Heavily damaged by earthquake a few minutes walk from durbar square. IT is surrounded by old city with not too many tourists.

Machhendranath Temple was largely destroyed by the Earthquake that hit Nepal just over a year ago. We came here to visit and see just what was left, and also to make a side trip to the nearby Karyabnayak Temple as-well. The feeling of being the only two visitors to the large open square, Villagers herding their ducks and goats through the old temple grounds actually added to the experience. I have always been a big archeology fan, so ruins excite me. These are relatively new, caused by a natural disaster, not time, although the original temples were in the 6-700 year old range. Visiting here is more of an exploration into the past. If a bunch of broken stones doesn't excite you much, I would skip this site. There's a lot of history , hundreds of small temples in the Kathmandu valley to explore. Most of the old shops and restaurants are gone, there is still one wood carver left here, turning out some beautiful HIndu and Bhuddist Statuary out of ancient pieces of wood that he imports from the Langtang region of Nepal. Worth the trip just to visit his shop.