Nepal: A Shivalingam at the Hindu Budhanilkantha Temple, Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu Valley (photo)

The Vishnu figure of Budhanilkantha is a 4.5 metre long, intricately carved figure depicting Vishnu sleeping on the ground of the cosmic ocean, on a 'bed' of intertwining snake bodies, which are all part of the eleven-headed giant snake Ananta, 'The Endless One'. The figure probably originated in the 7th century and is hewn out of a single piece of rock. According to legend, Budhanilkantha was discovered by a farmer while ploughing his field; the plough snagged on the figure, which was buried underground, and, to the farmer’s great surprise, the figure began to bleed. Budha means 'mud' and Nila-kantha is 'Blue Throat'; Budhanilkantha is regarded as a manifestation of Vishnu (not to be confused with a better known incarnation of Vishnu as Nilakantha).