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by Nepal Uncovered
Pashupatinath
This is the site of Nepal's most revered Hindu pilgrimage temple complex. It is a wonderful mixture of temples, burning ghats, ritual bathers and Sadhus holy men. As you would expect at such an important site, the appropriate modesty is expected here and visitors should make sure their legs and arms are properly covered and that due respect is given to the grieving relatives at the cremation sites. Photography is not appropriate here, but a visit to this site will only help the traveller's understanding of Hindu religious and cultural practices.
Lumbini
The heavily revered site of Buddha's birth into this world, Lumbini is not a high priority on most people's itineraries to Nepal. Situated close to the Indian border, these days it is mainly international groups of visitors (particularly Japanese NGO's) that take care of and maintain the site. Even during the time of the most important Buddhist festival (Buddha Jayanti) the site does not have extreme numbers of visitors with the majority of people, including the monks, preferring to celebrate in the cooler and more temperate hills.
Boudhanath
Situated on the old Kathmandu to Tibet trade route, the great white stupa at Boudhanath is without doubt one of the world's largest stupas and widely acknowledged as being the most important Tibetan Buddhist monument outside of Tibet. The ideal times to explore the site are early morning or late evening, as the vast majority of tourists arrive during the middle of the day. At these quieter times, one can hear the hum of monks chanting while watching pilgrims performing kora.
Swayambhu
Perched high on a hill looking over Kathmandu, this impressive stupa is top of the list for most tourists spending time in Kathmandu. It is a fantastic place to get your bearings and provides spectacular views over the whole Kathmandu Valley. Often packed with tourists and monkeys, the temple complex is thought to date from around the 5th Century and is possibly Nepal's most profound display of Buddhist symbolism. Some think that an act of worship here is worth 13 billion times more karma than anywhere else. Relatively easy to get to, if not quite so easy to climb, Swayambhu is certainly worth a couple hours of anyone's time, and is included in all our Nepal tours.
Buddhist retreats
Increasingly popular, a lot of people are now interested in becoming more involved and understanding more about Tibetan Buddhism, and to this end enrol in one or more Buddhist meditation courses. There are plenty of options available, with widely varying degrees of credibility, but one of the more popular places to take part in this is at Kopan Monastery, situated on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Most courses at Kopan have a minimum duration of one week, but its quire easy to arrange shorter classes with someone like the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) in Kathmandu.
© Copyright Nepal Uncovered, the specialist Nepal cultural and adventure tour operator
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