Description
Among the finest examples of Nepalese Tantric sculpture are the icons in Tusa Hiti, popularly known as the ‘Royal Bath’. The fountain (hiti) is located in Sundarichok, one of three courtyards of the Darbar Square in Patan, and was constructed in 1647 under King Siddhinarasigha Malla. Of the seventy-two extant sculptures most have remained unidentified. Many of the sculptures have counterparts in another fountain, built in 1652 under King Pratap Malla, which is located in Mohancok of the Hanmanhoka Palace in Kathmandu. However, because of the fountain’s location in a private section of the palace which is strictly off-limits tothe public the sculptures have remained virtually inaccessible to scholars and can only be studied on the basis of some poor-quality photographs. Tusa Hiti’s sculptures are arranged in three tiers, which are sub-divided into sections with individual inches. Some niches house several sculptures, which are grouped together as panels.
Tusa Hiti’s main image is a gilt copper repousse sculpture of Lakmi-Narayan on Garu, located above the central water spout. The image is surrounded by four niches, all of which are now empty. They are assumed to have housed stone reliefs of Devi, Shiva, Surya and Ganesh¸ With Narayan in the centre, the five images would haveformed a Smarta pancayatana with Vishnu in the centre. On top of this wall, above the water spout, is a miniature replica of Patan’s Balagopala Temple. The appearance of Vaisnava imagery in a central position of the fountain attests to King Siddhinarasigha Malla’s devotion for Vishnu and Krishna, which is well documented. However, many other deities are represented on the walls of the fountain, mostly in their Tantric manifestations. An identification of the pantheon of deities in Tusa Hiti and Mohancok Hiti would significantly contribute to our knowledge of the Tantric iconography of the late Malla period in Nepal. My work on this project, which has resulted in a number of identifications, will be published as a separate monograph. In this paper I will identify a sculpture which forms part of a larger panel in the lowest tier of Tusa Hiti.
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