Bahal · Buddhist
Dhum Bahal (Gunalakshmi Mahavihar)
गुणलक्ष्मी महाविहार❊ध्वंबहाः
Shakyamuni Buddha·Medieval Malla period·Lalitpur
One of the traditional 18 bahals of Patan, Dhum Bahal (Gunalakshmi Mahavihar) is a historic Newar Buddhist monastery courtyard in the old city of Lalitpur.
Dedicated to
Shakyamuni Buddha
Period
Medieval Malla period
Hours
Dawn to dusk
Admission
Free
Neighborhood
Patan Old City
Dhum Bahal, formally known as Gunalakshmi Mahavihar, is one of the traditional 18 principal bahals (Buddhist monastery courtyards) of Patan. Like all bahals in the Kathmandu Valley, it follows the classic Newar vihara layout — an enclosed courtyard surrounded by residential quarters for the Bajracharya and Shakya Buddhist priest families, with a main shrine at its center.
The bahal serves as both a religious institution and a community space for its sangha (congregation). The Vajrayana Buddhist rituals practiced here have continued unbroken for centuries, making these bahals some of the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist institutions in the world.
Dhum Bahal sits within the dense urban fabric of old Patan, accessible through narrow lanes typical of the medieval Newar city plan. The courtyard contains traditional stone and metal sculptures, and the surrounding buildings showcase Newar architectural craftsmanship in brick and carved wood.
Folio III
Nearby Sacred Sites
Places within a short walk that help turn this stop into a small sacred cluster.
Baglamukhi Temple
A revered tantric goddess temple in Patan dedicated to Baglamukhi, the Mahavidya of stambhana, known for Thursday puja, dispute-resolution prayers, and its sacred Kumbheshwar-side complex.
Kumbheshwar Temple
Patan's five-tiered Shiva temple — one of only two five-storey pagodas in the Kathmandu Valley — built around a spring-fed tank believed to run underground from Gosainkunda, and the focal point of Janai Purnima.
Ibahi Thur (Northern Ashoka Stupa)
The northern of Patan's four Ashoka stupas, in the lanes above Kumbheshwar — the one embedded most deeply in the old Newar city.
Hiranya Varna Mahavihar (Golden Temple)
Patan's celebrated Golden Temple — a 12th-century Newar Buddhist bahal sheathed in gilded copper, with a rotating boy priest and an 800-year-old Prajnaparamita manuscript.
Nag Bahal (Nagbahal)
One of Patan's oldest Buddhist courtyards and the gathering site for the Samyak Mahadan festival, where all Dipankara Buddha images from across Patan are assembled.
Coda
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