Changu Narayan is Nepal's oldest surviving temple complex and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sitting on a forested ridge about 12 km east of Kathmandu. The main pagoda is dedicated to Vishnu in his form as Narayan, and the courtyard around it is filled with some of the finest stone and metal sculptures in Nepal, dating from the 5th to the 12th centuries.
The site is much less visited than the major monuments in the city, which makes it one of the more rewarding day trips from Kathmandu. The walk up through the village of Changu to the temple takes about 20 minutes from the road; the surrounding hillside forest has good views toward the mountains on clear days. A small museum adjacent to the temple documents the site's history and houses objects that cannot be safely left outdoors.