Travel Day 999 – Kathmandu, NEPAL
It was Sunday, it was the last day of my friend in town and after the eventful concert yesterday, we decided to take it easy and have a stroll up to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Swayambunath, the MonkeyTemple…
Swayambhunath by Kathmandu, Nepal
Swayambhunath was apparently one of the two places in Nepal where Monks from Bhutan established and administered a Buddhist monastery. The other place was Boudhanath, but both places came under Nepali administration after the suspicion that the Bhutanese had helped the Tibetans in the Nepal-Tibet war of the 1850s. Still, until today both UNESCO enlisted places are important Buddhist pilgrimage sites with Boudhanath having the biggest stupa and Swayambhunath having the more atmospheric location…
Actually the location of Swayambhunath, or the Monkey Temple as it is called sometimes today for obvious reasons, set on a steep hill overlooking Kathmandu Valley is probably its main draw card. On the one hand there are the amazing views to and from the location of Swayambhunath, but on the other hand the remoteness and lack of space have also hindered all sorts of development and helped to ensure that the entire ensemble could be preserved in its entirety…
Buddha’s Eyes at Swayambhunath Stupa
There were Monasteries, Temples, Stupas and all sorts of symbols packed into the small space on the hilltop, but most importantly there was the big central stupa with its white washed dome and golden spire. The eyes of Buddha were facing in all cardinal directions, to underline that he is seeing everything and his third eyes was equally shown as his nose in shape of the Neplai number one, emphasizing that everything is one and the same. The layers above his head symbolized the thirteen stages on the path to enlightenment…
For us, to reach Swayambhunath, it was a pleasant stroll outside of town and a steep climb up the main staircase to the hilltop location. After taking-in the views over the valley, we walked our rounds, turning the prayer wheels and sat in the main gompa for a while. It really was an atmospheric place and it needed to be taken-in and enjoyed. So after seeing everything that there was to see, we retired in one of the restaurants that had an open terraced seating, overlooking the valley and we just spend a few hours there reading, eating and talking…
Swayambhunath Temples and Stupas
When it was time to slowly go back to town, we decided to follow a different path into the city, which was leading us rather towards the Durbar Square. It always seemed nice to walk different ways tin Kathmandu as there was always something new to discover, but I knew already that this wouldn’t be my last discovery walk into this area. At some point I would probably come back to maybe see this UNESCO enlisted and monkey infested, but very atmospheric site of Swayambhunath during the evening hours or even at sunset time…
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