Kathmandu, Jan. 5: A clumsily outlined stone figure of an elephant stands at a corner near the temple of Changu Narayan. A close look at the sculpture gives the impression that the artist left the work at the middle.

Called Simara Kisi, meaning incomplete elephant in Newari language, it is a mystery stone that forced the ancient sculptor to abandon his work before he was able to carve it into the perfect shape of the auspicious animal he desired, say the locals and historians.

“This stone is said be full of mystery that defied the repeated efforts of the artist to cut into an ornate elephant and position at the southern door of the temple,” said Dr. Sudarsan Tiwari an architect and expert on historical sites.

The artist was assigned to carve a pair of elephants, which are regarded auspicious, to guard the southern door of the temple. After working on this particular rock for a whole day, he took it near the place where it was supposed to be established. When the sculptor went to work the next day, to his surprise, he found that the stone had returned to its original place. He moved the stone and it returned to its former location again.

The rough and untidy lines of chisel are clearly visible on the body of the sculpture. The carving appears to be abandoned at the initial stage of sculpting with outline of elephant just starting to develop.

The artist was tired to move the stone as it defied him and kept moving back to the original position where it is even today. At last, he started to work on it remaining where the stone lay. The artist was awed and thought it improper to try further to carve the elephant on that particular stone when he saw blood flowing down the chisel ‘wound’. He abandoned his work on the stone because he thought it the form of the god. He found another piece of stone and produced a pair of artistic elephants which still guard the southern door of the temple that is regarded the oldest to exist in Nepal.

“Because of this mysterious stone, elephants are prohibited to be taken into the temple compound,” said Govinda Lal Maharjan, a local who is a member in the committee that takes care of the hilltop temple in Bhaktapur. He cited a tale of ancient king who went to the temple on an elephant. The elephant died.