NEPAL: A LITTLE-KNOWN KINGDOM 



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well executed figure in bronze, seated on 

 a boldly designed pedestal of stone on a 

 square pillar about 20 feet in height, with 

 the royal umbrella rising above the figure. 



Close by is the Ujatpola Deval, or 

 Temple of Five Hagis, which stands on 

 five platforms up which a flight of steps 

 leads to the entrance. This stairway is 

 guarded by five enormous pairs of figures 

 carved in stone, the lowest pair being 

 two giant wrestlers ; above them two ele- 

 phants ten times as strong as the men ; 

 above two lions ten times as strong as 

 the elephants ; next, two dragons ten 

 times as strong as the lions, and finally 

 two deities, most powerful of all. 



In this square is also the Taumari Tol, 

 dedicated to the Goddess Bhawani. The 

 shrine in front has two magnificent brass 

 dragons, one on each side, decorated with 

 great splashes of vermilion. The brick- 

 work is covered with brass plates deeply 

 embossed, and on each side, on a lotus 

 pillar, is a copper gilt lion holding a ban- 

 ner. This building has quaint and gro- 

 tesque moldings painted in most vivid 

 colors and lattice windows made of strips 

 of gilt metal, the whole presenting a 

 kaleidoscopic effect in the brilliant sun- 

 shine. 



NEPAl/s LARGEST CITY A SLEEPY PLACE 



Patan was the old Newar capital, where 

 Buddhism was the accepted religion of 

 the country before the invasion of the 

 Gurkhas. Although the largest town in 

 Nepal, it is a quiet, sleepy place, much 

 of it falling into ruins, but still most pic- 

 turesque. It stands in the center of the 

 beautiful valley, against a background of 

 green mountains and snowy peaks — a 

 network of narrow, twisting little streets 

 packed full of shrines, temples, and 

 pagodas, many of them deserted and fall- 

 ing into ruins, but still with exquisite bits 

 of carving and wonderful doorways of all 

 shapes and sizes and wonderful designs. 



Many of Patan's buildings are deco- 

 rated with sheets of embossed copper gilt 

 and everywhere the shrines are guarded 

 by pairs of fearsome animals of enor- 

 mous size. Carved stone pillars are sur- 

 mounted by animals, birds, or fish mod- 

 eled in metal ; bells of all sizes are every- 

 where, and huge lotus thrones in bronze 

 hold bronze Thunder Bolts, or Dorgis. 



Kirtiptir and Niakot are smaller cities, 

 which, despite the evidences of decay on 

 every hand, are full of beautiful and in- 

 teresting buildings and shrines. 



THE HOLY CENTER OE NEPAL 



Pashpati is the holy center of Nepal . 

 to which tens of thousands of pilgrims 

 flock during the few days, once a year, 

 when the country is thrown open. The 

 roads are then one long, unending crowd 

 of men and women, old and young, 

 chanting as they go, "Pashpati nath ke- 

 Jai." Its shrines and temples are clus- 

 tered on the banks of the holy Baghmutti 

 River, and there the dying are brought 

 to end their days. To these Hindu it is 

 a place as holy as is Benares to the plains 

 men, and to die there, with the sacred 

 water lapping their feet, means passing 

 to everlasting peace. 



The town is most picturesquely situ- 

 ated, the stream issuing from a narrow, 

 beautifully wooded gorge and the golden 

 roofs of the pagodas among the fresh 

 greenery forming a lovely picture, en- 

 livened throughout the morning hours by 

 the constant stream of brilliantly dressed 

 men and women coming to perform their 

 religious ablutions before entering upon 

 the day's work. 



The Temple of Changu-Narain is situ- 

 ated on a spur of a mountain about eight 

 miles to the east of Khatmandu and is 

 reached by a winding path of stone steps, 

 to climb which is part of the pilgrimage. 

 It is one of the finest temples in Nepal, 

 a veritable treasure-house of relics, its 

 courtyard full of wonderful stone pillars 

 and statues, the cloisters with exquisite 

 carvings in many places richly colored 

 and everywhere flashing sheets of ham- 

 mered metal ; brass and copper gilt beaten 

 into every possible form — birds, beasts, 

 fishes, dragons — standing out on a back- 

 ground of conventional design; bells 

 everywhere ; brass umbrellas, the emblems 

 of royalty; great brazen and stone beasts 

 crouching on all sides. 



THE LEGEND OE THE GOD WITH THE 

 TERRIBLE THIRST 



The water garden of Balajee is a most 

 fascinating spot, a mile or two outside 

 Khatmandu, at the end of a long, shady 

 avenue of trees. It is much frequented 

 by the townspeople in the cool of the 



