This morning was a sight-seeing tour that was part of the package for the trek I'm doing. We went to Pashupatinath, an important Hindu temple of Shiva, and to Boudhanath, a large Tibetan Buddhist stuppa. It was great to see these sights, as they are two of the most interesting things in Kathmandu, but they are out of the centre of town so would not be as easy to get to on my own.
We first went to Pashupatinath. This is a temple to the god Shiva, and many Hindus try to get there at least once in their lives. It seemed to be a large, spread out complex occupying both sides of a river. The first, most striking thing you see as you approach along the river is the public cremations. The funeral pyres are set up along the sides of the river, and several were going when we were there.
Our tour guide explained the process, the timing of the ceremonies and cremation etc. While public cremation is very different to Western eyes, I didn't feel anything negative about it. Rather, I felt rather conscious of invading peoples privacy by being there. But then, even that may be my own cultural background speaking.
We continued on to see various statues and structures of the temple grounds, and places built into a cliff where sadhus, or spiritual hermits, go to meditate. We also saw a shelter where sadhus live, where each gets a small space to occupy while they are there.
We then went to the Boudhanath stuppa, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist stuppas, and many Tibetans have settled in the area around it. I love the 'all-seeing eyes' or 'wisdom eyes' of Buddha, that are painted on all sides, and which are characteristic of Buddism in Nepal.
We also went into the adjacent monastery, and a school for painting Tibetan thankhas.
After the tour we came back to the hotel, where we were given our duffel bags to pack our stuff for the trek. The baggage weight limit for domestic flights has been reduced to 10 kg, and it took some ruthless paring down of gear to get it down to that.
We first went to Pashupatinath. This is a temple to the god Shiva, and many Hindus try to get there at least once in their lives. It seemed to be a large, spread out complex occupying both sides of a river. The first, most striking thing you see as you approach along the river is the public cremations. The funeral pyres are set up along the sides of the river, and several were going when we were there.
Our tour guide explained the process, the timing of the ceremonies and cremation etc. While public cremation is very different to Western eyes, I didn't feel anything negative about it. Rather, I felt rather conscious of invading peoples privacy by being there. But then, even that may be my own cultural background speaking.
We continued on to see various statues and structures of the temple grounds, and places built into a cliff where sadhus, or spiritual hermits, go to meditate. We also saw a shelter where sadhus live, where each gets a small space to occupy while they are there.
We then went to the Boudhanath stuppa, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist stuppas, and many Tibetans have settled in the area around it. I love the 'all-seeing eyes' or 'wisdom eyes' of Buddha, that are painted on all sides, and which are characteristic of Buddism in Nepal.
We also went into the adjacent monastery, and a school for painting Tibetan thankhas.
After the tour we came back to the hotel, where we were given our duffel bags to pack our stuff for the trek. The baggage weight limit for domestic flights has been reduced to 10 kg, and it took some ruthless paring down of gear to get it down to that.
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