Chandeshwar Mahadev/Shree Chandeshwori Temple Banepa,Karmepalachchok,Nepal

Chandeshwori is one of the avatar taken by Goddess Kumari. She took this avatar to kind the demon called Chanda. This temple is devoted to the goddess Chandeshwori. The temple is believed to be the 17th century AD old and it is 3 storeyed. There is the biggest wall painting of Bhairav on one of the wall of the temple. It is believed to be the biggest graffiti in Nepal. The wood carving used in the temple is the masterpiece to gaze.

There is myth that the Chandeshwori temple is the place where the mother goddess (Sati / Parvati and in Banepa known as Chandeshwori) defeated the demon Chanda. The demon was a plague to the world since Shiva gave him a boon that made him unbeatable except by women. The desperate gods asked Brahma for advice and he sent them to the forest around Banepa where the mother gods lived in those days. In the meantime, Narada went to Chanda and provoked him to come to Banepa to fight the gods. When Chanda arrived with a big army of demons, all the gods took the forms of different birds and flew. The mother goddess quickly disappeared in a tree but Chanda saw that and cut down the tree with his sword. Now the goddess appeared on a big lion and a terrible fight between her and Chanda started.

But Chanda had no chance and was killed by the mother goddess. Out of the belly of Chanda who was a big devotee of Shiva a lingam grew. This lingam can be seen in the small temple just in front of the big temple in the Chandeshwori temple complex. It is said that down at the big rocks around the river you can still see the marks of the big fight between the goddess and the demon.