Nyatapola Temple

Nyātāpola (from Nepal Bhasa:, "ṅātāpola", lit. 'something with five storey') is a five tiered temple located in the central part of Bhaktapur, Nepal. It is the tallest monument within the city and is also the tallest temple of Nepal. This temple was commissioned by King Bhupatindra Malla, the construction of which lasted for six months from December 1701 to July 1702. The temple has survived four major earthquakes and its aftershocks including the recent 7.8 magnitude April 2015 earthquake which caused major damage the city of Bhaktapur.

The Nyatapola is noted for its unique architecture as it is one of only two five storey temples in the Kathmandu Valley, the other one being the Kumbheshvara in Lalitpur and its five level plinth which along with steps to the top part also contains pairs of stone statues of animals and deities serving as the temple's guardians. Along with the Bhairava temple and other historical monuments, the Nyatapola forms the Tamārhi square, which forms the central and culturally the most important part of Bhaktapur and a popular tourist destination.

The temple itself has no religious significance to the locals; it is culturally used as a symbol of Bhaktapur. Its silhouette is used by the municipality in its coats of arms as well as by most of the corporations of the city. Reaching to a height of 33 m (108.26 ft), the Nyatapola temple dominates the skyline of Bhaktapur and is the tallest monument there. The Nyatapola Square also divides the town of Bhaktapur into two parts: Thané (lit. 'Upper one') and Konhé (lit. 'Lower one').

The gates of the temple is only opened once a year in July on the anniversary of its establishment during which the Avāla subgroup of the Newars plant a triangular flag on its top and the Karmacharya priests perform a ritual on the deity. Since the public is not allowed in, the deity housed inside is also not known to the public although it is generally accepted that the temple houses a powerful Tantric incarnation of the mother goddess.  Even the contemporary manuscript dealing with the construction of the temple does not mention the name of the deity housed inside.

Etymology
Nyatapola is regarded as unique in terms of its name as it one of the only few temples which is not named after the deity residing inside it. Its name is derived from the local Nepal Bhasa name "ṅātāpola", where "ṅātā" means something with five storey while "pola" means roof in the Bhaktapur dialect of Nepal Bhasa. Newar people outside of Bhaktapur use the term "Nyātāpau", where "nyātā" and "pau"has the same meaning as "ṅātā" and "pola".

The name " (ṅātāpola)" has been in use since its construction as the temple was referred as such in the ledger of its construction work. Historian Purushottam Lochan Shrestha found a damaged stone inscription being used as a step ladder by soldiers housed in Bhaktapur Durbar Square which uses uses the word " (ŋ̊ātāpola)" to refer to the temple. Raj Man Singh Chitrakar who drew a sketch of the Nyatapola temple in 1844 has inscribed this temple as "Gniato Polo temple of Devi". Similarly, Henry Ambrose Oldfield who painted this temple in 1854 has inscribed this temple as "Temple of Devi Bhagwati at Bhatgaon".

Siddhāgni koṭyāhuti yagya
The siddhāgni koṭyāhuti yagya was a yagya ritual where ten million oblations were offered into the yagya fire. A similar ritual was performed by King Siddhi Narasingha Malla during the establishment of the temple of Krishna at Lalitpur in 1636. Bhupatindra Malla had the ritual performed for the inauguration of the Nyatapola temple and the establishment of the deity inside it as well as for religious purposes like to appease the Navagraha and the Ajimā goddesses for the protection of the city. The gochāya (Nepal Bhasa:, lit. 'offering of bettlenut') ceremony denoting the yagya's start was performed on the second day of the dark half of the month of Vaisakha in Nepal Sambat 822. By then the second roof from the bottom was being tiled. For the occasion, 450 full bettlenuts, 250 half-cut bettlenuts and two coconuts costing 2 mohar and 23 dam were placed in the spot of the yagya. The yagya fire was lit on the ninth day of the bright half of Jyestha in Nepal Sambat 822. Several gilt cooper statues of Hindu deities was consecrated for the occasion out of which a statue of a five headed Hanumāna still survives and was auctioned at Bonhams. People from all over the Kathmandu Valley started coming with their musical instruments and offerings to visit the yagya. As per the siddhāgni koṭyāhuti devala pratiṣṭhā manuscript, only 48 people (names given) were allowed inside the yagya including Bhupatindra Malla. The manuscript also contains the details of all the religious rites performed with the yagya.

Architectural elements
There are five plinths on the stairways to the entrance of the temple and each of the plinth has a pair of stone guardians. Each of the pair is said to ten times stronger than the one below them. At the bottom are two Rajput wrestlers named Jai and Pratap who are said to be ten times stronger than normal men. Above them are the giant statues of two elephants and above them are the statues of two Singhas, which is a mythical big cat and can be found throughout South and Southeast Asia. Above the cats are the statues of two Sārdūlas, a griffin-like creature of local Newari mythology. And in the topmost plinths are the Tantric deities, Simhanī and Vyāghranī, the lioness and tigress deity who are the strongest of all the guardians.

There are also a total of five Ganesha idols on four shrines, one on each corner of the structure(one of the shrines, the south western one has two idols on one shrine)

Siddhi Lakshmi
The temple of Nyatapola is dedicated to the Tantric deity of Siddhi Lakshmi who is considered the ancestral deity of the Malla royal family of Bhaktapur and is also regarded as the mother deity of the Newars of Bhaktapur. She hold the topmost position in Tantric divinity and as a result her primary visage is kept secret from public. Only the Karmāchārya priests are allowed enter the temple. Although, representation of her can be seen on carvings all over the temple, the primary image of the goddess is not shown to public.

The image of Siddhi Lakshmi inside the temple is said to immensely beautiful and artistic and stands at least ten foot (3.048m) tall. She is said to be standing with her feet on the shoulders of Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Shiva and she herself has 9 heads and 18 arms. Her image is also surrounded by smaller images of numerous other deities.It is said that because her image was installed using Tantric methods, her image is hidden form the public.

Cultural significance
Legend tells of the days when the Lord Bhairava, the Hindu God of destruction was causing havoc in society (1078 AD). Bhairava's temple stood in Taumadhi Square. To counteract his destructive behavior the king decided to call goddess Bhagavati, then Bhagavati took the form of Siddhi Laxmi and then carried Bhairava in her hand and built a more powerful temple on the honor of Siddhi Laxmi (Narayani Devi) in front of the Bhairab Temple. To make the brick and wood temple strong and powerful, King Bhupatindra Malla ordered guardians be placed in pairs on each level of the base leading up to the Nyatapola Temple. On the first level is a pair of likenesses of Bhaktapur's strongest man, Jaya mal Pata, a famous wrestler. Next, two elephants followed by two lions, two griffons and finally "Baghini" and "Singhini", the tiger and lion goddesses. After subduing Bhairaba, peace prevailed in the city. The Temple is the tallest temple in the Kathmandu Valley and stands 30 m high. It withstood the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake.

The image of Siddhi Lakshmi is locked within the temple, and only the priests are allowed to enter to worship her. The five-storeyed temple, locally known as Nyatapola, stands in the northern side of Taumadhi Square in Bhaktapur. This is the only temple that is named after the dimension of architecture rather than from the name of the deity residing inside. The temple was erected in fewer than five months by King Bhupatindra Malla in 1701–1702 A.D.

Impact from earthquakes
The Bhairav kale survived the 2015 earthquake in spite of having the tallest shikhara in the valley. Many other temples were also damaged in the 2015 earthquake. It had also survived the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake that had damaged many other temples. The ziggurat structure, and the 5 story timber and brick tower acts as a robust plinth, which allows for base isolation, separating the structure from the shaking caused by the earthquake. Additionally, the use of triangulation on the roof means that any debris will fall away from the temple, rather than straight through it, as you might find in newer urban builds.

Historical Sources and records


These details were found while going into the Siddhagni Kotyahuti Devala Pratistha manuscript. From the start of digging the foundation to the completion of roofing, it took merely eighty-eight days. The excavation work for foundation lasted for seven days. Then was commenced construction of six plinths. That was accomplished in thirty-one days, and immediately after that started the erection of the superstructure. That was also completed within thirty-four days, after which roofing work was started from top to the lowest roof. In sixteen days all the five roofs were completed paving them with mini-tiles (Jhingati). Then they had to wait for an auspicious day for erecting the icons in the sanctum sanctorum and fix the pinnacle on the top of the temple. For this, they did wait for 38 days. In the meantime, the fire-sacrifice (Siddhagni Kotyahuti Yajna) was going on.

Presented here are six pages (three folios) of the facsimile copies of the manuscript which recorded major events from beginning to the end, as a summary of records in advance, incorporated in the manuscript containing 264 folios. There are fifty major records in the summary six-page facsimile.

The manuscript is preserved in the National Archives of Nepal. It is readily available for readers in microfilm as well, which can be read in the office or could be purchased in photocopy paying certain rupees per page.

The name of the manuscript is recorded as Siddhagni Kotyahuti Devala Pratistha. The name itself kept the enthusiasts on the subject of ancient architecture behind the curtain from knowing it. The accession number of the manuscript is ca. I. 1115 NGMPP micro number A 249/5. The manuscript is written in the Newar script in yellow Nepalese paper coated with Harital (orpiment). The size is 17.2 x 46.5 cm. Each page has nine lines. The manuscript has 264 folios, and the rest are missing Dr. Janak Lal Vaidya thinks. Some folios are ink-stained and some are damaged by rats. All the rest of the folios are in good condition.

Out of these six facsimile pages, Dr. Janak Lal Vaidya has published three folios (1, 2 and 4) without any transliteration and translation in Abhilekh No.8 published by the National Archives of Nepal. It is, however, necessary at least to give a full picture of the detailed records in those six important pages.

There is still interesting information contained in the following folios of the manuscript which were published by Dr. Janak Lal Vaidya in his articles published in Abhilekh, No. 8 and No. 14 and Kheluita No. 11 in English, Nepali and Newar respectively.