Architecture The Pagoda Style

This style refers to multi-roofed structures with wide eaves supported by carved wooden struts. Windows, either latticed or grilled, are usually projecting, while the roof is generally topped off by triangular spires enclosing an inverted bell of stucco or burnished gold. The pagoda style shows the finest specimens of the architectural genius of Nepal. The style was later adopted in China and from there spread to other Asian countries. For this, the tribute goes to a young architect-sculptor-painter named Balbahu, (or Ar-ni-ko as the Chinese call him), who led a delegation of eighty Nepalese artists to Tibet during the late 13th century at the invitation of the Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan. The best example of the pagoda style in the Katmandu Valley is Kasthamandap a wooden pagoda built in the Malla period; this is also the structure from which the capital city is derived. The nine-storied Basantpur Palace built by King Prithvi Narayan Shah is another outstanding pagoda specimen. The Pashupati, Taleju and Changu Narayan temples are also