Nepal: The divine couple, the Hindu gods Shiva and Parvati, gaze down from a window...

In the late 18th century CE, Rana Bahadur Shah, the grandson of Prithvi Narayan Shah, built a Shiva-Parvati Temple on Durbar Square, which was also, in a way, to become a monument to the joys-or vagaries-of married life. The temple, built on a platform formerly used for dance performances, is dedicated to the divine couple Shiva and Parvati. From an arched, carved window in its upper storey two wooden figures representing Shiva and Parvati look down on the square below. The figures are extraordinarily life-like, and from a distance one may almost be fooled. Their elbows casually rest on the windowsill, and the couple appears the very image of wedded bliss.