Narasthan is a small village (lat. 34 degrees 3’ north, long. 75 degrees 9’ east) and is situated on a high Karewa. In the centre of the village, in a very picturesque situation, the temple is built. No clue is available about the king who was responsible for the building of the temple in Rajatarangini. Herman Goetz believed that Narasthan temple is the earliest temple built by Lalitaditya Muktapida during the earlier years of his reign. But Rajatarangini speaks of a temple of Vishnu built by Chandrapida which was named by him Tribhuvanswamin. Probably the Tribhuvanswamin is the temple of Narasthan, which must have been known by the name of Narayanswamin, and with the passage of time came to be known as Narasthan. Hence, it can be said that Narasthan temple is the earliest temple built by the Karkota prince Chandrapida.
The wall of the temple is 1.52 m thick and 2.45 m high up to the coping stone. The main entrance of the temple is on the west side. It is double-chambered and imposing. The entrance is supported by two columns about 2.44 m high. The width of the entrance between the pillars is about 1.37 m. The outer chamber measures 2.44 x 1.22 m and is in a dilapidated condition.
The sanctum of the temple occupies the centre of the enclosure. The entrance to the sanctum is about 2.00m high and 1.10 m wide and has pilasters in the middle. On either flank of the sanctum, the doorway depicted standing figures of Ganga and Yamuna on their respective vahanas in framed niches. The sanctum chamber is 2.60 m square. The walls are blank and the flooring is of stone and, probably, in its centre, a linga was placed. About 2.60m from the ground there's a cornice from which the roof must have tapered to a point. It is similar in general appearance to those of Payar and Pandrethan but more imposing in its proportion and elaborate in its details.
In front of the temple is a square tank about 2.45 m square and 0.60 m deep having an elaborate stone conduit for pouring water into it. The spout of the conduit is carved with a full-blown lotus. The sides are decorated with grinning makara heads. From the tank a drain conduits the water to a chamber in the southeastern corner of the enclosure wall where it makes its final exit from the temple complex1.
1 R.C Agrawal, Kashmir and its Monumental Glory (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998), 115-119.