After relaxing at Shyam & Kathy’s for our first day in Kathmandu, we went out on a trip around town to visit some of the sites she recommended.
The Buddhist Stupa of Boudhanath is one of the main sites in Kathmandu. A large dome that one cannot enter, it is surrounded by several Buddhist temples and a variety of shops. There is considerable history and mythology about this stupa, one of the largest in the Buddhist world, particularly related to Tibetan Buddhism. It was damaged in the 2015 earthquake and the spire in the middle fell down. You can see the repairs are underway. We had interesting encounters with one disturbed woman and a couple very small monks. Here are some pix…
Here are some images from other temples and places around Boudhanath…
Here are some shop displays around Boudhanath…
Pashupatinath Temple was the next destination on our itinerary. Located on the Bagmati River, which flows into the Ganges, Pashupatinath is one of the most sacred Hindu temples and the site of many cremations taking place constantly. There are also monkeys and sadhus amongst the various shrines and smaller temples near the large one, which dates from the 15th century and can only be entered by practicing Hindus. A guide attached himself to us, and since he was friendly, knowledgeable, and spoke pretty good English, we went with the flow. Here are some pix (and I’ll post some clips later)…
In addition to the temples, we saw some actual cremations. We witnessed one that had been burning for awhile, then another from the crying of relatives to the lighting of the fire…
After the intensity of Pashupatinath, we took a break for some refreshment at Dwarika’s Hotel. Famous for it’s preserved wood work, the Dwarika is a 5 star hotel with a lovely and relaxing courtyard. Just a few pix…
Since there are so many pix, I’ll put the rest of this busy day on a separate post. Again, I’ll post video clips separately.
Study Questions:
- Check the link to Boudhanath. For what is it famous? What do the pix depict?
- Check the link to Pashupatinath. For what is it famous? What do the pix depict?
- Check the link to Dwarika’s Hotel. For what is it famous? What do the pix depict?
Random Vail 