Then we ate lunch at the cafe of the museum. It was so calm and peaceful and away from the noise of the city. The food was also delicious. Then we headed back outside where we decided to employ the services of a guide to show us around the square and in a temple or two. The history was amazing.
The square is home to a lovely huge palace. The King lived in the palace, and although he is long gone, the legend has it that he is still alive. Across from the palace is a pillar. A statue of the last king is on the pillar so that he can always 'see' into his palace. Atop the king is a bird, and the legend is that when the king returns, the bird will fly away from the pillar into the palace.
The palace also has a statue of the monkey god on top of it. This was to signify how tall houses were allowed to be built, they could not be built taller than the statue of the monkey god.
The palace windows are called "peeking windows" because they have a wood lattice over them with a lot of holes in them. This allowed the ladies to 'peek' out without being seen. They also prevented others from looking in.
Across from the palace is a temple. The images on the temple show the Kama Sutra. It was said that when couples were first married, if they were having troubles in the bedroom, the parents would send them to this temple to pray, with the hopes that they would see the images and get ideas!
After visiting the square, we visited a school where they teach the art of Thanka Paintings. These traditional paintings are made on silk and use real gold in the paintings. They come in 4 varieties: a design for meditation, the life of Budda, a god/goddess and Mandela. They are amazing, and I know that before I go, I will purchase one to take home.
Then we also visited a fair trade shop where we learned about the uses of healing bowls. These metal bowls are used to help the body and soul. Even though it was a sales pitch, it was interesting to learn.
After our tour, we walked around, just taking in a few of the streets of the city. Patan was PACKED with people, motorcycles, cars and vendors. It was overwhelming at times, but we enjoyed it!
At the end of our day, we visited the Mahabuddha and Rudravarna Mahabinar temples. These temples were calm and one could hear bells ringing. They had a lot of prayer wheels and offerings that had been left. Ending our day at these temples was nice.
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Location:Patan, Nepal
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