Taleju: The Tantrik Goddess Temple [Nepal]

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Taleju: The Tantrik Goddess Temple

Kathmandu temple is open to devotees only once a year

by Umesh Shrestha

2006-10-02

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Thousands of devotees queued for hours to gain entrance

and worship in the historic temple of Taleju, located at

Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu, during ninth day of Dashain,

Sunday. Built in the 16th century, this temple dedicated to a

tantrik goddess is opened for devotees only on this day.

 

I, along with my friend, woke up early in the morning and

reached there at 5:30 a.m. There was already a long queue.

Still, we decided not to waste this chance to go inside the

temple. After waiting for nearly an hour, we were able to get

in.

 

"Don't take any photographs and shut off your camera

phones," a local guard warned us at the entrance to the 120-

foot-high temple. Taleju is the tallest of all the temples in

the Hanuman Dhoka precincts. Taleju, along with another

monument, are listed as a U.N. World Heritage site.

 

Taleju is the chief protective deity of Nepal and its royal

family. A living goddess of Nepal, Kumari is believed to be

a bodily incarnation of Taleju.

 

Construction of the huge three-tiered temple heralded a new

phase in the architecture of the Kathmandu Valley. It was

the first temple erected with more than two roofs and the

first to be raised on a tall stepped platform. The view from

Taleju was a really exciting experience for all the devotees.

 

It is said that the Malla king of Kathmandu, Mahendra

Malla, designed the temple in the shape of a shree yantra

on the advice of Goddess Taleju herself. It is believed

that the Goddess entered the temple in the form of a bee.

 

This temple survived the great earthquake of 1934.

Thousands of people died and Kathmandu valley was

destroyed, but Taleju, along with some other temples, were

the least affected.

 

Related article:

Maha Astami: Day of Sacrifice

Dashain is the longest, most auspicious Nepal festival

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