Yoga Narendra Malla

Yoga Narendra Malla took the throne of Patan in 1685, after his father gave it up. He ruled through a turbulent reign. This reign was marked by rivalries with local feudal lords, and skirmishes, small clashes, with the neighbouring kingdoms of Kantipur and Bhaktapur.

Today, people remember him less for his politics. Instead, they remember him for the striking gilded statue he commissioned of himself. The statue shows him kneeling in prayer, atop a tall stone column at Patan Durbar Square. A cobra shelters it, with a small bird resting on its hood. This monument still stands, more than three centuries later. It is the subject of an enduring Patan legend: as long as the bird remains, the king’s spirit continues to watch over the city.