Budhanilkantha Temple, Kathmandu, Bagmati Nepal

The Budhanilkantha statue of the Hindu god Vishnu, located approximately 10 kilometers from the center of Kathmandu at the base of the Shivapuri Hill, is the largest and most beautiful stone carving in all of Nepal. It is also the most enigmatic.

This temple is created by King Pratap Malla. Once he saw God Vishnu on his dream and he has strong belief on God Vishnu. The Lord Vishnu lies prominently at 5m. in length inside a tank 13m long giving the impression of floating, around this temple we can see many others God temples, daily many people visit this temple, specially Nepalese and Indian people come to visit this place.

In the village of Budhanilkantha north of Kathmandu lies a 5 meter tall sleeping Vishnu (Jalasayana, he who sleeps on the waves) in the middle of a small pond. The sculpture from the 5th century represents Vishnu’s sleeping in the cosmic ocean while resting on Ananta Sesa the thousend headed snake.

Budhanilkantha literally means “old blue-throat’ and how it got that name is fascinating, as explained by the excellent Rough Guide to Nepal:

Vishnu is lying with in his four hands the typical Vishnu symbols like the on the picture clearly visible discus (chakra), left of Vishnu’s head. The chakra is Vishnu’s main weapon to fight demons.

The sleeping Vishnu is located around 15 km north of the center of Kathmandu