Nepal Pilgrimage

In the village of Budhanilkantha north of Kathmandu you find a thousend year old stone 5 meter tall sleeping Vishnu (Jalasayana) lying in the cosmic ocean resting on Ananta Sesa the thousend headed snake. The statue lies in the middle of a small pond.

What is a sleeping Vishnu (Jalasayana) ?

In hindu mythology every major time area (Yuga) starts and ends with Vishnu sleeping in the cosmic ocean for millions of years. The universe starts (explodes ??) with Brahma beiing born out of the navel of Vishnu. After that Brahma starts creating. When an erea ends everything is sucked back into the breath of Brahma who dissapears again into the navel of Vishnu  (implosion ?) and Vishnu will sleep until the next cycle .

The above story is told by Narada (a head figuerre in the Veda's who passes on stories) in the Bhagavata Purana.