The next day I engaged a guide for a couple of hours and retuned to Kathmandhu Durbar Sqare. There is so much to take in and the amount of deities are mind blowing, but there is a holy trinity and my guide explained it all came from this. Don’t ask me to repeat it now…
My favourite temple was one to Buddha with the Buddha tree growing out of it and actually holding it together. Ficus religiosa, has many names and it’s type of tree Gautama Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment while meditating under it.
I was shown the leaf of this tree by my guide and he asked what I saw, I was suposed to say a heart (that is the rough shape) however I was right off track as usual. I thought the veins reminded me of rivers, obviously I need help! Don’t ever let me do an ink blot test!
I got the gist when he turned the leaf around and it looked like a Stupa. I’m a quick learner!
I really enjoyed the tour, I got to see the Kama sutra carvings which were itended to be instruction for people to know how to procreate. Although there is an alternative view, that they were for the entertainment of Royalty!
What was even stranger was the covered effigy of Hanuman nearby, a god with the face of a monkey. Apparently he chose celibacy and so he was covered so he couldn’t see the Kama Sutra carvings nearby.
Later I walked for half an hour to the Swayambhunath and up the 365 steps to the temple complex on a hill just outside Kathmandhu. Its also called the Monkey Temple and it is full of Rhesus Macaques. I watched one steal a bottle of water from a woman. Thankfully mine was buckled to my day sack.
While I was taking a breath on the steps I got chatting to an Indian chap, Dev. As we wandered about the Temples and shops together, he was telling me about the meanings of the symbols. The temple is sacred to Hindus and Buddhist’s. At the great gold domed stupa, we all perambulate in a clockwise direction. I followed everyone and spun the Tibetan prayer wheels. I have no religion so maybe this is hypocritical but, I do feel the wonder of the place. Its rather difficult not to with the eyes of Buddha watching all.
Dev appears to be a spiritual man but, there are things on which we will not agree. I find the begging children pitiful. I know not to give them anything. It is better to give to trusted charities as there are ‘Fagin’ type characters in the back ground most often. Dev had the opinion that their mothers had not been good in a previous life and it is their problem. Karma…..I bit my tongue!
He is entitled to his opinion and I suspect this is a cultural thing too.
After a pleasant afternoon wandering about,
we stopped at a cafe for a local dish. We chatted about travelling and his work as an antiquities dealer. Before we went our separate ways, he asked if I would like to meet the next day but after a bit of umming and ahhing, I decided against it as I felt a bit unsettled by the attention and the rather strange conversation we had about Auras. Apparently mine is blue. I looked it up and it says I have intuition, and I have….. so Im not meeting him again!
The Travelling Bee 