Since early morning, crowds of devotees have been increasing at the Narayan Temple to worship and pay homage to Lord Vishnu.
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On the day of Ashadh Shukla Ekadashi, also known as Harishayani Ekadashi, since early this morning, devotees have thronged the four Narayan temples of the Valley, Budhanilkantha, Chaturvyuha Narayan Sthan, and Narayan temples across the country for worship and darshan.
The crowd of devotees at the Narayan temples has increased since early morning to worship and have darshan of Lord Vishnu. It is a religious belief that from today, Lord Vishnu goes to sleep in the Kshirasagar (Ocean of Milk). It has been reported that there are crowds of devotees at the Changunarayan, Sheshnarayan, Ichangunarayan, and Bishankhunarayan temples in the Valley. These Narayan temples are known as the Four Narayans.
There is a popular belief that if one worships and has darshan at all four Narayan temples today and on Haribodhini Ekadashi, their wishes will be fulfilled. For this reason, devotees from far and wide reserve vehicles to come for worship and darshan at the Four Narayan temples.
Those unable to visit the Four Narayan temples believe that if they go to Budhanilkantha Narayan Sthan in the northern part of the Valley for worship and darshan, their wishes will be fulfilled. At Budhanilkantha, the idols of Hari and Hara, that is, Vishnu and Shiva, are established together in a single large stone.
Similarly, there is also a crowd of devotees at the Chaturvyuha Narayan temple located at Narayanhiti on Durbar Marg. Rajeshwarananda Saraswati, the head of the Narayanhiti Chaturvyuha Math, informed that the Chaturvyuha Narayan temple houses the idols of all four Narayans. He said that those unable to visit the Four Narayan temples can receive the same merit by having darshan at the Chaturvyuha Narayan temple. Based on this belief, devotees have been thronging the temple since early morning today.
Mahant Nigmananda Swami informed that devotees have been gathering at the temple since three o'clock in the morning. As devotees began to arrive, the Budhanilkantha Narayan Sthan Dashnami Math opened the temple doors for visitors from three o'clock at night.
Above the water pond lies the extraordinary idol of Lord Narayan in a reclining posture. Both domestic and foreign tourists crowd Budhanilkantha to see this idol. From today, Nepalis also begin special worship of Tulsi in their homes. This worship continues until Kartik Shukla Ekadashi, also known as Haribodhini Ekadashi. This four-month period is also called Chaturmas. Many devotees observe fasting during these four months. During this period, Chaturmas discourses are also held at Narayan temples.
Similarly, there are crowds of devotees at the Narayan temple located at Narayantaar in Ward No. 5 of Gokarneshwar Municipality, various Narayan temples in the Pashupati area, Satya Narayan temple in the Hadigaun area, the Narayan temple in the Basantapur Durbar area, and Narayan temples across the Kathmandu Valley and the country.
