Bhaktapur - Vatsala Shikhara

The temple in the center of Durbar Square is dedicated to Vatsala, a terrifying female deity to whom, in the pre-Malla era, even human sacrifices were made. Set on a triple-tiered platform the shikhara (5 temple tower in the North Indian style) is surrounded by a colonnade of 14 octagonal columns topped by eight small pavilions. Vatsala, portrayed in the pavilion above the main entrance, is a form of Durga, as is the eight-armed Mahishamardini at the temple door. The temple's principal devotional image is a yantra or magic diagram. Vatsala Shikhara was built in the late 17th c. during the reign of Jagat Prakasha Malla. The king was something of a poet, as was his contemporary Pratapa Malla of Kathmandu, and some of his poems are carved in stone on the floor of the temple.