The buddhist stupas and vihar of kirtipur

This Buddhist stupa is the oldest monument of the town. It is about ten meters high and stands on a quadrangular base. The dome is plastered white and is surmounted by thirteen rings. The pinnacle is a canopy or umbrella supported by a tripod. Four poles above the dome support a large quadrangular ilan, or umbrella. This stupa is of the Mahayana school of Buddhism. Around are several masterful Buddhist sculptures. Just below the courtyard at the back there is a two-storeyed shrine, called the Kwa Bahal or Sakyamuni shrine.

In the Naya Bazar area of Kirtipur is the Nagar Mandap Shri Kirti Vihar. It is a new Theravadin monastery of the Southern school of Buddhism, and was constructed in 1975. The chief priest is a learned monk named Bhikkshu Sudarshan who is also a faculty member of the Culture Department of nearby Tribhuvan University. The monastery has excellent replicas of four holy places of Buddhism including Lumbini, where Buddha was born; Bodhgaya, where he became enlightened; Sarnath, where he preached for the first time; and Kushinagar, where he passed away into parinirvana, the supreme liberation. Recently a main shrine and a pagoda in the Thai style decorated with Nepali art have been built with charity received from Thai Buddhists.

The Chilancho Stupa is located on the highest point of the ridge, dominating the entire length of eastern Kirtipur. According to the historian Percival Landon it is supposed to have been built by Ashoka, the Emperor of India, several hundred years B.C., though there is no authentic record of Ashoka’s visit to Kathmandu. It is not known when this stupa was constructed, but on its base is an inscription that it was renovated in 816 A.D. by Jagatpal Sarna of Patan.

An exquisite marble stupa stands near Layaku Tole. It has been recently built by some artisans of nearby Chobar village. In front of the stupa is a mandala, a mystical circular diagram, and beside is another stupa, built of black stone.

In Kirtipur there are two extraordinary shrines in the sikhara style — tall, gently sloping pinnacles like the peaks of a mountain. They are made entirely of stone and the only wood in evidence is in the carved doors. These sikhara temples are known as Long Dega and Buddha Mandir and house images of Sakyamuni Buddha.