Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/133

 that at the time of the founding of this building in 1700 A.D., as an example to his subjects the king himself brought three bricks towards its erection, and this act so stimulated the citizens of Bhatgaon that in five days the whole of the materials for its construction were forthcoming.

On the opposite side of this square, which is called the Taumari Tol, is a very richly decorated temple, dedicated to Bhavani, having a shrine at the front guarded by two magnificent metal dragons of ferocious mien, and rendered more fierce by being touched up with vermilion. Great plates of brass, embossed with bold patterns centring around religious symbols, cover the brickwork, and on a lotus pillar on each side of the façade a gilt lion rampant supports a double flaming banner, the burnished gold of which flashes in the sunlight. Running around this building are fantastic mouldings, from which depend borders of strange beasts' heads, all picked out in the most gaudy colours, while the lattice windows instead of being made of wood are formed of strips of metal gilt. The shrine