July 27, 2025

Step away from Patan’s main streets and you might stumble into Nagbahal, one of the city’s most important and least-known Buddhist courtyards. The name itself—”nag” meaning serpent deity and “bahal” meaning monastic courtyard—hints at its layered sanctity. Here, beneath the outstretched limbs of an old banyan tree, centuries of Buddhist devotion still echo in brick and bell.

Nagbahal is believed to date back to the Licchavi period (circa 5th–8th century), making it one of the oldest inhabited Buddhist monastic compounds in the valley. At its center stands a beautiful chaitya surrounded by prayer wheels, small stupas, and shrines—each lovingly maintained by the community. Though urban growth has pressed in around it, the bahal remains a peaceful enclave, alive with chants during Gunlaa and soft with silence at dusk.

In recent years, Nagbahal has also emerged as a center for traditional Buddhist music and learning. Newar Buddhist priests, or Bajracharyas, still reside here and carry out rituals that stretch back more than a thousand years. For culturally curious travelers, this bahal offers a rare glimpse into a living spiritual tradition that’s not staged for tourists—it’s simply happening, as it always has.