Around the World

We had breakfast with Eric and Jerne. Then Donna and Jerne took a taxi with me to Swayambhunath, "the Monkey Temple". It was a long flight of stairs to the top of the temple where there were many stupas around a golden spire. A good view of Kathmandu but it was a bit hazy. I bought a swastika stamp and a brass ring. There were a few monkeys eating rice that was left at the Buddha images as offerings.

Swayambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Nepal, second only to the great Boudhanath stupa to the east of Kathmandu. Much of Swayambhunath's iconography comes from the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. However, the complex is also an important site for Buddhists of many schools, and is also revered by Hindus.

The stupa consists of a dome at the base. Above the dome, there is a cubical structure present with eyes of Buddha looking in all four directions. There are pentagonal Toran present above each of the four sides with statues engraved in them. Behind and above the torana there are thirteen tiers. Above all the tiers, there is a small space above which the Gajur is present.

The dome at the base represents the entire world. When a person awakes (represented by eyes of wisdom and compassion) from the bonds of the world, the person reaches the state a bit higher. The thirteen pinnacles on the top of it symbolizes that senescent beings have to go through the thirteen stages of enlightenment to reach Buddha hood. The pair of eyes on each of the four sides of the main stupa represent Wisdom and Compassion. Above each pair of eyes is another eye, the third eye. Saying goes that when Buddha preaches, cosmic rays emanate from the third eye which acts as message to heavenly beings, so that those interested can come down to earth to listen to the Buddha. The hellish beings and beings below the human realm cannot come to earth to listen to the Buddha's teaching, however, the cosmic ray relieves their suffering when Buddha preaches.

There are figures of Panch Buddhas (five Buddhas) on each of the four sides of stupa. Apart from this, idols of the Buddhas are at the base of the stupas. Panch Buddhas are Buddha in metaphorical sense in Tantrayana. They are;

• Vairochana (occupies the center and is the master of the temple)
• Akshobhya (faces the east and represents the cosmic element of consciousness)
• Ratna Sambhava (faces the south and represents the cosmic element of sensation)
• Amitabha (He represents cosmic element of Sanjna (name) and always faces the West)
• Amoghsiddhi (He represents the cosmic element of conformation and faces the north).

 

Each morning before dawn, hundreds of pilgrims ascend the 365 steps from eastern side that lead up the hill, passing the gilded Vajra (Tibetan: Dorje) and two lions guarding the entrance, and begin a series of clockwise circumambulations of the stupa.

My throat and lungs were feeling sick that day. We walked back through a small road and saw some flames from a cremation near the Bishnumati River. The smell of the polluted river was very pungent. I found our way back through the streets and took a nap in our room. I just relaxed that evening and wrote some email at the internet cafe.

 

We took our souvenirs from Thailand to the post office and sent them. It took an hour to fill out all the forms and have the package inspected before it was wrapped in linen. An old woman sewed it by hand for a few Rp. I was uncertain if my package was going to make it to the US. After the post office we walked around town and past a butcher shop where a goat was hanging by its hind legs, with its throat cut and a man skinning it. Someone in the back was plucking chickens with a few live ones running around. In the front was a goats head bleeding over the edge of the counter. It made my stomach uneasy so we walked on. We got lost in town until we finally made it to Durbar Square.

In Durbar Square we saw a lot of temples (pagodas). The Maju Deval had some interesting erotic carvings on its roof. It was built by the Mallas in 1690 and has been extensively restored. The Kathmandu Durbar Square holds the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city. Along with these palaces, the square also surrounds quadrangles revealing courtyards and temples. The square is presently known as Hanuman Dhoka, a name derived from the statue of Hanuman, the monkey devotee of Lord Ram. We saw the Hanuman statue all covered in a red cape near the entrance of the palace. Taleju Temple was the nicest pagoda I've seen. On the walk back we stopped in a courtyard and saw an old bahal called Kichandra Bahal. There were four plaques of Guru Mapa, a child eating Demon. The city of Kathmandu is named after a structure in Durbar Square called Kasthamandap. This unique temple, also known as Maru Satal, was built in 1596 CE by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The entire structure contains no iron nails or supports and is made entirely from wood. Legend has it that the timber used for this two story pagoda was obtained from a single tree.

We had a huge lunch at the Yak restaurant, I ate vegetable momos and garlic bread called nan. We shopped around and got flag patches of the countries we will be going to. We went back to the room and took a nap. I got my things packed up for the bus trip to Pokhara. Then the power went out. The generator came on at the hotel. I walked to an Indian restaurant with Donna to meet Eric, Jerne and Carrie. We had a delicious meal. Eric was going on about us staying longer again. We went to the bar on the U.S. Marine base that night for a party. We danced a little, and had a few drinks with fellow Americans.