One of the oldest Hindu Temple I visited
I came across a really magnificent shrine while hiking along the hills of the Bhaktapur. While exploring the hill of Changu, I came across a beautiful temple that lies on top of the hill. And the holy place is called Changu Narayan Temple. It is located in Changunarayan VDC of Bhaktapur district and is 8 miles east of Kathmandu and a few miles north of Bhaktapur.
It is one of the oldest Hindu Temple in the world. Don’t believe me? Even the Google says so!
If you are willing to visit Changu Narayan you can easily reach there by taking a local bus or taxi from Bhaktapur.
International tourists must pay for a ticket worth NPR 300 for entering the temple area.
I went up towards the hilltop. The temple is surrounded by a bunch traditional houses. The locals living near the temple area are more into the handcrafted businesses like Mandala Painting, the design of Wooden Masks, Pashmina making. Some people have decorated their house in a traditional way to attract more tourists for homestay.
At the end of art houses and shops lies the beautiful temple of Changu Narayan. I was lucky enough to interview the Pujari of the temple, his name is Chakradharananda Rajopadhhyaya. He gave me detailed information about the temple.
The temple of Changu Narayan is dedicated to the deity Lord Vishnu. The temple dates back to the Lichavi Dynasty that ruled around the 4th century. The temple was rebuilt in 1702 after a fire incident.
I was really amazed to see the architecture of the temple. It is really unique among the temples I have visited. The Pujari said me that, “The temple is neither built-in Pagoda Style nor in Shikhara Style. But two-story roofed temple has an architecture that resembles Traditional Nepali Style.”
One can enter the temple via four gates and there are watchful pairs of animals in each gate. I saw Lions, Sarabha, Graffin, and Elephants on each side of the entrances. The two-story roof is supported by ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu and the other idols. While walking through the entrance gate I witnessed the door gold-plated with carvings of Snakes.
Towards the western entrance gate, there were Chakra, Sankha, Kamal, and Khadga together at the top of a stone pillar.
I saw many other temples apart from the main temple and different statues of gods and goddesses.
• Historical pillar erected by Mandela in 464 AD
• Garuda:- The flying vehicle of Lord Vishnu that features human face and is a devotee of Lord Vishnu.
• Statue of King of Kantipur Bhupalendra Malla, and his Queen BhuwanLakshmi
• Chanda Narayan (Garuda Narayan):- The 7th century stone sculpture of Vishnu riding on Garuda.
• Sridhar Vishnu:- The 9th century stone sculpture of Vishnu, Laxmi, and Garuda.
• Vaikuntha Vishnu:- 16th-century sculpture of Vishnu seated on the Lalitason position on the six armed Garuda and Laxmi seated on the lap of Vishnu
• Chhinnamasta:- Temple dedicated to Chhinnamasta Devi, who beheaded herself, offered her own blood to feed the hungry Dakini and Varnini.
• Vishworup:- 7th century stone sculpture- beautifully carved that depicts the scene from the Bhagwat Gita, in which Lord Krishna manifests his universal form to his devotee Arjun.
• Vishnu Vikrant:- The 7th-century sculpture of Trivikram Vishnu that depicts the scene of popular Hindu myth of Lord Vishnu and his beloved Bali Raja.
• Narasimha:- The 7th-century sculpture of Narasimha, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, killing the demon King Hiranyakasyapa to save his beloved devotee Prahalad.
• Kileshwor:- small two-storied temples of Lord Shiva, who is believed to have appeared in this place for the protection of the hill.
As said by Pujari, the devastating earthquake of 2015 did not do any harm to the main temple but did a serious damage to Krishna Mandir located near the main temple. It also destroyed the living traditional museum.
I asked him more about the arrivals of tourists on the hill. In reply, he said, “There is a more flow of Europen people from Spain, France, and German, and native Asian tourists from China, Japan and others. They are more interested in Mandala paintings.”
He further added, “More than a decade ago there were people visiting from the United States and as well as from other parts of West. But then Maoist Insurgency, that took place from 2002 dramatically reduced tourist from those places.
