Bahal · Buddhist
Pyukha Bahal (Dharma Dhatu Mahavihar)
प्यूखा बहाल
Standing Buddha in Vishvavyakaran mudra; central Ashok chaitya (Buddhist)·Nepal Sambat 667 (c. 1547 CE)·Kathmandu
A quiet branch monastery in Pyukha Tole off New Road — formally Shree Dharma Dhatu Mahavihar, also called Ashok Chaitya Vihar — built around a large central chaitya crowned with Swayambhu-style Buddha eyes. A Nepal Sambat 667 (c. 1547 CE) inscription records its founding.
Dedicated to
Standing Buddha in Vishvavyakaran mudra; central Ashok chaitya (Buddhist)
Period
Nepal Sambat 667 (c. 1547 CE)
Hours
Usually closed; opened during Panchadan and Samyak Mahadan festivals
Admission
Free
Neighborhood
Pyukha Tole, near New Road, Old Kathmandu
Pyukha Bahal, whose formal name is Shree Dharma Dhatu Mahavihar and which is also known as Ashok Chaitya Vihar, sits in Pyukha Tole, a short walk off the busy New Road in old Kathmandu. A stone inscription within the monastery, dated Nepal Sambat 667 (c. 1547 CE), records that Sthavir Yobhaju of Tahdhang Bahal provided the funds to build it — and for this reason the courtyard is regarded as a branch (shakha) bahal of Tahdhang Bahal.
Unlike most Newar monastery courtyards, Pyukha Bahal has no kwapah-chhen (main shrine house) or kwapah-dyah (principal enshrined deity). In their place, a full-size standing Buddha in the Vishvavyakaran mudra is set into the western wall and serves as the courtyard's principal image. At the centre stands a large chaitya, its harmika painted with the half-open meditative eyes familiar from the great Swayambhu Mahachaitya, and various deities are installed in the walls that enclose the chaitya and the courtyard.
The bahal usually remains closed. It opens to visitors and devotees during the Buddhist alms festivals of Panchadan and Samyak Mahadan, when the courtyard and its images become part of the living ritual life of Kathmandu's Newar Buddhist community.
Folio III
Nearby Sacred Sites
Places within a short walk that help turn this stop into a small sacred cluster.
Sabal Bahal (Mantrasiddhi Mahavihar)
One of Kathmandu's eighteen Acharya Guthi bahals, Mantrasiddhi Mahavihar is a Newar Buddhist courtyard monastery near Indra Chowk, a short walk from New Road.
Te Bahal (Rajakirti Mahavihar)
Kathmandu's largest open monastery courtyard, a Licchavi-era complex housing Buddhist shrines alongside Ganesh, Bhairav, and Matrika — a living museum of Valley syncretism.
Mahankal Temple
A fierce Bhairav shrine in a three-storey white temple on the western edge of Tundikhel, drawing large Saturday crowds seeking relief from hardship.
Mu Bahal (Mulashree Mahavihar)
Reckoned the most artistic of Kantipur's 18 great bahals, Mulashree Mahavihar in Watu Tole enshrines Akshobhya Buddha and once held its own line of Kumaris — held to be the valley's strictest — whose seat is still worshipped in the courtyard.
Akash Bhairav Temple
A three-storey temple at Indra Chowk housing the 'Sky Bhairav' — a disembodied silver head worshipped as the Bhairav of the heavens.
Coda
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