Article 1
Located here is a Deity of Lord Vishnu, Vishnu (Narayan) Jalasayana, lying on Ananta Sesa, in the cosmic ocean. The Deity is over 1,000 years old. Lord Vishnu is about 5m (17 ft) long and is lying in a 13m (43 ft) long tank, as if floating, with His legs crossed. His four hands hold the four symbols of Vishnu: the chakra (disc), club, and conch-shell and lotus flower.
Budhanilkantha literally means “old blue-throat.” Ananta has 11-hooded heads. It is believed that the deity was carved in the 7th or 8th century during the Licchavi period. Hindus can walk down the steps and touch His feet, but foreigners cannot. The main festival of the year is when Lord Vishnu, who sleeps on the cosmic ocean during Caturmasya period wakes up on the Haribondhini Ekadashi day in late October or early November.
Many thousands of people come on this day. Three other images of Lord Vishnu were carved at the same time. One is here at Budhanilkantha and is considered the most important and original, one is at Balaju Gardens, and one is at the old Royal Palace in Kathmandu, but can not be viewed by tourist. The king of Nepal is not allowed to see the deity at Budhanilkantha, but he can see the other two deities.
It is believed if the king sees this deity of Vishnu he will die immediately. The deity of Budhanilkantha was lost for a while and was later rediscovered by a farmer. It is believed that the farmers struck the buried deity with his plough and that blood came out from the ground.The morning puja between 9 and 10 am is interesting.
Article 2
Sleeping Narayana from Budha Nilakantha, Nepal, circa 8th century. stone more than life size.
Lord Vishnu reclining on the coils of a cosmic serpent on the infinite ocean from which the world emerges. The Lord is shown lying down on a thousand-headed snake named Shesha or Ananta Nag - Timeless or Ageless snake.
“This primal insight into the dreamlike nature of the world of appearances has an oddly contemporary resonance given the direction of modern scientific thought. Long before post-Newtonian physics “discovered” that matter is essentially energy in drag – E =MC2 – the sages had already intuited that the physical universe is an emanation of the omnipotent Force, which they call Shakti.
It is marvelous piece of sculpture made out of Salagram stone found only in the river Gandaki. I am yet to understand how in those days they have brought such a big stone all the way from River Gandaki to Kathmandu in the absence of any facility for transport.
ReplyDeleteI had darshan at this place on my trip to Muktinath - He is called Jal Narayan. The beauty of this is that we see the exact 3D reflection under the water! They call it divine, and I have not seen such reflection anywhere else. Or is it pure science. anyway I enjoyed / learnt it there!!
ReplyDeletewhy its called as Buddha Neelkantha ??
ReplyDeleteHave striking similarities between sleeping images of Buddha with this one. Plus here is absence of Laxmi also..
I visited the place twice during my 18 months stay in kathmandu .. This is amazing I wasnt aware that it was sculpted out of shaligram stones however it is an amazing place I could feel amazing positive energy in this palce I was awesome after 7 years also the memory is quite fresh ! Its awesome & truly refreshing !!!
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