Sacred
Sites of Nepal 1:
Swayambhunath
in Kathmandu
Our
experience of Nepal may have been tainted somewhat by
the
fact that it was under martial law when we arrived due to a
pre-announced
one-day bandh (strike) by the Maoist communists,
which
virtually shut the country down for our first full day there.
It
turned out to be only a minor inconvenience, however, and in
fact
provided us a much needed day of rest and relaxation after
our
most harrowing trips by car to and from Bodh Gaya in India.
Besides,
we were staying at a wonderful five-star hotel, the Holiday
Inn
Soaltee, which has been rated as one of the best 300 hotels in
the
world. Its "Pagoda-style" architecture is deceptively simple
and
doesn't hint at the truly luxurious facilities inside (including
one
of the best Italian restaurants we have ever experienced).
Under one
of
the two huge canopies just outside the front entrance is
a lovely
sitting
area. Below are additional buildings in the hotel complex,
which are
near the pool and tennis courts. The photos show clearly the
poor quality
of the air in Kathmandu, which has been ranked among the
most polluted
in the world (due to the city's valley location and the
country's
utter lack of emissions standards or control.
Below, my
wife
Randy stands in front of a rack of small Tibetan
prayer wheels
to the right of the main entrance of the hotel.
On either
side of the front doors are two statues of Hindu
deities, with
another in the spacious lobby -- all indicating
the same easy
harmony of Hinduism and Buddhism in
Nepal that
one also sees in India.
Nepal is,
in
fact, officially Hindu, and is called
"the only
Hindu kingdom in the world." Yet, ironically,
Kathmandu
is best known for its two famous Buddhist
sites,
Swayambhunath
and Bodhnath, both of which boast
monuments
distinctively decorated with the eyes of the
Buddha.
From our hotel room, we could see in the distance
(depending
on the level of the smog at any given time) one
of them:
the Buddhist temple complex of Swayambhunath
on a distant
hill.
There are
several routes up the forested hill to the Swayambhunath
complex.
The main one, the eastern "pilgrims' route," has 365 steps,
and from the
top provides a spectacular view of Kathmandu,
marred only
by the ever-present smog that shrouds the city.
Professional
guides, however, are just as likely to lead tourists
and other
visitors up one of the two back (western) routes,
like the one
pictured below, perhaps because it it not quite as
steep, but
more likely because it takes tourists past more
hawkers and
vendors.
Our
particular
route on the western side took us through a part of
Swayambhu
village and past a group of Tibetan-style Nepalese
novice monks
(called chappas), who were intently engaged in a board game.
It also
took
us past several small stupas with the
distinctive
Tibetan-Nepalese Buddha eyes . . .
. . . and a
golden statue of the Buddha that
stands poised
under his symbolic umbrella.
Arriving at
the top, we are met with a spectacular
(and much
photographed) view of the main stupa,
which is
festooned
with prayer flags and
surrounded
by a host of smaller stupas, shrines,
and other
buildings, including a monastery.
The sacred
site is said to have been established
some 2500
years ago, at the very dawn of Buddhism.
The great
stupa itself, however, is probably "only"
fifteen
centuries
old.
Beneath
crowning parasol and thirteen rings of its guilded
pinnacle,
the all-seeing eyes gaze in four directiions.
What might
be mistaken for a nose just below them is
actually the
Sanskrit number 1 (ek), which stands for
the spiritual
unity of all things.
Near the
pinnacle
of the stupa and on all sides are
small
representations
of various celestial (Dhyani)
Bodhisattvas,
whom many Buddhists believe
to embody
compassion.
Wherever
one turns, it seems, there are prayer wheels
inscribed
with the magical-mystical Tibetan mantra
"Om Mani
Padme Hum." Wife Randy stands in front
of a rack
of them that is next to a small pagoda.
The
great stupa itself is surrounded by prayer wheels,
and devotees
circumambulate it (in a clockwise direction)
and spin them
(also clockwise) in order to generate
positive
spiritual
energy for themselves and the world.
I stand in
front of one set of prayer wheels, talking with
our guide,
Sanjib (pronounced "San-JEEV"). Randy
poses in front
of another set, giving one of them an
"it can't
hurt" spin (clockwise!).
The grand stupa is surrounded by various other temples.
One one of
them, monkeys perch and play.
(More about
them in a moment.)
Here and
there
are images of the Buddha, though perhaps
not as many
as one might have expected. Given the
eclecticism
of both Hinduism and Buddhism in India
and Nepal,
one is not very surprised to see as well
a lingam
-- a symbol of the Hindu god Shiva --
at this Buddhist
site.
The most
impressive
symbol here, however, besides the
grand stupa
itself, is a six-foot-long dorje, that greets
pilgrims at the
top of the 365-step eastern entrance. Dorje
means "thunderbolt,"
and symbolizes the power of the
enlightened
mind for Tibetan-style Buddhists. The Sanskrit
equivalent
of dorje is vajra, and Tibetan Buddism is
often referred
to as Vajrayana, the "Thunderbolt Vehicle."
We are here
at the beginning of the tourist
off-season,
which is summer, so this sacred
place is not
exactly crowded with tourists or
other
visitors
and devotees. Still, there is a
fair number
of people engaged in
a variety
of activities:
lighting incense and votive candles,
simply resting.
We are
permitted
to go inside one Buddhist temple,
where we are
greeted by a large golden Buddha, . . .
and surrounded by many other smaller ones.
Just inside
the main entrance and to the left, a monk
appears to
be catching up on the temple's paperwork.
To the right
of the doorway sits another monk, with a
young novice
monk asleep on the bench to his left.
A woman
spins
a large prayer wheel, to which a bell us attached.
The bell rings
with each rotation of the wheel, apparently to alert
other devotees
when the wheel is slowing, so that they
may keep it
in its perpetual (and spiritual) motion.
Another
smaller
prayer wheel (pictured below at the right)
is kept in
motion by the heat of the incense in the brass
burner that
it is poised above.
Outside the
door of the temple sits an ever-present
beggar --
this time a rather sickly and emaciated
woman, who
still manages a smiling pose for
my camera
(for which I gave her alms).
And now about the monkeys . . .
Swayambunath
is sometimes called "the monkey temple"
because of
the 300-odd rhesus monkeys who live there.
They are quite
tame, can be seen being fed by the locals,
and obviously
have the run of the place, perching and
playing
wherever
they wish. Visitors are well-advised to
bring no food
with them to this place, because the
aggressive
monkeys have been known to snatch a
snack and
even to pick a backpack or two.
The monkeys
are given such freedom here probably because
of the high
esteem in which Nepalese and Tibetan people
hold Lord
Hanuman, the monkey general of the Hindu epic
Ramayana
who
was later made a deity in his own right.
Even a sacred dorje is not off-limits to these simians.
Finally, a
view from atop one of the rear (western) exits
from the
hilltop
shrine, showing hundreds of prayer flags,
all generating
prayers with their motion,
just as the
prayer wheels do.
Namaste!