The Budhanilkantha Temple is located around 10 km north from Kathmandu's Ratnapark on the foothills of Shivapuri National Park. The temple has a huge granite idol of lord Vishnu reclining on a bed of coiled snakes. This is also the largest and impressive monolith idol of Lord Vishnu in Nepal. According to local belief, the idol originated during the time of King Haridatta Varma. Huge crowd assemble at the temple for worship during the Nepali calendar month of Kartik. The king did not visit Budhanilkantha, as it was believed that misfortune and disaster would strike the country if they entered the temple. The story stemmed from the time of King Pratap MaIla, who had ordered water from Budhanilkantha while building the Ranipokhari. It is said Budhanilkantha had appeared in the king's dream and asked him to stay out of the temple to avert disaster in the country. King Pratap MaIla then had his workers build the replica of Budhanilkantha in Balaju Baisdhara and the Kathmandu Durbar Square to be worshipped by the royals. From Budhanilkantha Temple, one could also visit the Shivapuri National Park that has some excellent hiking trails leading to places like Chisapani and Sundarijal.
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