Patan - Hatko Vihara

Hatko Vihara (a vihara is a Buddhist monastery) was the Mahavihara of the Patan Kumari. It was built, so legend has it, by Lakshmi Kamadeva in the early 11th c. on a spot where a flame flared out of a stream. Although there are special rituals ratifying the removal of a shrine, the original site always remains sacred. So at the end of every year a water-filled copper vessel with an image of Buddha inside is placed in the palace precinct where the monastery stood.