Bhaktapur also known as Bhadgaon means city of devotees. It is a very unique old town of Nepal compare to Kathmandu and Patan. Historically, the city was built in the 9th century (889 AD) during the reign of King Ananda Dev Malla. However, it might be older than that. The city was originally built in the shape of a sacred conch shell which is associated with lord Vishnu, the protector god in Hinduism. This city divided into 24 traditional locality covers an area of 7 square kilometers and lying at 15 km. east of Kathmandu. Before the unification of Nepal, Bhaktapur was an independent principality ruled by the Malla King, who were very much devoted to religion, culture, and art. During that period many magnificent temples and mansions were built. This period is remembered as golden period in the Nepalese art and remains a unique example. There are also many monuments including pagodas, palaces, shikhara style monuments, courtyards and Buddhists shrines and monasteries. The present structures were erected from the 12th to 18th century AD. The important things to be seen in this area include the lion gate, golden gate, stone column, 55 windows palace, vastala temple, nyatapol, Bhairavnath temple, Dattatraya temple, pottery square etc.