported for the construction of this temple, but only 3065 remained and were utilized in the kamalbinayak pond.
The king has invited all those who are directly or indirectly involved in the construction of the Nyatapola temple from other cities to attend the opening ceremony, but there is one tole called Suryamadhi that is dissatisfied with the temple and all Prajapati living in this tole have refused to attend.
However, people from all over the world were ecstatic to view the world’s highest temple. The Prajapati group chose to build another new temple in the Bageshwori area, which they completed and inaugurated with pleasure and celebration on the same day.
Later, the king saw the unhappiness of the Prajapati of Suryamadhi and created various monuments in the area, including the Samajsudar resting place, Ganesh temple, and Wakupati Narayan temple, to make the people happy.