Patan Durbar Square

Patan is a remnant of one of the three reigning city-states of Nepal. It is south of Kathmandu, on the other side of the Bhagmati river. I actually live in Patan, and quite like it. It's not as crowded and noisy as Kathmandu.

My friend Pratibha, who also works for HSI, took the afternoon to show me Durbar Square and a few other sights around the city. I learned so much about the Hindu and Buddhist religions and about the history of the city. Once again, I was blown away by the craftsmanship and the age of these structures. Take a look -

 Lions at the entrance to one of the temples

Statue of the God worshiped at the temple. I don't know exactly which God, there are over 3 million gods in the Hindu religion. 

View of the palace

Another view of the palace

Stone carvings on the temple of scenes from Hindu scripture

Another temple with earthquake supports. Renovations are underway.

Temple entrance. Note the lions guarding the temple steps.

Houses around Durbar Square. They are just as old as the palace and are still standing, and some are still inhabited. 

Me on the temple steps

This was above the entrance to the palace courtyard

Temple within the palace walls

Carved stone pillar of Hindu gods

Do you remember when I wrote about the large phallus inside Pashupatinath temple? Well, apparently this is a smaller version of it. (Phallic...?)

King's throne

Much of the palace has been converted into a museum, allowing you to explore the ancient structure

View of temple from second floor of palace

Exploring!

Step well, they are everywhere. They fill up during Monsoon, but during the dry season they supply the city with water from the mountains.

View from the palace

View of the temple at the beginning of this post, but this time seen from the palace

Fancy door

Yes, that's real blood, goat blood. The day we toured the palace just happened to be one of the few days of the year that the inner temple is open and they were performing sacrifices. I didn't see the sacrifice, but I was able to poke my head into the temple and see religious practices performed.

Another shrine I think, and look, a dog. Shrines and dogs, they are EVERYWHERE!

The royal bathtub

Okay, so it is more of a sacred washing font. New babies were washed here, as well as members of the royal family before festivals and worshiping in temples. Seriously, the gold and the carvings on this thing were amazing.

Wood carving

More carvings, such intricacy that I have never seen anywhere else