The Newari deity Bhimsen is said to watch over traders and artisans, so it’s quite appropriate that the ground floor of this well-kept temple should be devoted to shop stalls. An image of Bhimsen used to be carried to Lhasa in Tibet every 12 years to protect those vital trade routes, until the route was closed by the flight of the Dalai Lama in 1959.
Tourists are not allowed inside the temple, which is fronted by a brass lion on a pedestal holding a spotlight on the building.