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Photo: Etter Studio, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
According to legend, Boudhanath Stupa was built in the 5th century AD by an elderly poultry woman who sought land from the king to construct a shrine to the Buddha. The king agreed, offering her as much land as she could cover with the skin of a water buffalo. Cleverly, she cut the hide into thin strips and laid them end to end, creating a vast circumference. Though the king realized he had been outwitted, he honored his promise, and the stupa was built according to these dimensions. It is believed to enshrine various relics, including those of Kashyapa, a Buddha from a previous aeon. Today, Boudhanath Stupa stands as Nepal’s most revered Buddhist site, drawing pilgrims who circumambulate the structure throughout the day, chanting mantras. It is especially spectacular at night when bathed in the glow of warm floodlights. Visitors should remember to walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction and spin the prayer wheels the same way. Information on Buddhism and the points of etiquette at Buddhist sites: Buddhism
Boudha Stupa, Boudhanath Stupa, also known as Khasti Chaitya or Khāsa Chaitya, is a stupa and major spiritual landmark seen as the embodiment of the enlightened mind of all the Buddhas, located in Boudha, within the city of Kathmandu, Nepal. Located in the northeast of Kathmandu Valley and originally surrounded by rice paddies, the stupa is said in one text to have given birth to Tibetan Buddhism. It is believed to contain consecrated substances, and its layout as a massive mandala makes it the largest spherical stupa in Nepal and one of the largest in the world.
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turn it into a do umentation centre documenting what artists, photographers, architects, anthropologists and Samskritists from abroad had contributed in the second half of the 20th century to identify, highlight and preserve the cultural heritage of the Kathmandu Valley.
One of the Shakti Peethas of Nepal, considered auspicious to Shakti devotees.
A beautiful Tibetan monastery near Boudhanath Stupa. It is inaugurated by Trulshik Rinpoche and Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche in October 2005. The monastery has an elementary and a training school. It consists of monks from remote region of Nepal and Tibet. There are many exquisite Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings.
This important Hindu temple is dedicated to Shiva in his form as the Lord of the Beasts. While only Hindus are allowed to enter the inner sanctum, the surrounding temple grounds are open to all visitors. The area features not only historic architecture and rich religious iconography, but also sadhus (holy men), a market for spiritual items, and a revered sacred cave. One of the most fascinating parts of the complex is the cremation ghats along the banks of the Bagmati River. These are best experienced in the early morning or evening, with striking light and moving devotional ceremonies beginning around 7 PM. Buddhist visitors should not miss the nearby caves — just beyond the high-caste cremation area— where the great teacher Tilopa instructed Naropa, who later attained enlightenment there.