Suryavinayak

In the forest near Devpatan there lived a devout Brahmin couple named Lilavati and Gunanidhi. Every day they bathed in the Bagmati, offered oblations to the rising sun, and performed rigorous worship of Surya, the sun god, in the hope of obtaining a child.

By the grace of Surya they were blessed with a son as radiant as the sun itself. But such was the play of fate that within a short time of his birth the child suddenly fell senseless to the ground and his life departed.

Grieving over the death of their infant, the mother and father went weeping to the refuge of Pashupatinath. Lord Shiva heard their piteous cry and consoled them: "The child has fallen senseless because the gaze of Ganesha fell upon him. Tonight, lay the child's lifeless body facing east, where the first ray of the sun will fall tomorrow morning. Praise Ganesha throughout the night, and at sunrise tomorrow your child will awaken."

The Brahmin couple sat awake all night in vigil, meditating upon and praying to Ganesha. As soon as the first ray of the morning sun fell upon the child's body, the child came to life as though awakening from sleep and smiled.

On that hill where Ganesha was beheld together with the first ray of the sun, 'Suryavinayak' (Bhaktapur) was established, where even today special worship is performed for the protection of children and for the gift of speech.