The ancient Hindu temple of Changu Narayan is
located on a high hilltop that is also known as Changu or Dolagiri. The temple
is surrounded by forest with champak tree and a small village, known as Changu
Village. The temple is located in Changunarayan VDC of Bhaktapur District, Nepal. This
hill is about 8 miles east of Kathmandu and a few miles north of Bhaktapur. The
Manahara River flows beside the hill. This shrine is dedicated to Lord Visnu and held in especial reverence by the Hindu people. This temple is considered as the oldest temple in Nepal.
History of Changu Narayan Temple
The pagoda style temple has several masterpieces of 5th and 12th century
Nepalese art. According to legends Changu Narayan temple existed as early as
325 A.D. in the time of King Licchavi King Hari Datta Verma and it is one of
Nepal's richest structures historically as well as artistically. In the grounds
there is a stone pillar inscription of great importance recording the military
exploits of King Man Deva who reigned from 496 A.D. to 524 A.D. The first
epigraphic evidence of Nepalese history found in the temple premises during the
reign of the Licchavi King Mandeva dating back to 464 A.D. shows that Changu
had already been established as a sacred site in the 3rd century A.D. It is the
earliest inscription known in Nepal. The temple was restored during the
lifetime of Ganga Rani, consort of Siva Simha Malla who reigned from 1585 to
1614. There are records of the temple burning in the year of 822 Nepal Samvat
(1702 A.D.), after which reconstruction was carried out. More inscriptions in
gilt-copper plates were added by Bhaskara Malla in 1708 A.D.
Legend about Changu Narayan Temple
In ancient time a Gwala, a cow herder, had brought a cow from a Brahman named
Sudarshan. The cow was known for producing large quantity of milk. The Gwala
used to take the cow to Changu for grazing. At that time Changu was a forest of
Champak tree. While grazing the cow it always went to the shade of a particular
tree. In the evening when the Gwala took the cow home and started milking the
cow he got only very few amount of milk. This continued several days. He became
very sad so he called the Brahmin and told him that the cow is not giving
enough milk. Brahmin after observing the fact from his own eyes then planned
with the Gwala to inspect the activities of cow during the day while she was
grazing in the forest. Both Brahmin and Gwala hide themselves behind the trees
and spectate the activities of the cow. The cow went into the shade of a
particular champak tree. To their surprise a small black boy came out from the
tree and started drinking the cow milk. Both became very furious and they
thought that the boy must be the devil and tree must be its home. So Brahmin
cut down the champak tree. When the Brahmin was cutting down the tree a fresh
human blood came out from the tree. Both Brahmin and Gwala became worried and
they thought that they have committed the great crime and they started
crying.From the tree lord Vishnu emerged out and he told the Brahmin that it
was not their fault. Lord Vishnu told them the story that he had committed a
heinous crime by killing Sudarshan’s father unknowingly while hunting in the
forest. After that he was cursed for the crime. He then wandered on earth on
his mouth, the ‘Garuda’ eventually descending on the hill at Changu. There he
lived in anonymity, surviving on milk stolen from a cow. When Brahmin cut down
the tree, lord Vishnu was beheaded which freed Lord Vishnu from his sins. After
hearing these words from Vishnu, Brahmin and Gwala started worshipping the
place and they established a small temple in the name of Lord Vishnu. Ever
since that day, the site has been held sacred. . Even today we can find the
descendant of Sudarshan Brahmin as priest of the temple and the descendents of
Gwala as ghutiyars (conservators).
Physical Aspects Of Changu Narayan Temple
Changu Narayan Temple is situated at the top
of the hill surrounded by forest of Champ tree. On the main way to temple
courtyard, we can find human settlement. People from Newar community live in
and around Changu Narayan area. With the development in tourism in this place,
we can find many medium and small sized hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops,
etc. An ancient stone tap is located on the way to Changunaran which is
believed to have existed since the time of Lichhavi.
The Temple art and architecture: Changu Narayan is considered to be the
oldest temple of Nepal. It remains a milestone in Nepali temple architecture
with rich embossed works. The two-storey roofed temple stands on a high plinth
of stone. According to Professor Madhan Rimal, Department of Sociology and
Anthropology, Tribhuwan University, the temple is neither in Shikhara Style nor
the Pagoda style. It has an architectural style which he would like to describe
as a traditional Nepali temple. Many similar features are found at Gokarna
Mahadev. The temple is surrounded by sculptures and arts related to Lord
Vishnu. Also we can find the temples of lord Shiva, Ashta Matrika,
Chhinnamasta, Kileshwor and Krishna inside the courtyard of main temple. There
are four entrances to the temple and these gates are guarded by life size pairs
of animals such as lions, sarabhas, graffins and elephants on each side of the
entrances. The ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu and the other idols are carved
in the struts, which support the roof. The entrance door is gilded with
carvings of Nagas (snakes). On the main entrance gate (i.e. western entrance
gate), we can find the Chakra, Sankha, Kamal and Khadga all at the top of a
stone pillar. These stone pillars has inscription in Sanskrit. This inscription
is considered to be the oldest inscription of Nepal and the stone inscription
pillar was erected by Lichhavi King Manadeva in 464 AD. The following monument
are located while visiting the temple from the right side after entering from
the main entrance (Eastern gate) to courtyard.
Historical
pillar erected by
Mandeva in 464 AD
Garuda:- flying vehicle of Lord Vishnu which has got
a human face and is a devotee of Vishnu.
Statue
of Bhupalendra Malla, King of Kantipur and
his queen BhuwanLakshmi.
Chanda
Narayan (Garuda Narayan):-
7th century stone sculpture of Vishnu riding on Garuda. This sculpture has been
depicted in the 10 rupee paper note issued by Nepal Rastra Bank
Sridhar
Vishnu:- 9th century stone
sculpture of Vishnu, Laxmi and Garuda which stands on the pedestals of various
motifs.
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 :- 7th century
sculpture of Trivikram Vishnu that depicts the scene of popular Hindu myth of
Lord Vishnu and his beloved Bali Raja.
Narasimha :- 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
Information Center
There is a information center at the entrance to Changu Village. They
issue tickets to tourist. The information center has a public toilet for
tourist. Also drinking water facilities is available for tourist. But the drink
water facilities have not been managed properly. Only direct tap water is
available there. According to Binaya Raj Shrestha, owner of Chagu Museum and
the member of temple management committee, on an average 150 foreigners visit
Changu.
Museum
A private museum is also located on in the Changu Narayan on the way to
temple. According to Binaya Raj Shrestha, the owner of the museum, it is the
first private museum of Nepal and it has the collection of ancient coins,
tools, arts and architectures. There is an excellent collection of ancient,
historical, artistic, religious, archaeological, cultural and other rare
objects. The museum has a good collection of ancient tools used by Newar family
during the medieval period. It was established on the occasion of millennium
year 2000 AD with the permission of Changu Narayan VDC. The entrance fee for
Nepalese is NRs. 30 and NRs. 60 is charged for foreigner. On an average 35
visitors visit this museum in a day. Mostly foreigners and Nepali students
visit this museum.
