Nagarkot to Changu Narayan Temple Hiking Trail
This hiking route is one of the most popular hiking route around the kathmandu valley. It is a very beautiful hike to see both culture+nature. The first part of the trail passes through the traditional mountain villages, terraced farmlands with local settlements and the another half way passes through the pine forests with occassional valley views on the south side before the temple premises of Changu Narayan, one of the 7 World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu valley.
It is a 15 kms walk (4 hr) with an altitude drop of around 450 metres and we arrive in a Changu Narayan temple. The entrance fee is Rs. 100 per person (1$) and the temple is well known for its artistic beauty in the wood carving rather than religious one. Changu Narayan Temple is located 6 km from Bhaktapur and every 30 minutes, one local bus to bhaktapur. There are decent restaurants in the temple area for lunch. Nagarkot to Changu Narayan temple hiking is a very recommended hiking for those returning back to Kathmandu or Bhaktapur and have a leisure day to do some green escape from Crazy Kathmandu.
Download Maps.me in Google Play Store or Itunes (Highly recommended to download maps.me). Get your Trekking Map in GPS map for this hike here.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download the maps.me
2. Open the *.kml file with maps.me. That's it.
It is a 15 kms walk (4 hr) with an altitude drop of around 450 metres and we arrive in a Changu Narayan temple. The entrance fee is Rs. 100 per person (1$) and the temple is well known for its artistic beauty in the wood carving rather than religious one. Changu Narayan Temple is located 6 km from Bhaktapur and every 30 minutes, one local bus to bhaktapur. There are decent restaurants in the temple area for lunch. Nagarkot to Changu Narayan temple hiking is a very recommended hiking for those returning back to Kathmandu or Bhaktapur and have a leisure day to do some green escape from Crazy Kathmandu.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download the maps.me
2. Open the *.kml file with maps.me. That's it.
The temple of Changu Narayan, which is a Unesco World Heritage site is located about 6km north of Bhaktapur and 22km from Kathmandu on the top of the hill. It is the oldest temple of the Kathmandu Valley dating back to the 4th Century however the present structure dates back to 18th Century when it was rebuilt after a fire. The most impressive feature of this temple are the stone sculptures dedicated to God Vishnu dating back from the Licchavi period (4th to 9th centuries).
Why this temple is so special ???
The double-roofed temple is dedicated to lord
Vishnu, god of protection. This temple is built in a pagoda style which is
typical Nepali style with four doors in four sides of Nepal. is exceptionally
beautiful, with many artistic wooden struts showing multi-armed Tantric
deities. According to legend, as god Vishnu is the god of protection, whenever
there is some troubles on earth, he takes different avatars for the protection
of humankind. So, we can see lots of beautiful and artistic stone sculptures
depicting different incarnations of god Vishnu such as Universal form,
sleeping Vishnu, Nar singh avatar (half-man and half lion), etc.
On the west side there is kneeling figure of Garuda said to date from
the 5th century. Garunda is the mystical creature which is the vehicle of
Vishnu and is also the national flag carrier of Indonesia. The man-bird mount
of Vishnu has a snake around his neck and kneels with hands in the namaste position facing the temple. Stone lions
guard the wonderfully gilded door, which is flanked by equally detailed gilded
windows. Two pillars at the front corners carry a conch and disc, the
traditional symbols of Vishnu.
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