Kasthamandap Temple is located in Kathmandu Durbar Square, and its wood pavilion is one of the most important buildings in Nepal’s history. It is not a temple in the strict sense, despite the fact that the central space on the ground floor houses an image of Gorakhnath, a great preceptor of the Natha sect of Shaivism, which was quite popular in medieval Nepal. The first floor features two panels that tell the story of the life of Buddha. Each story is surrounded by a balcony with a low railing, providing fabulous views of the city. Inside, the building is open, and the structure’s weight is carried by rows of massive decorated timber columns. A popular story about the origin of this structure recounts that when the celestial tree, Kalpavrisksha, came to Earth in human form to witness the famous Matsyendranath festival, he was recognized by a Tantric adept, who begged him to build a monastery out of the wood of the celestial tree. The result is this pavilion made from the wood of a single tree. The event is said to have happened during the reign of Lakshminrisimha Malla (1620-1639), and the building’s name, “Kasthamandapa,” is said to have given the city of Kathmandu its name. The pavilion is also considered the oldest-known wooden building in Nepal. It survived the 1934 earthquake and was renovated in 1966 but collapsed in the earthquake on April 25, 2015.
