Day 49: Bodhnath
Trip Start
Sep 21, 2006
1
50
228
Trip End
Jun 01, 2007
Kathmandu,
Nepal
Thursday, November 9, 2006
This 'Garden of Dreams' was once the property of Field Marshal Kaiser Shaumsher who planned it in the 1920s with the large proceeds of a gambling win against his father, the Prime Minister. They fell into disrepair but are now a rescued, manicured retreat from the bustle of Thamel, though you can't escape the engine noises and horns.
The garden follows an English Edwardian design, with symmetrical borders, walls, ponds and alcoves but the planting includes many tropical species - fruiting Swiss Cheese plants, towering palms, a kapok and a Camel's Foot Tree. Within the twisted trunk of a mammoth bougainvillea has been placed a Shiva lingum (cock).
Further east, near the airport is Bodhnath, the site of a huge Tibetan Buddhist stupa
01 Garden of Dreams
. The stupa is a large whitewashed dome on a three-storey platform with a golden pyramid bearing the eyes of Buddha and a bell-shaped crown.
Many strings of prayer flags join the crown to masts around the outer wall. Around the stupa are two clockwise circuits to choose from - the inner for Buddhists to follow
and spin the hundreds of prayer wheels, the outer for patrolling the souvenir shops and cafes. There is a whiff of burning jumiper on the air, and that bloody "Om Mani Padme Hum" chant from CD stalls. By 4pm, the circuit is busy with local Tibetans fingering rosaries and whispering chants. It must be 'chucking out time' in the local monasteries too, judging by the number of burgundy robes. You can join in the circuit or climb up the dome to take in the view of the hills that edge the smoky Kathmandu Valley.
