JOURNEYS Wonders of the World
THIS^PAGE:^ GETTYIMAGES/ROBERT^ HARDINGFACING^PAGE:^ ALAMY/ROBERT^ HARDING/GETTYIMAGES
Feathered finery
The ornately carved 15th-century
Peacock Window adorns the Pujari Math,
best-known of a series of brick-and-wood
buildings that once housed Hindu priests.
These math stand behind Tachupal Tole,
Bhaktapur’s original central square and
official seat of the kingdom’s royalty until
the late 16th century. The Pujari Math now
houses the city’s Woodcarving Museum.\ Grappling guardians
The steps up to the 30-metre-high five-
roofed Nyatapola Temple are guarded by
twin phalanxes of animals and deities,
fronted by the legendary Rajput wres-
tlers Jayamel and Phattu wielding hefty
maces. This most imposing of the cit y ’s
temples, reputedly the tallest in Nepal,
was built in 1702 under Bhupatindra
Malla. Its construction is so sturdy that it
survived both the 2015 and earlier 1934
quakes virtually intact. It’s dedicated to
a particularly bloodthirsty incarnation
of the goddess Durga; only priests are
permitted to enter the inner sanctum
housing the idol depicting the deity.