We left Kathmandu this morning, crossing the river to the adjacent city of Patan. The city is the oldest in the Kathmandu valley, dating back to 570 AD. The population is Newar, but mostly Buddhist. Known as the city of fine arts, it is home to craftsman and artisans working in wood, metal and jewelry. There are over 1200 Buddhist temples and large and small stupas scattered throughout the neighborhood.
Sanjay took us on a walking tour through a residential area, a warren of narrow alleyways, markets, tiny shops and shrines. Many people still get their water from public fountains. This one had gone dry and over the years, was filled with trash. After the earthquake, it started flowing again (this happened in fountains throughout the valley). It was cleaned out and is now again in use by the community.
The symbols around doorways indicate whether the residents are Hindu or Buddhist. Families may live in the same home for generations.
Our walking tour ended at the holiest temple in Nepal. The Golden Temple, built in 1048, is supported by a community of 5000 families. The temple was renovated shortly before the earthquake with funds provided by the community, and survived the earthquake intact.
Each month, two boys are appointed from the community to serve as the main priest (aged 6-12) and assistant priest (at least 14 years old). No one else may enter the temple, which houses the 1000 year old statue of Buddha. During their month tenure, the boys may not leave the temple nor bathe.
The high priest was clearly a little boy. The older boy was kind and protective of him.
In addition to the golden Buddha, the temple is home to an ancient copy of the Hindu sacred book, the Pragyapermits, or heavenly wisdom, which contains the teachings of the Buddha. A family dressed in colorful identical saris, had gathered at the temple to have a special ceremony of readings from this book.
We then visited another 16th century palace (there were 3 brothers who each built a complex following the death of their father, the king, in an earthquake; we've now seen all of them). Again, we saw reconstruction and rubble amidst the surviving old buildings.
Outside the palace
This was my favorite palace, perhaps because there were few visitors and the courtyards were quiet places to sit and reflect. The fanciful supporting beams and the buildings were beautiful.
The palace had an ornate fountain/bath which was featured in the film, The Little Buddha.
The Patan Museum had a wonderful collection of Hindu and Buddhist figures with explanations in English about their symbolism and significance. It was too hot in the museum for me, but the bookstore had a book about the collection which will be useful to study later.
We learned about the 7-metal hand-hammered healing bowls. I had had thoughts of buying one, but they are incredibly heavy and rather expensive. So I settled for a sample therapeutic session instead. The bowls resonate with a deep tone when struck, and the vibrations can be felt by just holding your hand near one as it sounds.
Sanjay took me to a local brass ship where I found my Ganesh. He is only about 6 inches high, but plenty heavy, too. But he was already in my baggage weight plan.
An interesting thing occurred on our drive back to the hotel. All traffic was stopped at a major traffic circle for several minutes and then a motorcade came through. It was the new prime minister, who was just sworn in that day.
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