<p>Nyātāpola is a five tiered temple located in Taumadhi Square, in the central part of Bhaktapur, Nepal. It is the tallest monument within the city and is also the tallest temple of Nepal. This temple was commissioned by King Bhupatindra Malla. Its construction lasted from December 1701 to July 1702. Its name is derived from the local Nepal Bhasa name "ṅātāpola", where "ṅātā" means something with five storey while "pola" means roof in the Bhaktapur dialect of Nepal Bhasa.</p><p>The gates of the temple is only opened once a year in July on the anniversary of its establishment during which the Avāla subgroup of the Newars plant a triangular flag on its top and the Karmacharya priests perform ritual cleansing of the idol and the premises. Since the public is not allowed in, the deity housed inside is also not known to the public although it is generally accepted that the temple of Nyatapola is dedicated to the Tantric deity of Siddhi Lakshmi, who is considered the ancestral deity of the Malla royal family of Bhaktapur and is also regarded as the mother deity of the Newars of Bhaktapur. The idol of the statue is made of stone and was carved by a group of sculptors led by Tulasi Lohakarmi.</p><p>A palm leaf manuscript called the "Siddhagni koṭyahuti devala pratiṣṭha", a contemporary ledger written in Nepal Bhasa, contains the details of the construction, and religious rituals performed during the construction and inauguration of the temple. The temple is made of Sal wood, 1,528 Stones, and over 1.2 million bricks. Much of the timber was cut from the forests near Bhaktapur. While much of it was paid for, some quantity of the timber was obtained in the form of donations from both ordinary citizens and nobles. 1,135,350 bricks were used in the construction of the temple, in addition to bricks that were used to pave the plinths, the road, and courtyards in the area.</p><p>Kilns were established in five spots around the city gates in order to furnish the bricks required for the temple.</p><p>Over 500kgs of brass and bronze were used to manufacture 528 bells - 48 were hung from the topmost roof, 80 from the second, 104 from the third, 128 from the fourth, and 168 were hung from the lowermost roof.</p><p>There are five plinths on the stairways to the entrance of the temple and each of the plinth has a pair of stone guardians. At the bottom are two Rajput wrestlers named Jai and Pratap. Above them are the giant statues of two elephants and above them are the statues of two Singhas, (mythical big cat). One level above the cats are the statues of two Shardula (a griffin-like creature of local Newari mythology). The topmost plinths features Tantric deities, Simhanī and Vyāghranī, the lioness and tigress deity.</p><p>There are also a total of five Ganesha idols on four shrines, one on each corner of the structure(one of the shrines, the south western one has two idols on one shrine)</p><p>The gates of the temple is only opened once a year in July on the anniversary of its establishment during which the Avāla subgroup of the Newars plant a triangular flag on its top and the Karmacharya priests perform a ritual on the deity.</p>