My first stop was going to be Pasupatinath. I was to meet my friends there. Abhishek and Vibhuti, childhood buddies and my forever partners in crime. After meeting a few more people there, we decided to go to Boudha Temple in Chhuchchepati. I wanted to go inside the Pasupatinath temple but I was told it has a really good Arti and that happpens on Mondays, so I planned to do it on Monday only.
Boudhanath Stupa. It was quite a view when we entered inside. A lot of it was resurrected by the Buddhist community living in the area here after the earthquake had done some severe damage to it. It doesn’t even look like anything happened here. The place basically is a circle, with the Stupa in the centre surrounded by a small temple, shops and restaurants (mostly rooftop).
Once, you enter inside the gate you feel the serene aura of Buddhism. The shops surrounding the place are really beautiful and the crowd of tourists and locals alike make it even more appealing.
You can get silver jewelries (really good ones), painting, clothes, woollens, medicines, herbs, clothes, Buddist music bowls, Thangka (Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, or silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala) and many more things here. You really need to know how to bargain here though and if you are lucky like me you will have friends who know exactly where to look for to buy things in your budget.
We then decided to go inside and explore the place. We could not go inside the Stupa but we did visit the outer part and it was quite a view. There were people praying, clicking photographs or just sitting and appreciating the peace and serenity of the place.
My favourite part was to see the rays of the setting sun hitting the golden Stupa , it was pure bliss. I stood there staring for quite some time.
After roaming around for 2 hours and doing a little bit of budget shopping we headed to have some Laphing. A friend of mine had introduced me to this dish at Majnu ka Tila in Delhi and since then I was dying to taste it in my home country.
We gulped down four bowls of it before heading to chill out at a place called “The Crust” at Panchakumari Marg in New Baneshwor.
I just regretted not getting time to go and have a cup of coffee at one of the rooftop restaurants. It would be quite a view from there and having a cup of coffee with a beautiful view is a blessing. Maybe Next time then!
Bhatakaiya 