4th–9th century CE

The Licchavi Dynasty

The Valley's first great builders, who founded its oldest living shrines.

Long before the Malla kings raised their durbar squares, the Licchavi rulers governed the Kathmandu Valley from the early centuries CE. They left the Valley its oldest dated inscriptions and some of its most venerated shrines — many still in worship today.

Licchavi power radiated from settlements such as Handigaun, the lost early capital, before Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur rose to dominance. Their legacy is less about courtly architecture and more about foundations: temples, sculptures, water systems, and the sacred map the later kings inherited.

Attribution across fourteen centuries is necessarily looser than for the Mallas, so these nodes are framed as Licchavi-era foundations rather than the work of a single named ruler.

Map of works

Across the Valley

Numbered markers match the monuments below. Festivals and intangible legacy are listed but not mapped.

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Monuments

Licchavi-era foundations

Changu Narayan Temple

Licchavi foundation

The Valley's oldest Vishnu temple, carrying Manadeva's 5th-century pillar inscription.

Changu Village

Budhanilkantha Temple

Licchavi era

The monumental reclining Vishnu sculpture, a Licchavi-period masterwork.

Budhanilkantha

Gahana Pokhari

Handigaun capital

A surviving water node of Handigaun, the Licchavi-era capital before Kathmandu rose.

Kathmandu

Kal Bhairav

Licchavi sculpture

The Bhairav image is held to be a Licchavi-era carving, later installed by Pratap Malla.

Kathmandu Durbar Square

Chobar

Ancient gorge

The Bagmati gorge tied to the Valley's drainage legend and early settlement.

Kathmandu

Pottery Square

Old craft quarter

An ancient craft and settlement node within Bhaktapur's old town.

Bhaktapur

Sankhu

Early Newar town

One of the oldest Newar trading towns, gateway to Vajrayogini.

Kathmandu

Guita Pukhu

Historic pond

A historic Patan tank within the Valley's old water network.

Lalitpur

Boudhanath Stupa

c. 600 CE

Tradition places the stupa's founding with the Licchavi king Shivadeva I, on the trade road to Tibet.

Boudha

Rudravarna Mahavihar (Okubahal)

Founded 6th c.

Patan's great bronze-casters' monastery, its foundation attributed to King Shivadeva.

Okubahal, Patan

Cuka Bahal (Chakravarna Mahavihar)

5th century

A Patan bahal whose foundation is traced to Manadeva I, among the oldest in the city.

Patan Old City

Palanchowk Bhagwati

Manadeva

The black stone Bhagwati east of the Valley, credited on site to Manadeva's patronage.

Ridge above Lamidanda, Panchkhal Municipality, off the Arniko Highway

Pashupatinath Temple

Royal shrine by the 5th c.

The Licchavi inscriptions show Pashupati was already the kingdom's royal shrine; the standing temple is far later.

Deopatan, Gaushala

Notable rulers

Manadeva I

5th-century king whose Changu Narayan pillar inscription (464 CE) is among Nepal's oldest dated records.

Amshuverma

Early-7th-century ruler remembered for administrative reform and the prosperity of the early Valley.

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