Thimi

Thimi is just three km west of Bhaktapur, the Valley's fourth-largest settlement founded by the Malla dynasty. It takes its name from the Nepali word for 'competent' Thimi. This is an honour bestowed upon Thimi's residents by the Bhaktapur monarchs for their skill in fighting off the rival kingdoms. It is a town of potters, where families pass on their skills from generation to generation, turn out fashionable of vessels from the clay for domestic use an dart works such as peacock, flower vases and elephant representations.

The colorful 16th-century Balkumari temple is the town's main shrine and nearby, in a much smaller dome-shaped shrine, is a brass image of Bhairav. But Thimi is more renowned as the location, along with two other adjacent villages Nade and Bode of the most riotous of Nepal's New Year (Bisket Jatra) celebrations. Nade is noted for its multi-colored, three-storied Ganesh temple. Bode boasts a Mahalakshmi temple, a two-storied 17th century temple built, according to local legends, in 1512, after Mahalakshmi appeared in a dream to the king of Bhaktapur. Every year on New Year's Day, the square around the Bal Kumari temple in Thimi witnesses a spectacular gathering of 32 deities carried in elaborate multi-roofed palanquins under ceremonial umbrellas. Later, the crowds move across the field to Bode to witness another New Year ritual (see Festivals).