Road to Kathmandu

              Day 2.

              Our first morning in Kathmandu was a relaxing start at 1000 o’clock wherever first stop was the Swayambhunath Stupa often

              called the monkey temple because of the hundreds of monkeys that scamper about the place.Its location, atop hill west of Kathmandu 

              makes the stupa visible for miles and is though to have been a Buddhist pilgrimage site since the 5th century.

              We then went to Durber square which was one of the areas struck by the earthquake of 2015, and next door Kumari Temple 

              the temple of the living Goddess. The livings Goddess is a Weng girl who lives within the temple  and only comes leaves twice a year 

             till the age of 12 years, when a new one is chosen for the next 10 years.

            After lunch we visited the Pashupatinath Temple a Hindu temple of Lord Shiva situated 5 Km east of Kathmandu on the banks of the

             sacred Bagmati River. Pashupatinath Temple has a two tiered golden roof and is famous for its superb architecture.

            And is the centre of annual pilgrimage on the day of Maha Shivaratri where over one million people will visit in one day,

            and can also witness the cremations of the dead bodies of Hindus in the holly waters that will flow into the Ganges much the same as 

            we witness in Varanasi, devotees from all over the world come here to pay their homage to Lord Shiva.

           Our last stop for the day was at the largest stupa in Nepal and the capital city’s religious centre for ethnic Tibetans who for a significant 

            proportion of Nepal’s population. The Bodhnath Stupa is thought to have been originally built in 600AD after the famous

            Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo who converted to Buddhism.

The sun rising over Kathmandu 

The smaller stupas Swayambhunath Stupa ( monkey temple)

The main Stupa at Swayambhunath Temple 

Val entering the Kumari Temple 

Inside the Kumari Temple courtyard 

The entrance to the Pashupatinath Temple whereonly Hindus are allowed 

The Bagmati River witness the cremations
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The part of the market Thames Markets 

Val and Ion the Bodhnath Stupa the second largest in the world.

Love

Len and Val.