Patan and the Sex Temples

Patan Durbar square on our first visit in 1969

We spent today motor biking to the nearby old city of Patan photographing all the sexual tantra images at the Jagannarayan temple in Patan and in the Jagannath and Triple Goddess temples in Kathmandu, which have similar images to the little Kali temple we saw at Pashupatinath.

We were going to go up to Nagarkot on the motor bike but the day is hanging very heavy with dark cloud and bursts of rain, so we wouldn't anyway get a view of the Himalayas as I saw on my first visit in 1969.

Patan Royal Palace, Durbar Square in 2006

The palace door

Images of the temples around the Durbar Square

Pretty much as soon as we arrived, a guys walked up to us and asked to show us around. There were hardly any tourists there and he agreed to show us for free as practice for being a successful guide.

Snake charmers

Jagannarayan and Vishwanath temples and the Durbar Square

The Jaganarayan temple has famous erotic sculptures on its ceiling struts.

Jagannarayan erotic ceiling struts

An erotic temple figure from Patan 1969

Krishna Mandir temple

One thing the guide did do which was helpful was to take us to the Golden Buddhist Temple a block or so away from the main square.

The Golden Buddhist temple of Patan Kwa Bahal or Suwarna Mahavihara

Christine with the guy who guided us during a tourist quiet period
for practice speaking about the temples

Patan like Bhaktapur has more of the old world charm than Kathmandu and a number of old buildings with richly carved pillars.

Ornately carved buildings around the Durbar Square

Patan 1969

On our return to Kathmandu I photographed two additional temples with erotic carvings, the Tri-Devi temple in the city centre and the Jagannath temple (an ancient form of Vishnu as Lord of the Universe famed at Puri for the Juggernaut rope-pulled chariots of the God under which devotees fell to be crushed) off Durbar Square.

Tri-devi or triple Goddess temples Kathmandu

Erotic images on the temple struts

Shrines in the temple grounds

Jagannath temple Kathmandu with erotic carvings