Thursday, November 28, 2013

ORIGIN OF CHANGU NARAYAN

There is no definitive date to confirm how ancient Changu Narayan Temple actually is. However, there are some stories that tell how the temple came to be. The most popular anecdote about the origin of Changu Natayan tells of the time when the hill of Changu was still a 'Chaap trees. A sage by the name of Sudarshan used to live in the area. He kept a cow for milk. One day, the cow stopped giving milk to the surprise of her owner. The sage decided to find the truth of the matter and watched his grazing cow from  afar to see if there was anything suspicious. His suspicion came true when he saw a young man suckling on the cow's udder. The youth hide behind the tree when the sage tried to catch him angrily Enraged by this, Sudarshan beheaded the young man. The victim, however, turned into lord Vishnu and thanked the sage for breaking the curse he was bearing for killing a Brahmin man, Sumati. It was lord Vishnu himself who advised Sudarshan to build the idol of Narayan under a Chaap tree. It was called Chap Narayan. Over the years, the temple started being known by the name Changu Narayan.

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