What is this place? Keshav Narayan Temple—Hindu (Front main panel) 

This panel depicts a sacred site in Nepal. The label reads, “What is this place? This is the Keshav Narayan temple, which sits in a courtyard of what was once a royal palace built about 300 years ago. The Hindu deity or god, Keshav Narayan, is worshipped at this temple. The royal building and courtyards are now the Patan Museum.”  

The built environment to the right is 10 feet tall by 10 feet wide and resembles the Keshav Narayan temple. Projecting outward from the base, there is a curtain ledge of stone low to the ground. On each side is a symmetrical, short, square pillar, each topped with a stone-like statue of a lion. The stone-like statues are approximately 17 inches tall by 12 inches wide.  

Behind the stone-like statue pillars and stone skirt, there is another short platform level of brick. From this platform, a row of four thin, wooden pillars support a roof structure with a dome on top. The columns closest to the center are rectangular in shape for the bottom two-thirds then have a series of short, varying round or box-shaped detailing. The outer two columns have a mostly rectangular cornered column, with small cut-out detailing resembling a cross shape near the upper half.  

Behind the columns, a background image of brown, brick-like wall lies behind a carved doorway framing a video monitor. The monitor is approximately 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide and plays a video of a man named Shivesh performing a puja offering in the Keshav Narayan temple. Above the screen and along the outer tops of the columns are draped strings of garland made of red, yellow, orange, and purple flowers. A white roof sits on top of the columns. Topping the structure is a teardrop-shaped dome. At the highest point of the dome is a gold bulb-shaped cap that comes to a short, thin point toward the sky.  

To the left and right of the built environment, there are images of the brick walls of the palace courtyard in which the temple sits. The courtyard walls include highly carved wood framed doors and windows, each with short overhang structures above them. Each side has a label panel and small images from the site, the “What is this place?” label to the left and more content about Shivesh visiting the temple and acts of worship on the right.  

Patan Durbar Square—Hindu (Backside of main panel) 

On the reverse side of the main panel, there is an image of the Temples of Patan Durbar Square covering a 7-foot tall by 15-foot wide space. This image is from a roof-top height view capturing several sacred temples and other non-religious buildings in tones of brown, red, and orange. Patan Durbar Square has many temples named after the gods that dwell in them. The temples vary in height and some design components, but they are generally structured as stacked oblong hexagonal levels. The rooftop structures of a grayish cathedral-like building stand out in the foreground to the right. In the distance, the sky is a light gray-blue with a thin line of clouds. In front of this panel image, there is a case holding nine miniature figures of Hindu deities, each approximately 4 to 6 inches tall. 

Puja Merchant Shop – Hindu (Front of the second panel) 

The front side of an adjacent panel has a 3D built environment approximately 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall that depicts a merchant stand with ‘puja’, or offering items. In the center of the panel, there is a merchant stall made of dark wood. There is a pull-under ledge with touchable sculpts representing examples of puja items.  

Centered above the ledge with the touchable items is a 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide vertical hanging screen. Touching any of the puja items activates a video that plays on the screen of a merchant describing the item and its symbolism or role in worshipping the gods.   The interactive puja offerings from left to right include small bowls of tika powders, a basket of marigolds, a plate of shanka shells, and a stack of puja plates. On both sides of the screen hang strands of garland in browns and yellows. Above the screen hangs a string of red, orange, yellow, and purple flower garland. A gold half-oval decoration tops the merchant stand. There is scalloped detailing along the tall, rounded edge. Inside resides a downward facing crescent moon detail.   

To the left and right of the merchant stand, the same background image spans the panel wall with the brick-like walls with dark brown windows and balconies. A built stone-like half-wall is placed in front of the panel wall to the left of the merchant stand. On top of the half-wall sits a touchable statue of Ganesh, the elephant headed god with numerous hands holding varying items. Placed on the ground in front of this are three more bowls of puja items. To the right of the merchant stand, an image and label hangs centered on the top half of the panel wall. The label describes the vendors along the walkways within the square. Below the hanging label, two baskets holding marigolds sit on the ground, one tall and partially covered and the other low to the ground and uncovered. The tall basket with a cover has an interactive slide opportunity that reveals the scent of flowers.     

Pikha Lakhu—Hindu (Backside of second panel) 

On the reverse side of the second panel, there is an image of a woman at the top of the steps at a shrine, leaning down to place fire offerings above a Pikha Lakhu. The doorway is surrounded by brass figures and a central deity sits within the shrine. In front of the panel to the right is a case display of a puja platter and a Pikha Lakhu ritual site. The label reads, “Worshipers in Patan begin the day with an offering at their Pikha Lakhu ritual site. A Pikha Lakhu is a small, circle-shaped design fixed into the ground outside the entrance of a home, business, or temple. Worshippers leave offerings like flowers, tika powder, and food for the god Kumar, a destroyer of demons.”