Glimpses of Patan and Living with the Gods!

Glimpses of Patan and Living with the Gods
By Pradeep Rai-www.ecs.com.np

If you subscribe to the myth that Patan is a small ancient place far from the allure that Kathmandu en joys, take a glance at the all the old yet beautiful monuments around it. Granted, some people don’t have a taste for history, nor architecture or spirituality, but most of us are enthralled and stimulated by the way this city was built. Its 2000 year old temples and medieval improvisations rouse an inherent curiosity within us. With its head in the busy streets of Lagankhel and its feet in main land Kathmandu, the precipitous ancient city of Patan has long been dubbed by illustrious connoisseurs or art as the most spectacular amalgamation of architectural finesse. Patan’s presence as a city alive with vibrant devotees to myriad Hindu and Buddhist temples has acted as a muse to incalculable artists and writers, and along with its narrow alleyways of ancient brick masonry connecting hill top villages and the flowing Bagmati River, it has also been successful at enticing a rather good flock of tourists for decades.

The ancient city of Patan, also called Lalitpur and Yala, lies five kilometers southeast of Kathmandu. Patan stretches across two intersecting axes—to the north stands Patan’s Durbar Square and the Golden and Kumbeshwar temples and to the west is the main city of Kathmandu. The bustling southern street runs past the Machhendranath temple and the Lagankhel bus park, while the eastern road skirts the Mahabuddha temple. There are four famous stupas built by the emperor Ashoka in 250 BC, one each at the four corners of the city. Often called the most Newari city in the whole Kathmandu Valley, Patan is a vibrant mélange of cultures, and with a host of funky little cafes and restaurants, it becomes perfect for creative ramblings. There is the Patan Palace, which was home to all the kings of Patan, now a museum displaying ancient artifacts and relics. The Patan Museum Board, established in 1996, is responsible for its maintenance.

Many scholars believe (and many disagree) that at the turn of the 2nd century AD, a Kirat king by the name of Yalamber built a palace in the then secluded small city of Patan on the bank of the sacred Bagmati, at the foot of the place where the Durbar square stands now. He transformed it into his capital and named it after him—Yala. About 400 years later when the Licchavis came into power, massive construction work began. The significant emergence of Patan as a city of commerce, ideas, and culture was undeniably the Licchavis’ supreme achievement. Patan remained a hugely important channel until the valley capital was shifted to Kathmandu with the arrival of King Prithivi Narayan Shah. As the new city of Kathmandu looks to the outside world and begins its historic reacquaintance, it falls a shade new for it never saw the historical glory days that Patan did.

For many, the road to Patan is recounting great history lesson, a persuasive crash course in culture and religion. Legend has it that an idol of the god Rato Machhendranath was brought to the Kathmandu valley from Kamaru Kamachhya, in Assam, India, by three people representing three kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan, in order to bring rainfall to overcome the worst drought affecting the valley. One of them, a devoted farmer named Lalit carried the idol all the way and established it near Patan. It is believed that Lalitpur was named after the farmer. And as it happens, for a daily fascination in the picturesque contrasts so cherished by snooping travelers, a little folklore adds more spice.

Patan derives its rich culture not from the temples but from the parade of regal powers who ruled its corners for the past two millennia. In Patan Durbar Square, the beautiful statue of King Yog Narendra Malla with a snake canopy and a golden bird on top still remains the underscore of Patan, mysteriously hiding a million stories and myths within it. Yog Narendra ruled Patan between 1684AD and 1705AD. During this period he added many structures to the city. He built the two sattals (rest places) just before the stone stairs leading to the stone water spouts (Manga Hiti), and also the Bhimsen temple.

The snake canopy statue of the king has an interesting story. During the reign of Yog Narendra, a farmer from Patan would go to the neighboring kingdom of Bhaktapur to sell vegetables. Out of pity for the farmer, the king of Bhaktapur bought all his vegetables thus becoming the regular daily customer. When the king of Patan heard about this, he conspired to use this to his advantage. He made a stone idol of ‘Ku Laxmi’, which would bring misfortune to Bhaktapur, and had it sold through the vegetable vendor.

The king of Bhaktapur now sought vengeance and asked the King of Patan if they could add a temple to the beautiful Patan Durbar Square. On receiving confirmation, the ‘Nisantaneshwor’ Mahadev Temple was built to make sure that Patan would not have an heir to the throne. As a result King Yog Narendra Malla had 30 wives but no son to succeed him. The Nisantaneshwor temple still stands in the Durbar Square, but it is never worshiped. Before Yog Narendra left his throne, he built a bronze statue and had a golden bird atop it. He told his people that they should believe that he lives, until the bird flies to heaven. One can still see the statue in Durbar Square standing magnificently as if to supervise a visit which some believe is no less than a divine coincidence.

In Patan’s Durbar Square, the early yet incessantly populated place is a city of its own, copiously bequeathed with superb temples, a palace of the Malla era, a giant bathhouse, and fine wooden carvings, a testament to the consummate dexterity of medieval Newari artisans. Within the vicinity of the square lies the beautiful Krishna Mandir. This three-storied stone temple was built by King Siddhi Narasingha Malla in the 16th century AD. Important scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics have been carved in its friezes and the temple houses 21 spires known as the Chyasin Deval. The main idol is on the first floor. In front of the Krishna temple, atop a high stone-pedestal, there is a gilded statue of Garuda, half man, half bird, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. His wings are slightly outspread and he kneels with hands folded as if in a prayer. The two wings signify truth and knowledge respectively meaning to say that God exists in the presence of truth and knowledge. One of the finest specimens of Nepalese temple craft, the Krishna Mandir lures one with unstinting splendor, minute carvings, and a sense of purity that has bent to many winds, yet has remained deeply and valiantly rooted. The Durbar Square is bejeweled by the Bhimsen Temple, Manga Hiti, Vishwanath Temple, Jagatnarayan Temple and the Golden Temple.

There isn’t a real religious center any more than there is a real hangout spot. But if there were, it would be in Patan. Relatively unperturbed by the waves of invasion that swept through and transformed Kathmandu, Patan is the depository of medieval culture that underlies the spiritual reality of Nepal. It hosts a classic collection of temples, a large ensemble of spectacular structures devoted to the gods, both in and around it. The Hiranya Varna Mahavibar is a three-storeyed golden pagoda temple built in the 12th century AD by King Bhaskar Varma. It stands just outside the vicinity of the Durbar square. A golden icon of Lord Buddha and a huge prayer wheel stand on the pedestal of the upper portion of the vihar and elaborate decorative patterns are engraved on its outer walls. Walking through shops with handicrafts on display, mysterious old brick houses with narrow doors, gracious old men sitting beside temples, takes you to a five-storied pagoda temple which at a moment makes one relish a culture on the upswing. This one is the Kumbeshwar temple built by King Jayasthiti Malla in 1422AD. The courtyard houses a natural spring that forms a large pond and is opened on the eve of Janai Poornima, the festival of the sacred thread on the full moon day of August, when ritual bathing takes place every year.

Another of the significant monuments in Patan is the Mahabuddha temple, a masterpiece of brick and tile. Built by Abhaya Raj, a priest of Patan, every single brick portrays a tiny icon of Buddha. There are an astonishing nine thousand bricks in total. There is also the temple of Machhendranath, which stands in the middle of a wide quadrangle at the outer perimeter of the market place.

These temples reserve their greatest secrets for those who attain an understanding and value of them. There is something divine and supremely pure about visiting them, a gift that will always remain. We will never find out descriptions of divine beauty, but Patan fills one with cerebral images of phenomenal monuments, nights ablaze with prayer chants, and an oceanic army of pigeons which could humble you before its majesty and noble splendor. These are the loftiest creations ever raised by the hands of man, the most intelligent monuments of the human spirit and a bold sink into irrelevance by comparison. There stands Patan on a par with the world’s best, with its astounding composition of temples, palaces, and traditional alleys, with elevated statues of gods rising above the dust and a long procession of emperors marching along through their histories.

New tourism policy Pragmatic approach counts.

Vijay Shrestha- The Himalayan Times Daily.
It is essential that we match resources with results, cost with revenues and efforts with outcomes.

The government has come up with a draft tourism policy. The new policy in the making is relevant in the context of the new governance environment of the country. Tourism objectives can be measurably related to GDP, total arrivals, international/regional or product wise market share, foreign exchange earning, employment generation, infrastructure development,
etc. But the final bottom line should be linked to the overall national goals. The draft has enumerated nine products for promotion and resource allocation. I have a firm view that our scarce resources should be allocated in high-return-oriented products in which we have comparative strengths.
For example, adventure tourism, culture and religious tourism, are our core strength areas, where allocating our resources should create more results than investing in educational tourism, or medical tourism. Any policy or strategy, however good, will not yield results unless they are effectively implemented. A strategy should have an appropriate organisational structure. For the effective implementation of the policy, it is imperative that there is a new responsibility management system. Hence, responsibility officers are to be named, responsibilities defined and the performance evaluation of the responsibility officers made on the basis of their performance.Various I/NGOs, have been involved in Nepal’s various development areas, such as poverty reduction, education, health, women development, empowerment of the underprivileged, and microfinance. The involvement of the organisations
at the grass roots level can do much to augment the tourism industry potential.
New products and market development will be critical factors for the achievement of the draft policy objectives. By developing new products, Nepali tourism can achieve greater volumes from the current tourism markets and effectively intrude new markets. It is important that the new policy in the making should address this issue by providing for incentives to tour operators for substantial product development and new marketing initiatives. When developing new products, it is important to ensure their effectiveness from customer perspective as well as from the local beneficiaries. For marketing purposes, e-initiatives can be particularly relevant for us.
Services of tourist service points such as airports, heritage sites, trekking sites, immigration points are critical for repeated visits. They should be best managed with service benchmarking. It is essential that we match resources with results, cost with revenues and efforts with outcomes.
For the target arrivals, we must have sufficient infrastructure in place. For development of new infrastructure, it is necessary to provide entrepreneurs with fiscal, monetary and process incentives. The government should also have the provision of maintaining and developing heritage sites regularly. Accommodation capacity has decreased in recent years with the closure of a number of hotels. Accommodation capacity will be a key constraint factor in the future.
To be competitive and to be in a position to achieve the policy objectives, it is also important for us to have productive human resources in all the related sub-sectors, including all tourist service points such as immigration, tour guiding, travel management, civil aviation, etc. On productive international sectors, there is a capacity crunch particularly during the high tourist season.
There is a need for a very liberal, continual policy of allowing international charter flights and flights under temporary operating permits. Similarly, the country must have a policy framework for air service agreement.
Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in Nepal is possibly the most expensive in the whole world. The government must review the ATF pricing policy. ATF pricing for internal remote sector flights should be done for cost recovery only and VAT should be waived on the supply of ATF for such flights. For other domestic and international flights, ATF pricing has to be based on cost plus reasonable profit. This way, ATF prices will decrease substantially which will immensely contribute to the growth of international and internal air traffic due to consequential fare reduction. When there is a resource crunch, cooperation becomes important. We can collaborate with neighbouring countries as a move towards global marketing to promote tourism in our country.
Furthermore, the continuity of leadership is sine qua non for any organisation or a plan to be successful. For tourism to grow at a faster rate, we need leadership continuity in all related organisations in the sector, from the ministry to NAC, CAAN, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) for a strategic period of time. This enables the continuity of the pursuit of the purpose, strategic implementation and achievement of the purpose, goals and objectives.

Shrestha is president of Airline Operators Association of Nepal