MAHABUDDHA TEMPLE
This temple, which is relatively difficult to find, is also colloquially called the Temple of a Thousand Buddhas. You will find there a replica of the temple of Bodhgaya, made in the 17th century with bricks: each one bears an effigy of the Awakened One, a particularity that gave the temple its name. Contrary to what one might think, the images of the Buddhas are not all identical, they differ according to the cardinal points. Chronicles have preserved the memory of Abhayaraja, the bronzer who financed this masterpiece with his own money. Following a marital conflict, the craftsman stayed for some time in Bodhgaya, where he learned how to melt copper coins. This art was developed during the reign of Amar Malla, king of Kathmandu, who was in great need of specialists in alloys at a time when the valley benefited from its monopoly on minting the coins circulating in Tibet. As in the time of Philip Augustus, the great art consisted in discreetly reducing the proportion of gold used in the manufacture of coins.
The houses that surround the temple are the stronghold of the bronze-makers and still belong to authentic descendants of Abhayaraja. The shops offer bronze statuettes and information on the different stages of their manufacture according to the lost wax technique. A fireclay mould is cast on the wax model. When heated, the wax melts and leaves a hollow shape that is filled with an alloy of molten metals. A long finishing work follows.
