HISTORY OF NEPALESE ARCHITECTURE

YEAR III PART I

Lecture 4: MALLA SettLeMeNt AND ArcHItecture

MALLA PALACE
CHAUKOT DURBAR: PATAN PALACE

PrePAreD by: Ar. DeePA SHreStHA

2079-08-20
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE

Traditional Route
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
 Located at the center of the city
facing a large temple filled square
 Consists of four quadrangles
Spared large scale remodeling |
best preserved Malla period
character
Unlike Kathmandu and Bhaktapur
Unlike
durbar square where foreign design
elements and plastered surface
introduced
Patan durbar maintains
completely traditional appearance
with brick walls, carved doors,
windows, struts, cornices and tiled
tiered roofs
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE

Figure: Astamatrika Plan

MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE

 Before Malla..
Lichchhavi times | Patan | Yupagrama, suggesting
Lichchhavis built upon an earlier Kirat settlement
Ancient city situated at the crossroad | nobles or mahapatras
built their mansions along the crossroad during the transitional
period
 Chaukot, or four-cornered fort, stood at the northern end of
the palace complex next to Manidhara prior to construction of
other palace buildings
Some earliest structures | temples to Vishnu by
Purandarasimha who ruled Patan as the mahapatra | much
of late 16th century.
Char Narayan | temple with two tiered roofs | two stage
plinth | 1566
Figure: Char Narayan
 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
 Shikhar temple of Narayan | 1599

 Kirata palace supposed to have existed on the same place

Existing Mani Kesar Narayan Chowk still maintains
pavilions at the corners of the roof | common in fort

 Patan annexed/ add by Kathmandu king Shivasimha

Malla | 1597 | Malla rule

Chronicles | Shivasimha Malla built a temple to

Degutale Adopted the buildings of the mahapatras and
constructed other buildings
Source: Sudarshan Raj Tiwari
 Current palace structures credited
to father-son pair of
Siddhinarsimha and Srinivasa
Malla who together reigned | 1619-
1684
Siddhinarshimha | Degutale over a
four storied structure | 1641 | five
roofs
Temple destroyed by fire during the
early reign of Srinivasa
Siddhinarsimha | Sundari Chowk
and a tank and fountain of
Bhandarkhal | please
tutelary/protection Taleju
Sundari Chowk | totally new
construction | expanded the existing
palace southward: Built at the site of
Hatko Bahal which was dismantled
and translocated to another site west
of the square at the present site of
Measurements Source: Sudarshan Raj Tiwari Haka-bahal (Ratnakara Mahavihara)
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
Krishna Temple
Siddhiniarasimha built Visveswara
in 1627 & stone shikhara Krishna
temple in 1637
Square three-storied stone
structure | shikhara roof | topped
by a gilded amalaka and gajur
Built on a raised plinth | important
scenes from the Mahabharat and
Ramayana carved in bas-relief
Three miniature pavilions with
inverted lotus domes, gilded
amalakas and gajurs on each side
of the 1st and 2nd floors
Ground floor | colonnaded
circumambulatory passageway
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
Degutale
Rebuilt Degutale which was
destroyed by fire | but with
Srinivasa undertook to rebuild
the palace from one end to the
other only 3 roofs over a 5
storey
Design copied by Pratap Malla
during the construction of the
Kathmandu Degutale
Temple | destroyed in the
1934 earthquake |
reconstructed
Again restored in 1969
 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE

Mulchowk | 1666
Srinivasa restored Mulchowk
Introduced the practice of celebrating Dashain in the chowk
by building a Taleju temple in the southern wing of the court
Images of Ganga and Jamuna flank the temple doorway as in
Built the chief rooftop temple of Taleju | octagonal shaped
roofs | probably over a previous temple | NE corner of Mulchowk
New agamchhen | SW corner of Mulchowk | 3 different shaped
roofs: rectangular, octagonal and circular
Destroyed in the 1934 earthquake | not restored in its original
structure
In the 2-storied wings of the courtyard lived the palace
priests
Courtyard used to perform various dances and ceremonies
 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
Mani Kesar Narayan Chowk

Srinivasa | restored or enlarged the northernmost Chaukot

quadrangle | currently known as Mani Keshar Narayan
Chowk after small Vishnu temple in the courtyard
Southern side fell down a half century later | razed and
rebuilt by Vishnu Malla

Extensive renovations made in the 19th century | 4th floor

and golden door (Lun Jhya) addition

Constructed Bhimsena temple | 1680

 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
Sundari Chowk

Main living quarter of the King

Entrance to the courtyard | gained through a gate on the
central axis of the building
Gate guarded by statues of Ganesh and Narasimha
1-metre wide walkway runs around the courtyard which is at
a lower level than the street
The floor of the courtyard paved with square stone slabs
Courtyard has a bathing tap (hiti) at the centre | Tusa
Hiti
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE

Source: Sudarshan Raj Tiwari

 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
Sundari Chowk
Five bayed entrance door between two walls of Mulchowk and
Sundari Chowk
North side entrance
South door later opened for priest
Mulchowk built at the last probably closed the doorway of
Sundari Chowk, which is interconnected by Agam Mandir
Apparently copied by Pratap Malla in his Kathmandu palace
Water fountain gilded | walls adorned with exquisite stone carvings
of deities
Most of the doors and windows face the courtyard for privacy
, Open dalans on the ground floor | rest areas and stables
Rooms housed arsenals and palace guards
Four stairs at the ends provide access to long narrow living
quarters on the 1st floor
Obviously four separate and distinct living quarters
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE

Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan
 Sundari Chowk

4 stairs | 4 apartments

Second floor | rooms

connected through balcony |
maybe later added

Source: Sudarshan Raj Tiwari

Second Floor Plan
MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
Sundari Chowk
Second floor probably added later
Plan of the building | resemble the design of the viharas |
very well could have been influenced by them. Like the
bahals the palace also probably had two storeys initially

The second floor had a projecting lattice covered walkway

facing courtyard which provided connection to the rooms
along the different wings as well as to the lower floor
Rooms on the first floor served mainly as the living and
sleeping areas
Rooms on the second floor served as kitchen and eating halls
The space below roof served no useful purpose
 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
All temples in the square face the palace | unlike other
palaces where temples are built in different directions
Quadrangles of the palace also appear to have no
interconnection to each other | probably built as a separate
units
Nearly perfect squares | probably most closely resemble the
original
Main gates lead to the palace square | small gate leads to
the gardens at the rear

Main gates flanked by small gates which are too small for
use | not functional doors as entry to the rooms is obtained
from the courtyards
 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
Construction Technology
Load bearing system (brick and mud mortar)
Construction materials – Brick, timber, mud floor / , tiling, Jhingati
roof etc.
Timber used for joists, frame, windows, doors, floor planks, etc.
The foundation would be brick. Some has got footing.
It is said that Sundari chowk building has got no foundation, wall
itself acting as foundation.
Roofs to have ridge, centre post raised in King post truss, roofs
supported by struts.
The corridors / balconies walkways (cantilevers) are supported by
struts.
Windows and doors are not load bearing components | lots of
carving
The windows openings are normally slope narrow out.
Sundari chowk is 3 storeyed building (same as Keshav Mohan
chowk). Mul chowk was 2 ½ or 2 storeyed building.
 MALLA PALACES | PATAN DURBAR SQUARE
All the temples standing in front of the palace in durbar
square have been so arranged that their entrance steps or main
doors are faced to the palace.

Eg. Three Shikhara – style temples (Krishna, Narasinha,

Shiva – like Indian stone temple) .

There are seven temples in the traditional style. Eg. Mani

Ganesh, Bhimsen, Char narayan, Harishanker etc.

Other building of the palace area are : Manimandapa,

Mandapa, Mani Hiti, Dharmashala.