Changu Narayan
The Changu Narayan is a temple dedicated to Vishnu as Narayana in the place of the same name north of Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu valley in Nepal . The temple is part of the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been designated since 1979 . As the only one of the World Heritage sites in this complex, it is not in one of the three ancient royal cities of Kathmandu (Kantipur), Patan (Lalitpur) or Bhaktapur or their immediate periphery. Due to its age and location, it is considered the most important Narayan temple in the entire Kathmandu valley.
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location
The temple is located at a height of 1541 meters on the steep drop of a ridge beginning in Nagarkot , which divides the eastern part of the Kathmandu valley, above the Manahara Khola on the western edge of the village of Changu Narayan . There is a road connection to Bhaktapur, six kilometers to the south, and the center of the capital Kathmandu is around 18 kilometers to the west.
Founding myths
The religious significance of the place for both Hindus and Buddhists stems from two myths.
Vishnu killed in the course of the extermination of all evil in the fight with the demon king Chand also the Brahmin Sumati, who had turned to him. Such an act was considered to be one of the five greatest outrages and the brahmin's angry teacher - Guru Sukracharya - foretold to Vishnu that he would be beheaded by a brahmin. Vishnu, who was living in a tree in Champak at that time, regretted his deed, and rode Garuda aimlessly through the world until he came to the hill of Changu. The hermit Sudarsana who lived here did not recognize the divine intruder and beheaded him. This redeemed him and decided to live here in the future in the place where he had atoned for his sin. Anyone who prays here at Narayan on a full moon Wednesday will be forgiven of their sins.
To the Buddhists, the Changu Narayan under the name Hari Hari Vahan Lokeswora is sacred as the place of activity of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara . Garuda found himself fighting with the snake god Takshaka Naga , who lived in Lake Kahlirada - also known as Nagavasahrada - which covers the entire Kathmandu valley . As the water of the lake drained through the Chobar gorge created by Buddha Manjushri with a single blow of his sword, the serpent god began to destroy everything in his fury. Garuda invoked various gods who stood on his side in battle. As a result, Takshaka, realizing his inferiority, called the compassionate bodhisattva to mediate peace. The snake god wrapped himself around the neck of his new friend Garuda and together they flew up to the hill overlooking the valley.
This legend is based on the occasional "sweating" of the Narayan figure of the temple, as this is seen as a sign that both parties are fighting again. The cloths with which the liquid is wiped off were previously given exclusively to the king by the priests, today they are usually cut into strips as amulets against snake bites and diseases such as leprosy .
history
The Changu Narayan is considered to be the oldest surviving Hindu temple in the Kathmandu valley. It is now assumed that the place of worship was carried out by the ruler Haridatta Varma around 325 in the course of the construction of four Narayan temples at prominent locations in his empire, with the temple on the hill of Changu already having a special significance at that time . The remaining temples are Ichangu Narayan , which is located about seven kilometers northwest of the center of Kathmandu, in its current form in the 18th century , the no longer existing Lokapalasvanim , whose role has now taken over by Shesh Narayan near the Dakshinkali Temple . and the Bisankhu Narayan .
The oldest written evidence that has survived in the entire Kathmandu valley is the Sanskrit inscription in the Garuda Dhwaja column, dated to the year 464 , which mentions the military successes of King Manadev I and in particular points out that the king's mother dated the traditional Sati stopped. In addition to this column, there are numerous other statues from the Licchavi period on the site of the temple . Up until the 8th century, the temple enjoyed the special attention of the Licchavi kings, who invested extensive resources in maintaining and expanding the complex. In 607, for example, King Amsuvarma had a new building built to accommodate the cult image, as fire and earthquakes had caused considerable damage to the structure of the temple complex.
With the fall of the Licchavi kings in the middle of the 8th century, the decline of Vishnuism and the temples dedicated to Vishnu began. Only King Vishva Malla of Bhaktapur had the largely destroyed temple secured and maintenance work carried out in the 16th century. Although rather the Shaivism inclining, various members of the made Malla dynasty in the years to preserve the Changu Narayan deserves. The village of Champapur Mahanagar surrounding the temple grew to 700 houses, a palace was built and the infrastructure was repaired.
Gangarani - the grandmother of King Pratapa Malla of Kathmandu - paid for the reconstruction of the fire-damaged temple in the middle of the 17th century. But already in 1694 extensive renovation work had to be carried out, in this case financed by the mother of King Bhupalendra Malla of Kathmandu, Rhadiklaxmi, who also donated a golden gate ( torana ) and a statue representing her and her son as well as a large amount of precious metals for the temple assigned. A few years later, the king himself had the head of the cult image, which had broken during a puja , renewed. Less than 20 years later, after being destroyed by earthquakes and fire, large parts of the temple had to be renewed. In 1702 , King Bhaskara Malla of Kathmandu restored the temple grounds as much as possible to the condition that is still visible today.
In the 19th century the buttresses of the roof were painted in color, which covers the richness of detail in the carvings, but harmonizes with the overall composition in terms of color. Entry to the site was forbidden for non-Hindus and non-Buddhists until the 20th century; the Indologist Sylvain Lévi had to have the objects described by a Nepalese assistant while he was standing in front of the gate.
With the other sites of the Kathmandu Valley of Changu Narayan was from the 1979 UNESCO included in the list of world cultural heritage, in 2006 there was a review of the boundaries of the conservation area by this organization.
buildings
The complex, located on the top of a hill, looks quite simple from the outside, the east gate facing the village center offers access to a courtyard surrounded by one and sometimes two-story brick buildings in the Newar style . Today, these buildings are largely used as residential, commercial and warehouse buildings. The courtyard, measuring 45 by 38 meters, has two further entrances; the northern entrance allows access from the direction of Sankhu , the western entrance leads to Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.
The central element of the complex is the two-tier pagoda , built in the Newar style in the 18th century , which houses the cult image that is inaccessible to non-Hindus. Guardian figures, some of which are painted in color, watch the short stairs that provide access to the approximately one meter high base of the pagoda, griffins watch over the eastern entrance, elephants in the south , winged lions on the northern stairs and stone lions at the most important entrance in the west. In particular, the wood carvings of the pagoda are of outstanding value. Despite the colored painting of the buttresses of the roof and other wooden elements in the 19th century, which do not allow parts of the filigree elements to come into their own, the wooden sculptures and reliefs of Changu Narayan are among the best examples of Nepalese craftsmanship in this area. The door of the western main entrance and parts of the western facade are covered with filigree, gilded copper reliefs , the lintel beam above the door shows Vishnu and two goddesses.
In addition to the eponymous central temple, there are three other small temples in the courtyard - to the southeast of the pagoda the Chinnamasta Temple, which is difficult to classify in terms of style, to the southwest of the Kileshwar Temple and the Laxmi Narayan Temple, both designed as much smaller, two-tier pagodas.
The Chinnamasta Temple, dedicated to a Tantric Mahavidya , who cut off her head to nourish the bloodthirsty gods Dakini and Varnini with her blood, is one of the older buildings in the temple complex and is the only temple in Changu Narayan that is not in the shape of a pagoda.
The Kileshwar Temple, which is used to worship Shiva and has a lingam as a cult image , is particularly known for the erotic motifs on the wooden struts of the roof.
There are also other sanctuaries in the courtyard - in the northwest there is a shrine dedicated to the god Krishna , near the northern entrance a Nateshwar shrine, east of the Chinnamasta temple Ganesh is worshiped in a small shrine and there is one near the southern staircase of the pagoda Badeshwar Mahadev Shrine. There is a small Bhairava shrine right next to the western entrance .
Sculptures
Of extraordinary importance, however, are the sculptures and reliefs distributed throughout the courtyard , which offer a kaleidoscope of sculpture in the Kathmandu valley over almost 1500 years. Near the western main entrance to the main temple are the oldest surviving elements, in addition to the already mentioned column with an inscription from the middle of the 5th century, there are two other columns with a chakra symbol and a shell, a kneeling Garuda with a snake around the neck from the 5th century and the gilded image of the Vishnu worshiping Rhadiklaxmi and her son King Bhupalendra Malla of Kathmandu from the late 17th century. To the north and south of the pagoda there are in particular numerous reliefs depicting the incarnations of Vishnu, for example at the Krishna shrine as Sridhar Vishnu with Laxmi and Garuda (9th century) or at the Laxmi Mahadev temple as Vishnu Vikranta (7th century) and Narasimha (Narsingha, 7th century). Further art historically significant representations are the representation of Chanda Narayan (also Garuda Narayan) - a figure of Vishnu sitting on Garuda from the 7th century near the Krishna shrine, the Vaikuntha Vishnu - a bas-relief of the ten-armed Vishnu riding on a six-armed Garuda and the Laxmi sitting on his thigh from the 16th century and the Vishworup (Vishvarupa) from the 7th century. This bas-relief reproduces an incident from the Bhagavad Gita , in which Krishna reveals his origin in this divine form to Arjuna . It shows Vishnu as ruler of the three worlds, while the representation of the god resting on the world serpent Ananta in the underworld is reminiscent of the cult image of the temple of Budhanilkantha , the earthly Vishnu is surrounded by goddesses and other figures.
There are other places of worship throughout the courtyard, and the carts and sedan chairs required to transport the cult image during religious festivities are stored in a room near the eastern entrance to the courtyard.
Surroundings
The forecourt of the temple was the courtyard of a small palace built here by the Malla kings. The niches of the north wall offer bas-reliefs of various deities, such as Bhimsen , Draupadi , Jaya and Vijaya , in the palace on the south side of the courtyard, the meditating king Yoga Narendra Malla of Lalitpur spent the last years of his life and also died here. In the courtyard are a number of stone statues from the Malla period, including a four-headed Narayan. These statues are not at their place of discovery, rather the Department of Archeology has had these works of art found on the grounds of the palace and the site displayed here.
Also noteworthy are the stone steps, enclosed springs and artificial ponds in the vicinity of the temple, which have largely retained their appearance from the early Malla period and give a good insight into the life of the medieval city of Champapur Mahanagra.
Festivals
The most significant festival - the Nitya Puja or Changu Narayab Jatra - commemorates the legend of Vishnu, who was beheaded here. For this reason the cult image consists of two parts; the beheading of the god is re-enacted during the festivities.
In addition, the Mahashanan Festival and the Jugadi Nawami and Haribodhani Ekadashi holidays are particularly celebrated, and numerous celebrations that are regionally important or appealing to different ethnic groups take place.
gallery
View of the village of Changu Narayan with the temple of the same name at the western end of the village
Chhinnamasta Temple
Torana and carved buttresses on the south side of the temple
Krishna on a carved buttress on the west side of the temple
West main facade with stone lion as temple guard
Stone elephants watch over the south side of the temple
Praying Garuda with the snake god Takshaka
Gilded seated figures of Rhadiklaxmi and her son Bhupalendra
Vaikuntha Vishnu
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literature
- Around Kathmandu Valley , Nepal Map Publisher Pvt. Ltd., Kathmandu 2009.
- John Sanday: Collins illustrated guide to the Kathmandu valley. The Guidebook Company, Landon 1989, ISBN 0-00215-215-0 .
- Baedeker Allianz travel guide Nepal. 2nd Edition. Verlag Karl Baedeker, Ostfildern 1999, ISBN 3-89525-012-0 .
- Rainer Krack: Nepal - Kathmandu Valley. Reise Know-How Verlag Rump, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8317-1793-4 .
- Kathmandu Valley. The Preservation of Physical Environment and Cultural Heritage. A protective inventory. Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1975, 2 volumes, ISBN 3-7031-0402-3 .
- Changu Narayan - A brochure guide of the site Changu Narayan Village Development Committee, Bhaktapur, no year
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 27 ° 42 ′ 59 " N , 85 ° 25 ′ 40" E
Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square | Patan's Durbar Square | Bhaktapur Durbar Square | Swayambhunath | Bodnath | Pashupatinath | Changu Narayan