Bhaktapur is one of the cities of Kathmandu Valley that was a city state in ancient times. This plaza in front of the royal palace of the old Bhaktapur Kingdom is called Durbar Square and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Although damage to the temples in the square was not extensive, one of the collapsed structures is a temple called Batsala Devi. This stone temple is without doubt a smaller version of the temple called Krishna Mandir in neighboring Patan City. This stone temple has a three-stepped base, a colonnade of fourteen octagonal pillars, eight architectural features above its cornice, which are octagonal turrets in the form of miniature temples at the corners and four small pavilions on the four sides. The structure is an elaborate tower in a form known as Shikhara , topped with finials called amalakas, kalasha, and a trident. The temple was built by Bhupatindra Malla in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century and is dedicated to a goddess Batsala Devi. She is probably a form of Durga, as suggested by the images of the goddess in the pavilion above the main door and an eighteen-armed Mahishamardini form located inside the sanctum door.
Fasi Dega
Fasi Dega Temple, dedicated to Shiva, is also located in the Bhaktapur Durbar Square. There were several sculptures of Hindu gods within the temple. This ancient temple collapsed in the 1934 earthquake; only the base of the original structure remained. The stairway along the height of the stepped base is guarded by three pairs of animals. A modern dome-shaped shrine was built on top of the original base, and it collapsed in the April 25, 2015, earthquake.
