Nitya Puja of Budhanilkantha [Photos]

KATHMANDU: JAN. 6 – The statue of Harihar in the Budhanilkantha temple on Kathmandu’s northern parts is one of the country’s oldest.

It is also one of the largest statues. Especially Hindus worship Budhanilkantha in the combined form of Mahadev and Narayan i.e. ‘Harihar’.

According to one story, a farmer and his wife once struck a figure while plowing the field, which caused it to start soaking blood into the ground. This turned out to be the figure of the lost deity of Budhanilkantha, which was recovered and placed in its present position.

Another legend states that the statue was sculpted and brought to its current location in Kathmandu during the reign of the seventh-century monarch Vishnu Gupta, who controlled the Kathmandu Valley under the Lichchhavi king Bhimarjuna Dev.

Budhanilkantha is also worshiped as a joint idol of Badrinath and Kedarnath. Every year, thousands of pilgrims from all across India travel to Budhanilkantha to view the combined form of Badrinath and Kedarnath.

Every day at 7:30 a.m., the temple is open for worship. Rudri teachings, makeups, and other rituals are customarily performed by Batuks under the age of 16.

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