Before being afflicted with my second cold in three weeks, we took advantage of the soaring 60 degree daytime temperatures in Kathmandu and hoofed it to Hanuman-dhoka Durbar Square. Meaning "central place," Durbar Square lives up to its name with tourists, locals, guides and pigeons flocking to rustic temples, markets, houses, and palaces.
This amicable fellow holding the dead human is Kal Bhairav - he represents the Hindu god Shiva in his destructive form.
We dug the perpetual flame alight in the guarding beast's mouth.
This building, Kumari-Ghar, is the home of Kumari Devi, a living incarnation of the goddess Taleju. She stays inside the house except for a couple times a year for festivals. From 9-11 and 4-6 she will come to the window if called by a local. Photographs of Kumari are strictly prohibited. Click the link under the quote below for more information and some pictures.
"The selection of the Living Goddess is a highly elaborate tantric ritual. Upon passing the preliminary test...with 32 attributes of perfection, including the color of her eyes, the shape of her teeth and the sound of her voice. Her horoscope must also be appropriate. The 4 to 7 year poor girls from the Sakya community are made to confront a goddess in the darkened room. The sight of the Buffalo heads scattered around, the demon-like masked dancers, the terrifying noises they encounter scare some of these innocent babies. The real goddess is unlikely to be frightened, so the one who is calm and collected throughout the tests is the only girl who is entitled to sit on the pedestal for worship as the Living Goddess. Then as a final test similar to that of the Dalai Lama, the Kumari then chooses items of clothing and decoration worn by her predecessor." -http://www.visitnepal.com/nepal_information/kumari.php
Each Kumari Devi retains her position of Goddess until puberty, at which point a new one is chosen using the same rigorous criteria detailed above.
The intricacy of the woodwork around Kathmandu is spellbinding.In one local shop, we saw (and were refused a picture of) a three foot tall chest with the most skilled wood carving I've ever seen. It took multiple workers hundreds of hours to design and complete it. It was so detailed that you needed a magnifying glass to see the finite expressions on the miniature faces. It was selling for 1,600 dollars in Kathmandu - we're guessing it would go for about ten times that in the states.
Around every corner there is something fascinating to behold.
For those of you who didn't get your fill of roots-growing-through-stone pics...
The locals love feeding the pigeons. We've yet to find any spiritual or symbolic significance to pigeons; we're pretty sure it's just a universal kick-in-the-pants to feed birds.
In an attempt to dodge the freelance guides and their incessant requests to show us around Durbar Square, we scrambled to the top of this temple.
Guess guides can climb too, which is how we met our new friend Sangram Lama. After refusing scores of guides, Sangram's smile, warmth, and unabridged portfolio of glowing testimonials convinced us to take a chance and hire him for the day. It cost ten bucks.
Within minutes we stuffed ourselves into the back of a local "micro-bus" and we were off to visit the stupa Bodhnath.
When we first got to Kathmandu, Nick was depressed that there would be no way to stick to our budget and still see anything - this was before we met Sangram Lama and he showed us how locals eat, see, and commute.
Thousands of Buddhists journey here daily to make a clockwise circumnavigation around this giant stupa. The black and red area toward the bottom is a massive series of prayer wheels. Pilgrims spin them as they walk around the stupa.
Bodhnath is particularly important to Tibetan Buddhists.
We visited at the best time - in the afternoon - to see monks rhythmically chanting, drumming, and blowing horns. During our visit it was fascinating to join the hundreds of worshipers in their ceremonial walk around the stupa.
Prayer wheels come in all sizes.
Like the monastery in our last blog post, Bodhnath is also home to many art schools selling mandalas.This painting is one of three styles of Buddhist mandala; it represents the reincarnation cycles of humanity, with the all-knowing God watching over everything.
In the center lies a pig, a snake, and a rooster, symbolizing ignorance, hatred, and greed. These three vices prevent people from enlightenment and ultimately achieving Nirvana (transcending the cycle of reincarnation).
Of all of the Buddhist stupas, this is regarded as Nepal's most perfect in terms of purity, line symmetry, and symbolic precision.
Sangram is Buddhist and his grandfather was born in Tibet. What a treat for us to come here with him!******************************************************************************************
Out of respect we didn't photograph the next place Sangram brought us. It was among the most moving places we've seen in our journey. Pashupatinath, Nepal's most important Hindu temple, rests on the bank of the sacred Bagmati River. The Bagmati is the Nepali equivalent of the River Ganges in India, where families carry out open-air cremations of loved ones atop riverside cremation ghats. When the bodies are reduced to ashes, the families of the deceased sweep the remains into the river. Sangram led us to a special place on the opposite riverbank. We stood among many Hindus and watched four sons huddle around the funeral pyre as the amber flames reduced their father's body to ash. They added their own shirts to the fire. Simultaneously many other families mourned similarly around adjacent ghats. We were awed by both the public nature of the ceremony and the intimate relationship with death- both so different from our own funeral customs.
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Our day concluded with dinner at the Sangram-approved, yet electrically-challenged Napali restaurant Mithos.
Mithos sports a humble, candle-lit ambiance, features cheap typical Nepalese grub, and has consequently become a recurrent venue for us.
After our dinner here, I spent the next two days fighting a sinus-agonizing head cold so we laid low. Finally, I felt good enough for another day out with our buddy Sangram. We hopped on a local mini-bus to a village called Bhaktapur. We love the tunes on the local buses.
Consistent with Nick's initial budget fears, they actually want TWENTY dollars to simply gain access to this place in order to "get a slice of typical Nepali life" (Lonely Planet). Thankfully, Sangram knows his way around and we found a slightly cheaper (wink wink) route in. The lack of entrance and taxi fees made the nominal guide fee quite a steal. Sangram, you rock!
The sneaky back route. Sneaky sneaky sir.
Bhaktapur was not without it's charm. Sort of a rural / city hybrid.
The quaint alleyways and cobble streets were a pleasant respite from the hustle and bustle of central Kathmandu.
Bahktapur is a town of brilliant artisans specializing in a variety of mediums.
Yay for mobile fruit markets.
Pepsi seems to be the beverage of choice here. It's advertised everywhere, even in the most antiquated and isolated villages. It's actually a bit of a disappointment for a Coke girl, but I suppose there are worse things in life. :)
Bahktapur has two Durbar Squares of its own.
Ahh, the sacred cow.
Bahktapur's answer to Tower Records. Watch out iTunes.
From the rooftop of a paper factory we could see the potters at work.
Villagers gather on high to bask in the warmth and engage in neighborly trans-rooftop gossip. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I'm sure it was juicy!
The paper at the factory here is colored using natural dyes from minerals and vegetables.
Nick and I had different interpretations of this duo.
In ancient times this was the bathing place of the queen.
The people in Nepal love to have their photos taken...for a price. We scored this snapshot for a mere 20 rupees.
More of the detailed woodwork we dig so much. Over a hundred windows around the perimeter of this bad boy.
Pots, pots, and more pots, and students on a field trip.
Many of them are piggy banks.
Speaking of livestock, while I was following Sangram over to the pottery wheel, Nick went missing. Although he doesn't care for monkeys, he's apparently developed a healthy affinity for goats.
The feeling was mutual. This troublesome nanny goat wasn't so troublesome after all, in fact it was quite affectionate and followed Nick back and forth wanting its head scratched. I'm pretty sure we're going to end up with one as a pet if Nick has his way.
More artisans at work. Nick pulled himself away from his new friend just in time to capture the tail end of a ceramic creation.
The pottery wheels come in all sizes. This photo also cost us 20 rupees (price revealed after it was taken).
We caught a view of the hills we would trek through with Sangram and hoped crossing the hills would mean getting out of the smog, a.k.a. "mist."
We were also (barely) able to see the Himalayas from Bhaktapur.
A quick lunch with Sangram at a local shop for about 30 cents a person including tea and then it was back to Kathmandu.
There's a strong military presence in Nepal. We had a more...intimate encounter with some soldiers on our trek, but we'll save that for the next blog. We are not sure what these guys were guarding.
The writing on one portion of this brick wall said, "Down with American imperialism." Yikes!
To prepare for our impending mini-trek with Sangram, our longer trek in March, and for our overall comfort in the colder climate of Nepal, we had to gear up. Thank goodness for my mom, who helped us buy some necessities that were not in our budget. Thanks mom!!!
We couldn't have done it without you. Boy oh boy are we toasty roasty now!Poor Nick caught my cold and spent two days in bed before we set out for our trek with Sangram on Monday. We're a little behind on blogs because our access to internet is drastically impaired by the electricity shortage in Nepal. The varying districts in Kathmandu share power and have alternating blackouts, so we can be without power for 12 hours a day for up to 6 hours per period.
Today we returned to Kathmandu from an embarrassingly arduous 3-day trek around the Kathmandu valley (stretching the ol' legs w/ Sangram). We're REALLY excited to share all the fun with you folks ASAP (electricity permitting).
It's getting closer to our return - hugs for all!
Hugs, kisses, and misses,
Ty and Nick
I am so glad that a mother stepped in with additional funds. As I have been catching up on my blog reading I have grown more and more concerned, thinking that we ahould all pitch in and create a "Feed the Andersens" account. You know what has kept me from growing overly concern? The two of you have consistantly drawn to you the people that you have needed--like Sangram. This approach to your travel has lead to a deeper experience.
ReplyDeleteNepal seems so amazing.
By the way, maybe you should get a goat (goats eat blackberry bushes), or then maybe you can just visit the petting zoo at Lake Forest Park all summer long.
I must hurry to see what happens in the next post.