Days Out In Kathmandu Valley
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
1
208
221
Trip End
Ongoing
Pashupatināth,
Nepal
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
We decided to escape the hustle and bustle of doing business in Kathmandu city with a few day trips out to the interesting towns in the Kathmandu Valley. This is where we would gain a true feel for the Nepalese people and a greater understanding of their culture and ways of living.
One day we went out to Pashupatinath where Nepal's most important Hindu temple sits on the banks of the Bagmati River. One of the most important Shiva temples is also located here so the area draws devotees and sadhus from all over India and we know how much they adore their Shiva. Om namah shivaya! The sadhus we met seemed to adore us and were keen to pose for portraits in exchange for our baksheesh. Shiva is worshipped here in his pleasant and creative form as the shepherd of animals and humans
postcard perfect posing
.The Bagmati is a holy river and is a popular place for Hindus to be cremated. Just after entry we met a trio of sadhus playing instruments and chanting mantras and a whole crew of femaqle sadhus who were surrounding themselves with less fanfare. Almost immediately we came upon the Arya cremation ghats on the river where a funeral ceremony was beginning quite close to where we were standing. The ancient ritual of burning the body in public view has remained unchanged. A group of women were gathered next to a wooden platform on which logs and hay had been placed in preparation for the dead body. The women were wailing in grief and making lots of moaning noise and theatrical movements with their arms, a full power performance. The dead body was wrapped in cloth and brought down to the river on a stretcher. According to the Nepalese Hindu tradition, the dead body must be dipped three times into the Bagmati River before cremation. Relatives sprinkled water onto the forehead of the corpse, threw red tikka powder and rice all over the body and left offerings of coins and flowers. Hungry looking street children were gathered around the body and the moment it was lifted off the ground they pounced into the hay it was lying on and collected all the coins to keep. The body was placed onto the pyre and was circled by a relative and chanted over then set alight to burn for three hours. The chief mourner (usually the first son) who lights the funeral pyre must also take a holy river-water bath immediately after cremation. Many relatives who join the funeral procession also take bath in the water or sprinkle the holy water on their bodies at the end of cremation. The Bagmati River is thus considered to purify the people spiritually and physically. I noticed that the ladies wore sarongs on their tops halves and let their hair out before taking a dip. Everybody left as soon as the fire was lit and so did we
Mr Technicolour umbrella man
. The burning of the corpse was a little bit surreal but we left feeling uneffected and agreed we had seen just as shocking situations happening to alive humans on the streets.Shivaite sadhus were out in full force collecting cash instead of the food they are supposed to beg for in their little alm pots. There was competition for pilgrims and tourist dollar amongst them too so they were all trying to outdo each other with the most elaborate costumes they could conjuer up. Jewellery, rudraksha beads, drums, violins, ash, facepaint, peacock feathers, talsimans and ash plus numerous other adornments. They looked so much like stereotypical sadhus that they appeared as though they had turned up in costume to a fancy dress party with a sadhu theme. Over the top. Some were asleep, some followed us around, one waved his serpent staff at us and they were all up for a chat and offering us puffs on their chillums. One very lazy guy with very long dreadlocks was lounging around in a shrine and only stuck his head out of the door so we could take a photo and leave him 5 rupees. He returned it and asked for Euros! Cheeky bugger! His holy men in orange chums told us he was 110 years old and we later recognized him as the same guy photographed on a retro postcard we had bought earlier so maybe he was famous in the seventies, who knows. We walked up amongst the jungle of temples, sculptures, lingams., monkeys and shrines to the Gorakhnath Temple which has a giant trident then back to watch another ceremony in action.
We crossed the river and headed to the caves that were still being used by sadhus and yogis as shelter and living space. One of the guys was up for a chat and made a big performance of lighting and sucking back on a chillum then coughing up smoke which billowed around his face as he laughed, he was quite the character and never asked us for a cent
riding cycle rickshaw style
. We tried to visit the Guhyeshwari temple, the name of which comes from guhya (vagina) and ishwari (goddess), it’s the temple of the goddess vagina and is dedicated to Shakti in her terrible manifestation as Kali. Unfortunately Hindus couldn’t go inside so I climbed the hill next to it and looked in over the top for a glimpse.
Swayambhunath
Swayambhunath also known as the monkey temple is a great Buddhist temple and home to a beautiful whitewashed stupa which we walked around then did a photo shoot with all the gorgeous Buddha statues on site. There's a funky golden, giant dorje which is a thunderbolt symbol that symbolises male force or compassion and is usually teamed with a bell that symbolises female wisdom. We chased the monkeys around and took in the views over Kathmandu, we could see my beloved Kopan monastery from the hill top. We checked out all the curios shops around the stupor and were horrified to find they were selling monkey skulls amongst the turquoise encrusted antiques, masks, prayer wheels, mala beads, incense, rudraksha, dorjes, Tibetan singing bowls and bells. We ate potato curry at Didi's Cafe where we chatted with the sister herself then trotted off down the steep pilgrim's stairway to reach the base of the hill where monks and Tibetan pilgrims and dogs were walking around the hill past Tibetan settlements, shrines, prayer wheels, chapels, stone carvings and monasteries. We joined them for awhile until we reached the beautiful Buddha Park where there are three massive statues of the deities. Although the gardens are hectic, the images are very shanti and a nice place to spend some time.
