Do stop on the eastern side of this former entrance to the original palace site. The gate is the best-preserved remains of the 9th-century wall and the only gate still standing. Traces of old stucco can still be seen on the arched gateway, and on either side are two niches, home not to buddha images but to nat (spirit beings) who guard the gate and are treated with profound respect by locals.
To the left is Lady Golden Face and to the right her brother Lord Handsome. Like most nat, Tharabar Gate’s twosome had a tragic history. A king married Lady Golden Face to lure her brother Lord Handsome, whom he feared, out of hiding. When the king had Handsome burned at the stake, his sister jumped in too; only her face was saved from the fire.
Superstitious locals don’t venture through the gate by motorbike, car or horse cart without first paying a one-time offering to the nat (usually a bunch of bananas and a couple of coconuts) to ensure protection against traffic accidents. Don’t worry: bicycles are OK blessing-free.
A number of restaurants lie past the former moat, about 650ft east.