Machhegaun (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: मच्छेगाऊं) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

and former Village Development Committee that is now part of

Chandragiri Municipality Chandragiri is a List of cities in Nepal, municipality in Kathmandu District in Bagmati Province of Nepal that was declared as municipality on 2 December 2014 by merging the former Village development committee (Nepal), Village Development Committ ...

Kathmandu District Kathmandu District ( ne, काठमाडौं जिल्ला; Nepal Bhasa: ये: जिल्ला) is a district located in Kathmandu Valley, Bagmati Province of Nepal. It is one of the 77 districts of Nepal, covers an area of , ...

in Province No. 3 of central

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. At the time of the

1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics. Working with Nepal's Village Development Committees at a district level, they recorded data from all the main towns and villages of each ...

it had a population of 2,871 .

Current Situation

There has been drastic changes in size of population, roads, schools and houses while analyzing the history and the year 2017. Newars and Newari used to be a predominant people, culture and language in this place but it has changed recently with the increasing number of local immigrants with other caste and cultures. Random land plotting and town planning has rapidly increased affecting more people to move into this beautiful place. Due to which, agricultural land has been severely affected. Although

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

has been facing the problem of drinking

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is whe ...

and environmental pollution, this place has faced very little because of effective and active management program supported by Nepal government and UNDP project for water management and environmental protection from 2010.

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

Statue built in 2011, is now a landmark in Machhegaun attracting thousands of people to visit every year. Bricks and stone paved staircase has been developed since the statue being established to facilitate the pilgrimage. The view from the top of the hill where the site has been developed has views of Kathmandu Valley.

History

Its name came from Machhenarayan, an avatar of god

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

. It is said that during ancient time, Manu found a small fish about to die while he was having a bath in a river. He brought the fish to his home and put it into a small pot of water. Next day, the fish grew in its size amazingly and was no longer fit in the small pot. So he put the fish in a pond just to find next day that the fish had grown larger and no longer fit in the pond as well. Knowing that this fish is no ordinary fish, Manu bowed with respect and asked to show the fish who he was. Then god Vishnu emerged from the mouth of the fish. To remember this event, Manu established Machhenarayan temple in the center of the pond. A mela (fair), named MangalMas, is organized every three years in Machhegaun for a month, mostly during a month from April to July. During this month god Vishnu is worshiped all over the country.

Location

The village is located west of

Kirtipur Kirtipur (Nepal Bhasa: किपू ''Kipoo'') is a Municipality and an ancient city of Nepal. The Newars are the natives of Kipoo (Kirtipur) that is believed to be derived from Kirati King Yalamber. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley 5 k ...

. It is around 7–8 km far from the center of Kathmandu city.

References

{{Kathmandu District Populated places in Kathmandu District