The stone Krishna Mandir is the most striking single structure on Patan Durbar Square. Unusually for the Kathmandu Valley, it is built in the North Indian shikhara style rather than the pagoda form that defines most Newari temples. The whole thing was carved from a single stone, with twenty-one gilded pinnacles and three tiers of intricately worked galleries.
The carved friezes that wrap the lower levels depict scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. They survived the 2015 earthquake almost untouched, which is more than can be said for many of the temples around it. The shrine is sacred to Vaishnavites, and during Krishna Janmashtami the square fills with worshippers and the temple is illuminated through the night.