The division of the valley produced three competing capitals — and rivalry, as it sometimes does, became an engine of art. Between 1600 and 1768 the three kingdoms built almost everything today's UNESCO lists call "Kathmandu Valley": the durbars, the pagodas, the stone temples, the festivals, the living goddess.उपत्यकाको विभाजनले तीन प्रतिस्पर्धी राजधानी दियो — र प्रतिस्पर्धाले कलाको इन्जिन बन्यो। आज UNESCO सूचीमा भएका दरबार, पगोडा, चाडपर्व — सबै यही बीच सौ वर्षमा बने।
Kathmandu: Pratap Malla, the King of Poetsकाठमाडौं: प्रताप मल्ल — कविहरूका राजा
Pratap Malla (प्रताप मल्ल, r. 1641–1674) imprisoned his own father on grounds of insanity and took the throne at eighteen. He styled himself Kavindra — king of poets — composing 138 poems in Nepal Bhasa and fifteen Sanskrit hymns. Chronicles compared him to Shah Jahan: "Nepalese culture reached its height in the time of Pratap Malla."प्रताप मल्लले आफ्नै बुबालाई पागलपनको आरोपमा कैद गरेर सत्ता लिए। उनले आफूलाई कविन्द्र भने — नेपाल भाषामा १३८ कविता र पन्ध्र संस्कृत स्तोत्र रचना गरे।
- ◆Built Ranipokhari (रानीपोखरी) in 1669/70 in memory of his son Chakravartendra, filling it with water from 51 sacred rivers of Nepal and India
- ◆Set the great Hanuman statue at the palace gate — giving Hanuman Dhoka its name
- ◆Built the octagonal Krishna temple (Chyasin Dega) and installed the giant Kal Bhairav stone
- ◆At Swayambhu: the great vajra (1637) and the twin spires Anantapur & Pratappur (1646)
- ◆Set up the 15-script stone inscription (1654) — with the legend that milk will flow from the stone if anyone deciphers all fifteen
Patan: The Devout Kings and the Disappearing Kingपाटन: भक्त राजा र लोप हुने राजा
Siddhi Narasimha Malla (सिद्धिनरसिंह मल्ल, r. 1619–1661) declared Patan independent of Kathmandu in 1619 and built its most famous monument: the stone Krishna Mandir of 1637, said to have been inspired by a dream-vision of Krishna and Radha. He wrote Nepal's first Newar-language drama (1633) and retired to die by the Ganges at Varanasi.सिद्धिनरसिंह मल्लले १६१९ मा पाटनलाई स्वतन्त्र घोषित गरे र १६३७ को ढुङ्गाको कृष्ण मन्दिर बनाए — कल्पनाबाट प्रेरित भनिन्छ। उनले नेपाल भाषाको पहिलो नाटक लेखे र बनारसको गंगा किनार नै मृत्यु गरे।
His grandson Yoga Narendra Malla (योगनरेन्द्र मल्ल, r. 1685–1705) — a warrior-king who was poisoned in 1705 — is remembered for the gilt statue under a nine-hooded cobra on Patan's pillar, and the legend it anchors: that the king did not die at all, he merely "went away", and will return as long as the bird remains on the pillar's roof.उनका नाति योगनरेन्द्र मल्ल १७०५ मा विष दिइए — तर पाटनको स्तम्भमा नौ सिरको नागले छेकेको उनको सुनको मूर्तिले अझै एक किंवदन्ती बोकेको छ: राजा मरेनन्, उनी केवल "बाहिर गएका" हुन्, र चरा स्तम्भमा रहुञ्जेल उनी फर्किनेछन्।
Bhaktapur: Bhupatindra and the Tower of Five Storeysभक्तपुर: भुपतिन्द्र र पाँच तल्लाको मन्दिर
Bhupatindra Malla (भुपतिन्द्र मल्ल, r. 1696–1722) — remembered in Bhaktapur as nepah juju, "the king of the Newars" — built the Nyatapola temple in 1702: a five-storey pagoda, 33 metres, dedicated to Siddhi Lakshmi, its stairway guarded by wrestlers, elephants, lions, griffins and the two tigress-goddesses Singhini and Baghini, each tier said to be ten times stronger than the one below. Legend says he built it in six months to subdue eight tantric spirits of the Bhairava cult.भुपतिन्द्र मल्ल — भक्तपुरमा उनलाई नेपाः जुजु भनिन्छ — १७०२ मा न्यातापोला बनाए: पाँच तल्लाको पगोडा, जसको सिँढीमा जेठा-क्षेत्रको भ्याकुन्थ, हात्ती, सिंह, गरुड र सिङ्गिनी-बाघिनी — हरेक तह तलकोभन्दा दस गुणा बलियो भनिन्छ।
He remodelled the 55-Window Palace (पच्चपन्न झ्याले दरबार) begun by Yaksha Malla, wrote 26 plays in Maithili, and organized Bhaktapur's Biska Jatra. His son and successor Ranjit Malla (रणजित मल्ल) built the Golden Gate in 1754 — and became the last Malla king of all.उनले यक्ष मल्लको पच्चपन्न झ्याले दरबार नयाँ स्वरूप दिए, मैथिलीमा २६ नाटक लेखे। उनका छोरा रणजित मल्लले १७५४ मा सुन ढोका बनाए — र सबै मल्लका अन्तिम राजा बने।
The Living Goddessजीवित देवी
The Kumari tradition crystallized in this era. The most popular origin tale centers on Jaya Prakash Malla of Kathmandu: the goddess Taleju visited him nightly to play dice on condition of secrecy; when the king spied on her, she cursed him — no longer would she enter his palace, but she would live among the people as a Shakya girl child. The royal Kumari still sits in the Kumari Ghar at Basantapur, and Nepal's head of state still receives her blessing.कुमारी परम्परा यही युगमा स्थायी रूपमा स्थापित भयो। सबैभन्दा लोकप्रिय कथा कान्तिपुरका जयप्रकाश मल्लको हो: तलेजु देवी रात्री खेल्न आउँथिन्; राजाले ढुक्कले हेरेपछि देवीले श्राप दिइन् — अब शाक्य बालिकाको रूपमा प्रजामध्यै बास गर्नेछिन्।