REPORT ON CHYASLIN MANDAP

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

NIHARIKA PUN MAGAR AR. SURAJ SHAHI
CHI077BAR103
Introduction:
Located on the eastern side of Bhaktapur Durbar square Chyasalin Mandap is a small
two storied wooden pavilion. It's is pronounced "Chee-ass-a-lin" and means 'eight
corners,' a reference to its eight-cornered roof. It is actually a pavilion and the name
mandap means small temple because of that many assume as temple.
Chyasalin "Pavilion" Mandap was originally thought to have been built in the 17th
century under the Malla Kingdom. The entire credit goes to King Srinivas Malla, the
then-King of Lalitpur who erected it as a sign of friendship. Its main purpose was to
deflect a powerful force coming from the nearby Shiva temple known as the Bhaktapur
Pashupatinath temple. It was later used as a meeting place, a platform to watch plays /
poetry and as a tax office.
Symbolism:
The Pavilion of the Eight Corners, had been built by Bhupatindra Malla to protect
Bhaktapur's palace. Like most Malla kings, he was highly accomplished in the esoteric
practice of Tantrism. According to local tradition, he built the Mandap to form a barrier
between his palace and the opposite Shiva Temple in order to escape the "malicious"
radiations believed to be coming from the yoni in the temple, which pointed north at his
residence, the Fifty-Five Window Palace. Thus, the eight-cornered Mandap roof was
thought to be the appropriate shape to deflect the yoni's radiations. This was done as it
was thought that the octagonal sides would deflect the Shiva temples emanating force
from hitting the palace.
Usage:
It was where the Malla kings met with emissaries and other dignitaries. And from its
ornate windows court ladies witnessed the festivals that took place on the square
below. This pavilion was also used to welcome royal guests, observe festivals, and enjoy
the breathtaking sunset views. But its most celebrated function is known from a
silapatra (stele) still on display there, which records a poetry competition between
Bhupatindra Malla (Ranajit's father and king of Bhaktapur from 1696 to 1722) and his
entourage.. When the Kathmandu Valley finally fell to Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1769,
Kathmandu became the capital of his new Nepal, and Bhaktapur went into slow decline.
During the late Rana era, the Chyasilin Mandap was turned into a tax office, an
ignominious function for a building of its rich heritage and captivating architecture.
After the earthquake reconstruction, an interesting side note is that the restored
Chyasalin Mandap building was the catalyst to preventing heavy traffic from entering
the square and damaging other buildings. The resorted building essentially blocked
them. Soon after legislation was passed banning all traffic from the historic square.
Materials used:
Timber, stone, bricks, jhingati tiles
Physical features:
The two lions flanking the entrance in the direction of the palace. A knee- high two
stepped platform octagonal platform on which a tall stone inscription with poems
about the six seasons composed by king Jitamitra together with his prime minister and
trusted counsellor around 1680. There was entry into the upper storey through the
pillared hall on the ground floor which had twelve pillars, sixteen capitals. The pavilion’s
balcony-like upper storey, opened on all sides, functioned as an observation platform. It
was wooden-framed construction with four central pillars extending into the upper
storey. There were benches along the 24 window openings, the benches around the
head of the stairwell .An Umamahesvara figure was located in the upper storey. Top-
heavy, with a bulbous first floor rested on slender wooden pillars. The roof framework
with its curiously bent rafters had struts for support on the walls and covered with
jhingati tiles.
Reconstruction after earthquake:
After the 1934 earthquake Chyasalin Mandap was completely destroyed. In the late
1980's the then Chancellor of Germany Helmut Cole was due for a state visit. Protocol
dictated a gift should be given to Nepal. Funded by Germany, architects Götz Hagmüller
and Niels Gutschow set about rebuilding this lost treasure of Durbar Square.
Work was set about to find old photographs and remains from the original building.
Eight of twelve pillars and six out of sixteen post were found along with many other
items. Duplicates were made and the building was reconstructed with metal frames in
the event of another earthquake.
The drawings (or rather, wood engravings) had been made after photographs taken by
the French sociologist and traveler Gustave Le Bon in 1885. They were the proof the
architects needed. Gutschow, who was in Germany at the time, got copies of the
original photographs and sent them to Hagmüller. With the photographs finally on his
desk, Amatya agreed to the proposal. The restoration of this medieval building also
required other ancient crafts. However, not all of them were flourishing like carpentry.
Terracotta brick-making, for example, was teetering on the verge of disappearance even
in the late 1980s: the family of brick-makers commissioned to make and carve the bricks
was the last one remaining in Bhaktapur.
The architects got support of Dr. Walther Mann, who at the time was Europe's most
eminent export in earthquake-resistant buildings. He designed the seismic-proof
structure, which features an internal framework of pillars and trusses bolted at the
joints and planted in a deep concrete foundation. The four inner steel columns rising
from this foundation were encased in concrete, however replication the neo-classical-
style brick sheathing done during the Rana period. Thus, the modern steel structure is
not visible at all on the ground floor, whereas higher up and on the first floor the steel
segments have been deliberately exposed.
The reuse of the pillars and beams crushed by the teeth of time ensures the edifice’s
authentic character in the eyes of the passer by, for in fact 8 out of 12 pillars, 30% of the
lintel and 6 of 16 capitals have been preserved. The location was pinpointed when the
excavation pit was dug on the south side the vertical masonry of the platform was
exposed. A relief frieze with inlays of ivory, encircling the building at the height of the
window sills, was dedicated to narrative elements from the Krishna legend. On the
other hand, the two lions flanking the entrance in the direction of the palace, which are
seen on a water colour of the middle of the 19th century, but were missing thirty years
later, were redesigned and cast by means of the normal cire perdue technique.
The support structure—originally a wooden-framed construction with four central
pillars extending into the upper storey - was realized in the form of a modern and
partially visible steel framework. Thus, a closer inspection reveals it to be in fact a
mixture of a steel-girded structure with a prepositioned facade of individually
prefabricated parts formed by hand from wood and terra cotta. Under the two
stepped platform of traditional open masonry consisting in part of profiled bricks is
hidden a massive reinforced concrete foundation which sits atop undisturbed 3m
under the ground level of the square on the bottom of step well that stood there
unto the time mandap was built. Set into 4 quivers of this foundation, the central
steel columns rise in three joined sequences each up to beneath the roof of the
tower’s apex. On the ground floor, for statical reasons, each of these four columns
has a covering of reinforced concrete, which again outwardly displays the classical
profiles seen on the historical photos.
Between the upper, profiled end of this covering and the layer of ceiling beams
above is situated approximately 6ocm wide horizontal zone having the outward
appearance of a multifariously stepped cornice of shaped brick above the lintel, and
producing the impression of being a narrow transitional storey.
The four steel pillars are exposed to view inside this zone, as are the four cross
beams of diagonally braced double profiles statically joining the core with the facade.
Thus the steel frame is completely visible in this transitional zone, which is open to
view only after one steps onto the platform at very close range.
The steel is also visible in the upper storey, at least in part. The wooden roof beams
here likewise rest on undisguised double profiles of steel, which depend, however,
from the steel trusses in the roof whereas the four steel pillars are partially
supplemented by wood in the four open angles of their cruciform cross section, so
that only the vertical edges of the steel remain visible. This wooden filling, while
giving the impression of being a complete pillar with its cross section narrowing front
a square into an octagon so that the steel profiles are deprived of their aggressive
sharpness and material coldness, have clearly been bolted into place. Not having any
load to support, they disappear above into thin air. An interval of clearly empty space
provides wide gap where normally a capital would transfer the weight of the lintel
onto the pillar. It is only the supporting steel core that reaches up all the way without
touching the depending roof construction.
Conclusion:
Throughout research session of chyaslin mandap, there was exploration of new
information regarding it and the malla period architecture. Usually the structures
built on palace squares were rectangular or square in shape, defying all this
octagonal pavilion is one of its kind with finest craftsmanship that stood still for 100
of years until the earthquake of 90’s. After reconstruction, the temple withstood
2072 BS earthquake amply.
Chyasalin Mandap can be used as a prime example of what can be done to preserve
Nepal's temples for future generations. Nepal sits on a seismic fault line, rebuilding
temples without taking this into account would be very foolish. As of 2022 most of
Nepal's slow cultural heritage reconstruction has not included Chyasalin Mandap as a
proven way to be earthquake resistant. Instead, the reconstuction has focused on
traditional builds. While this is certainly better than initial concrete rebuilds the
longevity and lack of maintenance on these traditional builds is questionable.
 Ground floor plan

Elevation Steel structure

Section
References:
 https://www.thelongestwayhome.com/travel-
guides/nepal/bhaktapur/chyasalin-mandap.html
 https://www.bhaktapur.com/discover/chyasalin-mandap/
 https://asianart.com/articles/mandap/index.html
 https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/
pdf/ancient_nepal_123-125_01.pdf