Kathmandu, Sept. 4 -- Yog Narendra Malla became king at age 18, and ruled Patan from 1684-1705 - his reign marked by a cultural and architectural renaissance of the city state.

He put up a statue of himself in the palace square with a little bronze bird sitting on the guardian serpent above his head. It is said he told his subjects that he would look after their welfare till the day the bird flew off.

During the 2015 earthquake, the pedestal collapsed and the statue was damaged. The bird was lost, only to be located in a pile of debris and reinstated when the statue was consecrated two years later.History remembers Yog Narendra Malla as a wise king, but like most royalty of the day, he had a weakness for women. He is supposed to have c...