
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Dolpo Phoksundo Lake 18 days.

Sunday, May 15, 2011
City of Patan


Hiranya Varna M
ahaviharBuilt in the 12th century this three-story golden pagoda of Lokeshwar. Its main attraction is the golden image of Lord Buddha and a large prayer wheel on the plinth of the vihar.
Kumbheshwar

Ashokan Stupas
They are popularly believed, though not proven without doubt to have been built by Ashoka himself. Ashoka was the Buddhist Emperor of India, these stupas stand at four differ
ent corners of Patan, giving the whole city a monastic character. All these Buddhist mounds were built in 250 AD at the time when Buddhism was making headway in the Kathmandu Valley from India.
If one would travel to Mahaboudha they would see the magnificent Buddhist temple built out of bricks – terra cotta style – is not a Nepali traditional medium but its splendor is proof how talented and adaptable the locals craftsmen can be. The Mahaboudha Temple is sometimes referred to as the temple of a million


Tibetan Camp
On the outskirts of Patan there is a small population of Tibetans. They have really made this place their home by setting up numerous shrines, stupas, and even souvenir shops full of Tibetan handicrafts and prayer wheels. It is an interesting stop - of course they welcome travelers - if you have time to see a little corner of Tibetan culture in the city of Patan.
Please visit our Kathmandu Valley page for more information about the history of Patan and its Durbar Square.
Lumbini
Lumbini
Thursday, May 12, 2011

The Boudhanath Stupa is situated in the Northeast of Kathmandu, capital of Nepal and is one of the largest and holiest Buddhist sites in the world. The word stupa translated from Sanskrit means “mound to cover Buddhist relics”, and many Nepalese and Tibetan kings, including a piece of Lord Buddha himself, are claimed to be buried at this sacred site.
History of The Boudhanath Stupa
The Stupa was built around 500 AD by a Nepalese king, although there are a number of contradictory accounts. It was destroyed by the Mongols and then rebuilt in the 14th century. In the late 1950s Tibetan refugees fled there to escape invasion of the Chinese, and in the 1980s it was opened up to tourists.
The Stupa itself is a large white dome, or mandala, topped by a pinnacle with eyes to denote the Principal Lord Buddha watching over us; a third eye for wisdom; the nose a Sanskrit number 1 to mean wholeness, and no ears or mouth so evil cannot be heard or spoken. Layers of whitewash are ceremonially thrown over the dome during the three-day Tibetan New Year festivals, known as Losar, and subsequently about 35 inches are scraped away annually to prevent further expansion.
Religious paintings, called Thankas, can be bought at various stalls, but the best one is the painting school, about a third of the way round. Painters have to study for six years, and the actual thanka takes around 6 months to complete working 12 hours a day, with gold leaf and brushes no thicker than a single human hair. Due to such close, intense work, the painters unfortunately suffer with eyesight problems after a few years.