Patan, Mahaboudha, photo ca. 1960
The Mahaboudha temple is a masterpiece of terracotta. It is dedicated to Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha. It is said that it was built by Abhaya Raj, a priest of Patan, constructed in 1564 and finished in 1610 . The temple is often called “the temple of a thousand Buddhas” because a Buddha image is engraved on every brick. Surprisingly there is a Garuda, the mount or emblem (Vahana) of Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism, in the Torana above the entrance.