☰Mahabouddha Temple

Tucked into a narrow courtyard east of Durbar Square, this tall shikhara-style tower is covered entirely in terracotta tiles, each one bearing an image of the Buddha — around 9,000 in total. The original temple collapsed in the 1934 earthquake, and when it was reassembled there were tiles left over; they were used to build a smaller shrine beside it. Finding the entrance through the cramped lanes adds to the sense of discovery.