Changu Narayan Temple

Keep the two layers apart. The founding legend, in which a brahmin unknowingly beheads Vishnu under a champaka tree and Vishnu consents to remain, carries no date at all. The attested date is the Manadeva inscription of 464 CE. The traditional fourth-century founding claim has no inscriptional backing. A two-tiered pagoda with symmetrical pitched roofs, its inner walls of sun-dried brick faced with fired clay. 2015 earthquake. The Gorkha earthquake of 25 April 2015 caused significant damage, including partial collapse of roofs, walls and the plinth.

Changu Narayan holds something rare in the subcontinent: a firm early date in stone. The Manadeva pillar inscription, dated to the fifth century CE, is the oldest surviving stone inscription in Nepal, which makes this a primary document for Nepali history as well as a place of worship. Very few temples anywhere can anchor themselves to an inscription of that age still standing on site. It is also venerated by Buddhists, as Hariharihari Vahan Lokeshwara.

Access. No restriction on non-Hindus was documented. The sanctum image itself is approached only by priests, which is ordinary. Nepal restricts entry to several major temples, sometimes only to the inner sanctum and sometimes to the whole compound. Where this page records a restriction it is what sources state; where sources conflict it says so. Confirm locally before travelling a long way.