The great artist, bronze caster, painter and architect Araniko was born on 1244 in Kathmandu. At that time it was ruled by King Abhaya Malla. He is the most famous Nepalese Architect in the history of Nepal and Yuan dynasty of China. When he was three years old, his parents took him to a temple when he was three years old and looking up at a stupa, he asked “who made its wooden stambha?”. He became a good calligrapher during his young age.
He was sent on a project to build a golden stupa in Tibet, led 80 artisans to Lhasa and erected a golden stupa during the reign of Jaya Bhim Dev Malla. He build popular temple in Beijing, China known as White Stupa at the Miaoying Temple. Emperor Kublai Khan of China was impressed by his craftsmanship. He was the founder of Yuan dynasty. Later he was appointed as the controller of the imperial architectural studies in China. He was awarded the Chinese Title of Ming Hoi and decorated with the title of Duke of Liang The white Pagoda in Peking. His creation still stands as monument of the Nepalese art and architecture.
He had six sons and among them Ashula and Asengge, his two sons followed him. They kept working as an artists for the Yuan dynasty. He died in China on March 11, 1306 at the age of 62.