Aniko, Anige or Araniko (, ; 1245–1306) was one of the key figures in the arts of Nepal and Yuan dynasty of China, and the artistic exchanges in these areas. He was born in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, during the reign of Abhaya Malla. He is known for building the White Stupa at the Miaoying Temple in Beijing. During the reign of Jayabhimadeva, he was sent on a project to build a golden stupa in Tibet, where he also initiated into monkhood. From Tibet he was sent further to North China to work in the court of the emperor Kublai Khan, the founder of Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), where he brought the trans-Himalayan artistic tradition to China. Araniko led a team of 80 artists to China and Tibet to make a number of pagoda style buildings. In his later life, he renounced monkhood and started a family. To some confusion in translation, his name is variously written as Arniko or Araniko in old texts. A mistake made by Baburam Acharya ascribed his Sanskrit name as Balabahu. However, later he contends that Aniko might possibly be the Chinese pronunciation for Sanskrit name Aneka. It is also plausible that his name could mean Aa Ni Ka, meaning "respectable brother from Nepal". Early years Araniko was born in 1245 in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, when it was ruled by King Abhaya Malla (1216–55). While Nepalese history does not have any record of Arniko and everything that is known of him comes from Chinese accounts, Chinese history and historian Baburam Acharya opines that Araniko could possibly be from Patan, a place famous for sculptures and fine arts. As such, he would have been a Buddhist but his Newar caste is open to speculation. However, it is known that Araniko lived in Kathmandu Valley also during the reign of Jayabhimadeva (1255-71), the successor of Abhaya Malla. In the Chinese records, the name of his grandfather is given as "Mi-ti-rha" and grandmother as "Kun-di-la-qi-mei", Chinese pronunciation for Sanskrit names Mitra and Kundalaxmi respectively. His father's name was "La-ke-na" (Lakshman) while his mother's name was "Shu-ma-ke-tai". As is often told in stories about professional artists, Aniko was an artistic prodigy even in his early childhood. An anecdote from his epitaph relates that when he was three years old, his parents in took the child to a temple to pay homage to the Buddha. Looking up at a stupa, he asked