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The stupa is surrounded by an incredible array of shrines and votive items, most of which have been donated over the past four centuries by merit-seeking kings and lamas. The bronze sceptre-like object at the top of the steps is a vastly oversized vajra , a tantric symbol of power and indestructibility; its pedestal is carved with the twelve animals of the Tibetan zodiac. The twin bullet-shaped shikra on either side of this, known as Pratappur and Anantapur , were installed by King Pratap Malla during a seventeenth-century dispute with Tibet, on the advice of an Indian guru. The story of the king's gift, and his subsequent victory over the Tibetans, is engraved on the twin bells in front of the shikra. Moving around clockwise, as is the custom at all stupas, the brick hut to the south of Anantapur is Vasundhara Mandir , dedicated to the earth goddess Vasundhara, who's more or less synonymous with Annapurna and Lakshmi, the goddesses of grain and wealth respectively. Further on - past the priests' quarters and a number of chaitya - is a small marble-faced shrine to Vayu , the Vedic god of wind and storms. The museum behind (daily except Sat 11am-4pm; donation) contains a formidable range of bas-relief statues of gods, Hindu as well as Buddhist, which are beautiful to look at but are so tersely identified that they'll leave you hopelessly confused by the Nepali pantheon. Next door and up a flight of steps, the Deva Dharma Mahavihar is a small, uneventful monastery that's open to the public. In front of this, close to the stupa behind protective caging, stand two acclaimed bronze statues of the White and Green Taras , princess wives of an eighth-century Tibetan king. A few paces further on squats a gilt-roofed temple built to appease Harati , the smallpox goddess, whom Newars worship as a form of Ajima , or Grandmother, a more general protectress of children. A legend relates how Harati was originally an abductor of children: when the people complained to the Buddha, he stole one of Harati's own children, forcing her to realize the pain she caused humans and repent of her ways. Harati/Ajima's shrine is extremely popular, and you'll see queues of mothers with kids in tow, waiting to make offerings. The nineteenth-century idol was carved to replace an earlier one smashed by King Rana Bahadur Shah after his wife died of smallpox. Following rites observed throughout hill Nepal, petitioners toss handfuls of flower petals and rice at the image, sprinkle a bit of consecrated water ( jal) onto the image and themselves, and finally receive a tika from the resident priest. Agnipur , an insignificant-looking lump on the pavement in the extreme northwest corner of the complex, marked by two tiny lions in front, is a seldom-visited shrine to the Vedic fire god Agni, the relayer of burnt offerings to heaven. Nagpur , a bathtub-sized tank at the north point of the stupa, propitiates the valley's snake spirits, and when it's not filled with water you can see the idol (looking more like a draught excluder than a snake) at the bottom. Finally, the Shree Karma Raj Mahavihar , an active monastery at the northeast corner of the compound, contains a big Buddha and numerous butter candles, which Tibetan Buddhists light in much the same way Catholics do. You can catch the sonorous chanting of the monks at around 3 or 4pm every day.
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