Kathesimbhu

Samantabhadra, a siddha tantric of Nepal, had gone to Kashi (Varanasi) on a pilgrimage. There, on the bank of the Ganges, the construction of a grand and vast Jain temple had been completed.

Thousands of people had gathered to consecrate the temple and were engaged in long debates and disputes. Seeing all the fuss of rituals and formalities, Samantabhadra stepped forward and said: "If you all give your permission, I shall consecrate this temple right now."

When everyone agreed, Samantabhadra took the holy water of the Ganges in his cupped hands, recited mantras, and sprinkled it over the temple, saying: "The consecration of the temple is complete."

But the pandits there did not believe in a consecration performed so easily, and mocking him they said: "Does a temple become consecrated just because you sprinkle a few mantras so quickly?"

Feeling that his tantric knowledge had been disrespected, Samantabhadra said: "If you do not believe it, then I shall make this entire temple fly through the sky and take it to my own country, Nepal."

Laughing it off, everyone tried to bind the temple with strong ropes and hold it to the ground. But the moment Samantabhadra recited his mantras and snapped his fingers three times, that vast temple rose into the sky along with its foundation and began to fly. The people who had grasped the ropes were left dangling in the air.

Samantabhadra brought that sky-borne temple to the Nepal Mandala and established it in the middle of Kathmandu. Because it had been made to fly from Kashi and was a replica of Swayambhu, it came to be called 'Kashiswayambhu' or 'Kathesimbhu'.