The Budhanilkantha Temple is a Hindu open-air temple dedicated to Vishnu, below Shivapuri Hill at the northern end of the Kathmandu valley. Buddhists also venerate it. The article names no architect, client or construction date. It says only that the statue is more than 1,400 years old, so the year shown is an estimate.
The main image is a reclining Vishnu carved from a single block of black basalt. It is 16.4 feet (5 m) long and lies in a recessed pool 42.65 feet (13 m) long. The article calls it the largest stone carving in Nepal. Legend says a spade broke the nose, which remains broken. A chip from the statue analyzed in 1957 was inconclusive on whether it floats.
Discovery accounts differ, either a farmer's plough strike or a dream directing King Haridatta Barma to dig it out. Thousands attend the Haribodhini Ekadashi Mela each October or November.
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