Ra-sa-'phrul-snang-gi-gtsug-lag-khang:
Zhwa-sgab-pa, relying on the catalogue of the lHa-ldan Temple called the dKar chag shel dkar me long by the Fifth Dalai Lama, states that it is called so because it resembled a temple in an magical apparition ('phrul snang) and was built after erasing the lake by way of filling it with the soil (sa) carried on goat (ra) backs. See his Srid don rgyal rabs (vol. 1, p. 151). It is said to be modeled according to the Vikramaśīla temple.
In the "Pavements Like the Sea" blog not long ago at Tibeto-logic, there was an argument that the 'Phrul-snang part of the name was really all about the floor! I don't know if we can agree with that. Some say that the Queen of Sheba was from Yemen, you know, and not Ethiopia. I've never seen any arguments she was from Nepal.
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