Mahindra Malla of Kantipur :King who ate after all his people had slept

By Abhas D Rajopadhyaya

The Malla period is perhaps one of the greatest periods in the history of Nepal, if not the only best. Credit goes mostly to the generous kings whose profound love for arts and respect for all cultures stand out till todays.

King Mahendra Malla is one of such kings, who always made sure that all his people had their day's meal before the King himself had his. Legends has it that he would stay atop the magnificent Taleju Temple, built by him in 1620 B.S., to see if smoke came well out of kitchens in every houses in the kingdom. If any of the houses was seen without, the King would immediately call upon his soldiers to take enough food from the palace store to feed the family. A variation on this legend says the King would also stop to see if all diyos (traditional oil-lamps) were properly extinguished and people were sound asleep; only then would he and other members from the royal family would sit together for the dinner.

As most other Malla kings in the history, Mahindra Malla too was a profound lover of arts. He is credited with artworks that still stand out in the premises of Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square, the then Royal Palace of Medieval Nepal. The magnum opus of his reign is the Taleju Temple that houses the venerated Goddess Tuluja Bhawani. She is the supreme deity of the Mallas believed to be brought to Kantipur from Simroungarh. The Goddess was also believed to be the national deity then and many consider it even now. Regular and special worships are made to her in accordance to the tantric tradition by Achajus or Juju Bajyas. Many Malla kings, for instance, Pratap Malla and Jaya Prakash Malla are believed to have direct interactions with her and even play pasa (a traditional game played with two dices over a board of cloth).

Another of his excellency is seen in the Pashupatinath temple located at Makhan tole in the premises of the Hanuman Dhoka Palace. It eased the then Kathmanduites to pay homage to Lord Pashupatinath without having to travel long to Deopatan, where the revered Pashupatinath Temple is installed. This Sano Pashupati or Mahindreshwor Mahadev was originally was a two-storey pagoda-style temple; but it now has marbled walls and floors.

The two-storey Jagannath temple portrays his passion for art. The inscription at the bottom plinth in many different languages and scripts are remarkable. The erotic imagery in the struts of this temple has also been an attraction for the common and experts alike. How open was the society then to put such images at such holy a place is still unimaginable.

Mahindra Malla is also credited with renovation of Tana Dewal at the Tarini Bahal and the Mul Chowk. Except the Taleju temple and Jagannath temple, none of his artworks are in their original form. He too has a name in Newari literary tradition as a composer of a hymn 'Krishna' praising the lilas (divine plays) of the notorious god. He is also credited with large silver tanka popularly called 'Mahindramalli'.