Ugrachandi and Ugrabhairab

the unfortunate sculptor had his hands cut off afterwards, to prevent him from duplicating his masterpieces

Near the main gate at the west end one can admire a pair of multiple-armed statues of the terrible god Ugrabhairab and  his counterpart Ugrachandi, the fearsome manifestation of Shiva’s consort parvati. The statues date from 1701 A.D. and it is said that the unfortunate sculptor had his hands cut off afterwards, to prevent him from duplicating his masterpieces. Ugrachandi have eighteen arms holding various weapons and she is in the position of casually killing a (buffalo) demon. Bhairab has twelve arms and both god and goddess are garlanded with necklaces of human heads.

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Bhaktapur (भक्तपुर), About this sound, listen (help·info); literally translates to “city of devotees”), also known as Khwopa (Nepal Bhasa: ख्वप Khwopa), is a city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal about 8 miles (13 km) from the capital city, Kathmandu. It is located in and serves as the headquarters of Bhaktapur District in Bagmati Pradesh of Nepal. It is administratively divided into 10 wards.

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