The Nyatapola Temple, Bhaktapur, Nepal

The Nyatapola Temple which towers over the Taumadhi Tol, Bhaktapur, is the most obvious example of the square free standing pagoda and one of only two five-tired temples in the valley. Built in 1702AD(822NS) by the contemporary King Bhupitindra Malla, Nyatapola is one of the three temples in Bhaktapur dedicated to Bhagavati, a goddess closely identified with Taleju. The tantrik goddess Siddhilaxmi enshrined in the building is believed to pacify the troublesome Bhairava, alias Akash Bhairav, whose temple is also standing nearby.

Nyatapola literally means “five storeyed”, “nyata” meaning five and “pola” meaning tiers in Newari language. Thus, the temple is named for its physical structure rather than its residing deity. It stands gloriously on a lofty five-stage plinth and crowed by 5 roofs. Its solid base projects in steps up like like a brick telescope, repeating the extension of the temple body.

History and use: -

History readers and local saying reveals that the site of the Nyatpola Temple used to be a farmland of local citizens. The temple was founded by Bhupatindra Malla (a great patron of art and architecture) in 1702 some years before the enlargement of the adjacent Bhairav temple. History tells that the temple was constructed and completed in 822NS Kartik Suddhi Tritiya, Thursday by King Bhupitindra Malla. The temple is dedicated to the goddess Siddhilaxmi that represents prosperity and good fortune and also represents the goddess of war. The legends suggest that Nyatapola was constructed to propitiate the unmanageable terrorizing power of the Bhairav temple inparted earlier through some tantrik rites.

Nyatapola was probably raised to its height because it had to be seen in relation to some areas of King Bhupitindra Malla’s 55 window durbar, or in relation to the Bhairav legend from where the Nyatapola sanctum level can be interpreted in relation to the first Gajur level of Bhairav temple of the same square, which indicates Siddhilaxmi dominating Bhairav.

Another interesting thing is that the king himself carried first three bricks along with other workers, which also show the good relation between the king and its citizens. The temple wasn’t simply constructed by King’s order but there was also the full support of the people, the main purpose was to get rid of the anger of Bhairav. This very fact shows a social need with a religious background. On the auspicious moment of laying the foundation of the temple, one jyapu (peasant) sowed grains of paddy in his field and later when he tried to pull them out, he had to use a spade. This has a link with the stability of foundations as how much the earth was compact there.

Only Rajopadhya Brahmins had right to enter the temple and perform puja. This tradition is being strictly followed even today. The few Taleju priest keeps the secret of the identity of the Goddess, and the deity is unmanifest and requires no votive object. The outer door is kept locked. The restriction must have been made to maintain the secrecy of the tantrik power of the goddess. At present, the priest of Karmacharya caste does the daily “Nitya Puja” and performs “Aarati” every morning. The main puja is done on two occasions, first on Bhadra Shukla Parewa tithi when a goat is sacrificed to Goddess and a flag symbolizing good luck is placed on its pinnacles. Next on Ashad Sudi 1 when Panchaprachar puja (Tha puja or Tantrik puja) is carried out. Unlike other temples, it doesn’t have any Guthi, Jatras or Bhajans.

Materials, construction technology and Decorative contents of the temple:

The basic raw materials used in the construction of Nyatapola are similar to those of other Nepalese tiered temples. Wood brick, stone, metal (copper, brass), clay mortar (sometimes Surki), red oily pairing tiles (telia) etc are mostly the materials used. The timber types used are Chap, Sal, Salla, Deodar, and Gobresalla. The timber construction can be seen for doors, windows struts and decorative colonnade.

Stone construction includes the five pairs of large guardians at the facade staircase. Each pair of guardians is said to be 10 times more powerful than the pair below them. At the base of stair sit 2-m high monolithic stone (Kotha) statue of legendary Rajput wrestlers, Jaimal and Patta; above them are a pair of elephants, a pair of lions, a pair of griffons and finally a pair of tantrik goddesses usually identified as Singhini and Bhyahagrini. The steps and the edges of the plinths are stone-made; also the in circumambulatory columns have the stone base. The ‘Jalahari’ (water drainage system) on the north (Mandala like) ritual spot on the northeast corner of the third plinth are also made of stones. The stones were brought from different places like Chobhar, Sanepa, Panauti, village of East Nala, Sanga, Dhulikhel, Khadapu, and Chaukwalh and different Toles of Bhaktapur.

General bricks were used for load bearing wall and Teila bricks for the facade treatment. These bricks had mud mortar for bonding. From the manuscript, the total numbers of bricks used were 11,35,850 and Telia Int used are 1,02,364. The brick sizes in the plinth wall have the dimension 8.5” x 4.5” x 2”. These bricks were brought from Thimi, Bode, and Nagadesh. Beautiful metal works can be seen in the pinnacles and wind-bells. The metals used were Kaas, Pittal (Brass), iron for bells and copper, brass, kaash, Khaposot etc was used.

The construction technology used for the Nyatapola temple is very much similar to other tiered temples of the Kathmandu valley. The plan of the temple and its multi level plinth, like that of Taleju Temple of Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square, consists of repeated squares, one within the other, from lowest step of the base as an outer border to the small enclosure that represents the 5th and highest storey of tower. At the epicenter of the expanding series of the square lies the garbagriha, the core of the structure. It is due to this square symmetrical plan, pyramidal structure and a very large foundation with high plinth base (which reduces liquefication) the temple is assumed to be flexible to seismic effect. Even in the 1934 AD earthquake, only the uppermost part of the roof fell whereas the alongside temple of the Bhairav collapsed wholly. This reflects the stability and good work and devotion of ancient period. Rennovations were done by the Late king Tribhuwan. 2045 BS earthquake did only negligible damage to the temple. The latest renovation done was by the Bhaktapur Municipality in 1996 AD. The lowest storey of the temple is unusual as it has the form of the circumambulatory passage behind 20 finely carved wooden columns each of which support a scalloped capital. These form wooden archways beneath a wooden band painted with leas and floral motifs. The statue of the goddess Siddhilaxmi resides within the square chamber. Though the chamber has gates in all four sides, the main gate is facing south.

The elevation follows the rule of three proportioning triangles used to arrive at various salient levels of the elevations e.g. the eaves of the various roofs, the neckband of the lion faces and the levels where the lower roofs meet the upper core walls.

The massive load bearing wall of the temple comprise of high compressive strength. The walls are double layered to increase durability and hence protecting the walls against rain, vermin and abrasion and also improve thermal and moisture performance of the wall. The brick facing are trapezoidal in shape and brick adjoins brick edge on the outer face and the mortar is mostly within and so the mud mortar cannot be easily washed away. The mortar constitute of yellow clay with “mass” and “Chaku”. The fine lines between the edges of the bricks are often scaled with a waterproofing agents i.e. mixture of oil, rasein and red earth.

The entrance has a massive double door consisting of an internal frame (duchu) and external frame (Bha) joined together by floor wooden ties (tas) pinned together with wooden nails ‘chukul’. Torana having carvings of Tantrik goddesses and Goddess Siddhilaxmi are fixed to upper frame for decoration. In the tie beam (Lakasin), a total of 20 vertical wooden columns stand such that in each face we see 6 columns with five voids between them. The load of the lintel (Nina) is transferred to these columns through meth (wooden bracket like capital), which is carried as an arch. Over the meth the beam passes throughout the length of the temple, a small portion of which extends outwards. Their exposed surfaces have been carved with the faces of lion one above the other. Above the cornice rests the struts (tudals), which support the whole load of the roof and transfers them to the load-bearing wall. This load-bearing wall, of the second floor is smaller in comparison to the wall above the surrounding of the main core. The upper part of the struts supports a long beam over which rafters extreme end rest. These rafters rest on two such types of beams. These rafters start from the second wall, which are tied by the wedges (chukul), which again rest on another wood plank penetrating the wall.

As the name suggests, it has five tiered roofs decreasing in dimension from bottom to top. The first roof covers the 3rd plinth. The upper part of 2nd, 3rd and 4th storey is supported by 2nd load bearing wall. The little upper portion of the 1st roof is exposed with bricks. The floor of each storey goes on diminishing in size and area. The uppermost roof is somewhat different; it is crowned with brass pinnacle (195”) at the center part of the roof. The 5th shifted wall is the last load-bearing wall on the top of the temple. The middle portion of the rafter rests on this 5th shifted wall. All the rafters are concentrated at the center vertical column over which the pinnacle lies. The rafters have been tied to the straight wood, which is again tied to the lower end by the beams and passes through the 5th shifted walls.

The roofs of the temples are covered with the special red tiles of similar shape and size. Brass made wind bells hang on rafters of each roof; 48, 80, 104,128 and 168 bells in fifth, fourth, third, second and first roof respectively. The five roofs are supported by a total of 108 struts, this being a sacred number, and each strut bears the wooden image of a many-armed tantrik deity.

Conclusion:

The five-tiered temple “Nyatapola” with its great height is observed to be towering over the spectators. Its imposing grandeur and magnificent architecture is one of the biggest assets of Nepalese art and architecture. The stability and balanced structure is so rigid that even the high ritcher scale earthquake of 1990 BS couldn’t deform it. Till date and for centuries ahead this temple has and will remain as an emblem of unity and inspiration to all Nepalese people. Few of its precious elements like wood carvings have been stolen which surely demands the need of proper protection and conservation so that from generations to generations, it still remains glory of Nepalese people.