Vasubandhu Memorial Chaitya
(Paschimi Chaitya)
Vasubandhu Memorial Chaitya (Paschimi Chaitya)
There is chaitya with the five Buddha’s, with a stone Vajra on the east side is currently located on the platform above the car park way to Swoyambhu mahachaitya. It was beautifully built in the form of a large Vajardhatu chaitya.
As this chaitya originally build in the form of a Usnisavijaya Dharma Parangata chaitya to hold the relics of the Acharya Vasubandhu, who visited Nepal and passed away, because of old age in here. So this chaitya known as Vasubandhu Chaitya and also called Paschimi Chaitya (Western chaitya).
The four stone sculptures of Tathagatas are said to step from the Swoyambhu Mahachaitya itself because King Narapendre Mala (1674-80 A.D.) had replace these sculptures from Swoyambhu Stupa Permises with metal ones. Vairochana Buddha statue was keep later by other donor. Oldfield (Vol.I.p.220), have mention that stone statue were lying around in the monastery on top of the hill when Tibetan monks decided to install them into this chaitya which they rebuilt in 1825 A.D.
Furthermore, when King Pratapa Malla replace the old Dharmadhatu mandala in stone with a gilt metal mandala and a huge Vajra, the residual mandala and Vajra were also transformed here, in the east side of the Vasubandhu Memorial Chaitya. (By, Hem Raj Shakya, Sri Swoyambhu Mahachaitya). The finial with its 13 steps same as Bouddhnath, where the top with the protruding central pillar and the egg-round (asa).
This chaitya was damage in the 2015 earthquake and it had been renovated already.
