TALEJU TEMPLE

This impressive temple houses an actively worshipped shrine to Taleju, the tutelary goddess of the Malla kings. The rooftop temple, with three-tiered roofs of octagonal shape, was consecrated in 1671 by Srinivasa Malla. The top two tiers collapsed during the 1934 earthquake and were subsequently rebuilt. Prior to the recent restoration, the temple was structurally unstable and in danger of collapsing again. The most unusual feature of the building is its massive masonry core, extending uninterrupted from the ground floor to the sanctum on the third floor. Essentially a vertical extension of the ground, the core may have been built for religious rather than structural reasons, since it is believed that the Taleju deity must have a connection to the earth.