Kathmandu - Kasthamandapa

The square is dominated by the Kasthamandapa, a spacious hall-temple without rival in Kathmandu. Relatively unadorned with carving the building impresses by its compactness and simplicity. Balconies encircle each story, protected by the heavy widely jutting roofs. The interior of the building is open, with rows of timber supports.

According to legend Kalpa Vriksha, the heavenly wishing tree, came down to Earth in human form to participate in the Matsyendranath Jatra Festival. He was recognized by a Tantric priest who pleaded with him to build a monastery from the wood of the tree. The result was the Kasthamandapa ("House of Wood"), from which Kathmandu takes its name. The Kasthamandapa is often identified with an important monastery of which there is mention as early as the 8th c. From the 11th c. it was used as an assembly house, perhaps for legislative or consultative meetings between the rajas of the 12 Kathmandu districts (toles). In the 14th c. the building became a shrine to Goraknath administered by the Natha sect.

Goraknath was a great teacher belonging to the Natha sect in medieval Nepal. He is said to have been a cowherd whose destiny it was to care for a crippled prince whom he came across abandoned in the forest. His 12 years of selfless devotion were the equal of the highest form of yogic discipline and thus earned him immortality.