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| Monuments of Kathmandu valley |
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| The Sleeping Vishnu of Budhanilkantha |
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With a smile of abandon, reclining on the coils of the eleven hooded snake Sesh Ananta, resting eternally on the cosmic waters Vishnu dreams in ecstasy, creating new universes era after era, sustaining them until their destruction, then reabsorbing and dissolving them until the new creation when Brhama will grow by the lotus from his navel bringing the new universe in existence again at the beginning of the new era.
This is one of the four Vishnu temple built at the four cardinal points of the Kathmandu valley: Buddhanilakantha to the North, Sekh Narayan (Shesh Narayan) to the South, Changu Narayan to the East, Ichangu Narayan to the West.
Budhanilkantha |
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Carved from a monolithic black basalt stone believed to be self-created, the 5m long statue of Sleeping Vishnu (Jalasayana Narayan) lay in a long tank set in a walled courtyard. The forehead of the statue is never allowed to be seen, always covered under an accumulation of flowers.
Buddhist Newars worship the image as bodhisattva Lokeshwar. Various stone images encircle the holy pond.
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Budhanilkantha
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