Changu Narayan Temple

Changu Narayan Temple tickets and tours: which one to book

No ticket for Changu Narayan is sold online. Foreign visitors pay a heritage fee at the entrance to the village, which also maintains the site; Nepali worshippers enter freely. There is nothing to reserve, and you can arrive whenever the temple is open. The packaged ways of getting there fall into two groups. The first is the guided half day from Kathmandu or Bhaktapur, by car with a guide who explains the stone sculpture, which is the real reason to come; some of these are pitched at travellers collecting the seven UNESCO-listed monument zones of the Kathmandu Valley.

The second, and the more popular, starts before dawn at Nagarkot on the valley rim for sunrise over the Himalaya and then walks down along the ridge through villages and pine woods to Changu Narayan, a gentle hike of three to four hours mostly downhill, with a car waiting at the end to take you back to Kathmandu or on to Bhaktapur. These usually include transport, a guide and sometimes breakfast; entry fees are normally paid on top. Independent visits are easy. Local buses and taxis run from Bhaktapur, about 6 km to the south, and a footpath climbs the last stretch from the Manohara river for those who prefer to walk.

Visiting Changu Narayan Temple: what to see and how to behave

Changu Narayan stands on a ridge above the Manohara river, at the top of a steep brick village street, and is counted among the oldest Hindu temples in Nepal. It is dedicated to Vishnu, worshipped here as Narayan. A shrine existed on the hill by the 5th century, and the stone pillar in the courtyard carries an inscription of the Licchavi king Manadeva from around 464, one of the earliest dated records in the country. The two-tiered pagoda you see today was rebuilt after a fire in the early 18th century, and was repaired again after the 2015 earthquake. The temple stands in the middle of a paved courtyard surrounded by rest houses, and the courtyard is a museum of Nepalese sculpture in the open air. Look for the kneeling figure of Garuda, the bird mount of Vishnu, facing the main door;

it is among the finest early works in the valley. Nearby are several stone reliefs of Vishnu in his many forms, among them the god striding across the universe in three steps and the man-lion tearing apart a demon, along with a many-headed cosmic form. The carved wooden roof struts, gilded door and repousse metalwork of the temple itself are just as rewarding at close range. Walk round the temple clockwise. The inner sanctum is open only to Hindus, but the courtyard and its sculptures can be visited by everyone. Take off shoes where asked, do not touch the images or offerings, and ask before photographing worshippers. The temple is about 12 km east of Kathmandu and a short drive north of Bhaktapur; the last few minutes are on foot up the village lane, past a small museum and craft shops.

Changu Narayan Temple: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The temple courtyard is open from early morning until evening; worship begins at dawn, so an early visit lets you watch the morning puja. The best time is the first hours of the day, either on the walk down from Nagarkot after sunrise or on a quiet early drive from Bhaktapur, when the light is low on the sculpture and the village is still waking up. Afternoons can bring school groups and haze over the valley. October and November give the clearest mountain views and the most stable weather for the ridge walk;

March and April are also good, with rhododendrons in flower on the hills. The monsoon from June to September brings mud on the trails and cloud over the peaks. Vishnu festivals, especially around the Ekadashi days of the autumn month of Kartik, draw crowds of pilgrims. Allow one to one and a half hours at the temple, longer with the museum. Combine it with Bhaktapur Durbar Square in the afternoon, or with an overnight stay in Nagarkot for the sunrise.