2G2 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



TEMPEE IN B1IATGA0N SHOWING SEATED FIGURE OF BHUPATINDRA MAEE IN 

 BRONZE ON CARVED PILLAR AND FINE BRONZE BELL 



The Nepal builder's custom is to memorialize the patron, or some other prominent person 

 of t lie period, by a statue on a tall pedestal near the structure he erects. In the case of the 

 Durbar Hall of Bhatgaon a metal effigy was conceived in honor of the greatest of the city's 

 rulers, whose image looks down upon one of the most beautiful buildings in all Nepal. 



evening-. The fresh spring water is col- 

 lected in a number of terraced pools one 

 above the other, clear as crystal and re- 

 flecting the green of the surrounding 

 trees and bamboos. Along the support- 

 ing wall of the lowest pool is a row of 

 about twenty dragon-head spouts, some 

 enormous, others smaller, but all beauti- 

 fully carved and executed, from which 

 clear water splashes into a tank beneath. 

 Balajee has its own religious signifi- 

 cance, found in a small tank on one side, 

 near a temple decorated with Tantric 

 carvings. Under the water lies a carved 

 stone figure of Narain, about ten feet 

 long, with a hood of cobra heads just 

 rising above the water. It reclines on a 

 stone bed with four carved stone posts, 

 rising one from each corner, evidently at 

 une time the support of a canopy. Fish 

 dart here and there in the clear water 

 which gently flows over it. 



Narain is the creator Brahma, so called 

 from Nara (waters) and Ajana (place 

 of motion). At one time he suffered the 

 most excruciating thirst, having drunk 

 poison from the sea, and to assuage this 

 he repaired to Gosainthan, in the snowy 

 regions of the Himalayas, where, striking 

 the mountain with his trident, he caused 

 three streams of water to rlow r , forming 

 a lake, l'ious pilgrims fancy they can see- 

 the god lying in his bed of snakes. The 

 tradition is that if ever the ruling king 

 of Nepal visits this lake his death will 

 immediately follow. 



The great lhiddhist stupa of Bodh- 

 nath, one of the oldest liuddhist temples 

 in the valley, is a striking example of an- 

 other form of shrine. The dome-shaped 

 Chaitya rests on a semi-spherical mound 

 surmounted by the scptare base of a spire 

 capped by a golden umbrella, while great 

 pairs of eyes have for a thousand years 



