Bholvapukhu

Ananda Malla, the king of Bhaktapur, had set out on horseback in search of suitable land on which to settle a new town and settlement. When he reached the bank of the Hanumante River, he saw an old woman sitting there all alone.

When the king asked her, the old woman said: "Your Majesty, go straight to the north; there you will see a wondrous sight contrary to the laws of nature." Having said this, the old woman vanished; she was none other than the goddess Bhadrakali.

As the king proceeded northward, he saw an odd sight in the middle of the forest — a small mouse was chasing and attacking a large, hefty cat, and in the end the mouse defeated the cat.

That valiant mouse entered the hollow of a great tree and disappeared. When the king peered into the hollow of the tree, he found there a divine idol of Shree Ganesha shining like gold.

King Ananda Malla had a temple of 'Chhumhganesh' (the mouse-shaped Ganesha) established at that sacred spot where the mouse had made its dwelling.

In the large hollow of the ground where the fierce battle between the mouse and the cat had taken place, water gathered and formed a vast pond, which in the local language was called 'Bholvapukhu' (the cat-and-mouse pond), and the surrounding settlement was named 'Bhalvachhen'.