Three Temples

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Sunday 9th August

I had originally intended to visit two major temples today (one Hindu and one Buddhist) but as I was up quite early and still feeling good after those two, after a short break I visited the third as well.

After a lovely breakfast in the hotel roof garden, I took a taxi to Pashupatinath which is east of the city, near to the airport. This is the most important Hindu temple in Nepal and is also one of the most important temples in all Asia dedicated to Shiva. The temple complex straddles the Bagmati River, Nepal's holy river, and the site is as important to Nepalis as Varanasi on the Ganges is to Indians. Where the river flows through the temple site, Hundus come to bathe for ritual cleansing and also to cremate their dead on stone platforms at the river's edge. At any one time there is almost always at least one cremation taking place - while I was there there were at least 5 in various stages (the whole process takes about two and a half hours).

Pashupatinath is also home to numerous monkeys who run, climb and crawl all over the site. Non-Hindus are not allowed inside the actual temple buildings but there is still plenty to see outside, and from the terraces on the east side of the river there is a good view over the main temple building on the west side.

My guide book said that it was only a 20 minute walk from Pashupatinath to the major Tibetan Buddhist stupa at Boudhanath so I decided to walk and indeed it did take just as long as it said!. This stupa, in the district of Boudha, is an important Tibetan place of pilgrimage and is also one of the largest such stupas in the world. All around the base of the stupa are prayer wheels and as people walk around the whole perimeter (always clockwise) they turn the prayer wheels as they go.

The Boudhinath stupa is massive but as it is completely surrounded by buildings it is difficult to appreciate its size as you can't really get far enough away and still see it all. I spent quite a lot of time there and had lunch in one of the roof-top restaurants overlooking the stupa. The stupa is surrounded by dozens and dozens of handicraft shops, mostly selling the same stuff, including a few music shops, most of which were playing the same Tibetan chant over and over again - it kind of grows on you so I ended buying the CD.

Both sites were so amazing that I decide to take the 20-minute walk back to Pashupatinath again and get a taxi back to Thamel from there. I was back at my hotel by 3pm so after a short break I decided to walk to the third temple which I had originally intended to look at on the Monday. It took about half an hour to walk to Swayambunath, another very important Tibetan Buddhist site. The stupa is at the top of a hill and the last bit of getting there involved climbing an awful lot of steps (though this time I didn't count them) but they did get steeper nearer the top.

Thousands and thousands of years ago, when the Kathmandu valley was a huge lake, Swayambunath was one of the few islands. Most Buddhist stupas have a similar design but this one, although one of the larger ones, is still much smaller than Boudhanath. All stupas have the Buddha's eyes painted on each side but the symbol below and between the eyes is not a nose! It is the sanskrit symbol for one meaning all things in one. Again, this time due to it being on the top of a hill, it was difficult to get far enough away to see the whole thing without going down the hill again. Monkeys again roam all over this site and Boudhanath is sometimes known as the "Monkey Temple".

For my evening meal I stayed at my hotel since the rooftop garden was so pleasant. As I sat there, the rooftop garden directly opposite was that of the Everest Irish Pub - they seem to get everywhere don't they?

Monday 10th August

Today is my last full day in Nepal! I need to book a taxi for the airport for 7:00am tomorrow morning. This morning I have been simply strolling around the centre of Kathmandu, looking at the architecture and for last minute ideas for presents. I've just had lunch and now I'm sitting in an Internet Cafe typing up what will be my last blog posting from Nepal. When I get home I still have the intention of writing one final entry, musing on various things Nepali. In the meantime, thank you for reading!

Mike

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Photos

Sadhus
At Pashupatinath

Cremation Ghats
Bagmati River, Pashupatinath

Bathing steps
Bagmati River, Pashupatinath

Monkey
at Pashupatinath temple site

Pashupatinath
view over the main temple from the terraces opposite

Boudhanath Stupa
at Boudha

Prayer wheels
around the base of Boudhanath stupa

Boudhanath Stupa
the best attempt I could make at getting the whole thing in one photo

Entrance to Swayambunath
the bottom of the steps

Monkeys at Swayambunath
offering prayers to Ganesh

Steps up to Swayambunath
the gentler steps at the bottom

Swayambunath Stupa
difficult to get a shot of the whole thing

The upper steps
looking down from the top

Comments

[MitziM]

Tibetan Chant
Can't imagine you will be very excited by the thought of Taskforce after all this! However, maybe you could bring in the Tibetan Chant CD as I think we might need to use it! Hope you are back home safetly and look forward to seeing you in September P

[Mark and Ginny]

Excellent Blogging
Thanks Mike for all your posts, we have been amazed and inspired by your travels. Well done and safe journey(s). See you when you get back. Mark and Gin.