Among over fifty constructed monuments in various era of history, one most visited holy place in the area of Hanumandhoka Durbar Square is the temple of Ganesha, a god with elephant head. This is well associated with the royals of their Himalayan Kingdom as well as social life of common public.
The Ashok Binayak temple is located at the eastern side of Hanumandhoka Durbar Square in the protected monument region, adjacent to the flower and vegetable market. However, this temple is still struggling for getting its historical evident which has been found out by the people till now.
The only evident this temple has is that it was remodelled around 1850 AD, which cannot be called as the date of its origin. It is due to the strong belief of the people about this insignificant shrine that large number of pilgrims comes to this temple. The credit is given to the ancient priest, Jamana Gubhaju for initiating pious rituals and for caretaking this temple, a local vendor Dhamanan Sayami acknowledged. Perhaps, due to this reason, Lord Ganesha is personified as deified oil pressers, Manandhars.
Ashok Binayak is made of metal idol which is taken to the city on the day eighth of Dashian. On this day, animals are sacrificed by the locals and people offer flowers to the lord and runs from one street to other. The chariot of lord Ganesh is then taken to Narayanhiti Royal Palace and Simha Durbar to poise offerings. Members of the royal family, along with their children visit to the temple to carry out rituals of bratabandha, rice-feeding and wedding. Likewise, visiting to this temple is for every monarch as a part of coronation in the country.
The shrine of Ashok Binayak is the main place of worship belongs to God Ganesha in Kathmandu. The stony image of the God stands underneath a golden facsimile of Ashok Tree that ultimately gave its name.
