I am interested in Buddhism and it has always been one of my dreams to travel other countries  and get to know different cultures. In 2005 I had the opportunitiy to make this dream come true and I visited for more than one week Nepal, Buddha's birthland . The kingdom lies in the Himalayas, the white mountain tops of which you can see here in the background. The photo shows houses in Pokhara. 

As Pokhara lies lower than Kathmandu, a malaria warning exists for this part of Nepal .
A photo showing me on the stairs of the Peace Pagoda near Pokhara. This one lies further up and was a gift of the Japanese to Nepal. Going there of course only without shoes on.

All the way round the Pagoda it shows different scenes from Buddha's life. 
Buddha in meditation under the  Bodhi-tree.
The great Stupa in Kathmandu forms the heart of a Tibetan quarter built around it, so you will find here many meditation centres, monasteries, all sorts of shops and restaurants. From  Thanka to Mala, you can find almost anything here, as tourist as well as Buddhist. It seemed to me the flow of people circulating the Stupa clockwise never ceases.

The Stupa, the geometry of which has a deep symbolic meaning, also is a symbold of Buddha's mind.
Kopan Monastery, belonging to the Gelug Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. At the time of my visit a retreat was taking place and most monks took part in a Kalachakra initiation happening elsewhere. Kopan is probably best known because of Lama Zopa and Lama Yeshe and the latter's western reincarnation Lama Ösel.
Stupas with a row of prayer wheels below them, part of the Kopan monastery complex.
Still at Kopan I discovered this beautiful object of worship. In the foreground you see the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (tib. Chenrezig), the Bodhisattva of compassion.
Prayer Flags and in the background (if you look really hard) young monks, taken in the garden of Kopan Monastery. 
A representation of the 5 Buddha Families in Kopan.
A Gompa (meditation centre) of the Kagyu Tradition. On the roof you see one of the most famous symbols of Buddhism : The Dharma Wheel framed by two gazelles. It reminds of the first teaching of Buddha (at a place where there were many gazelles)
Statues in the garden of the Kagyu Gompa: left H.H. the 13th Karmapa, in the middle the historic Buddha, right Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet.
The following pictures are showing the Hindu Temple area "Pashupatinath". Through the little gate you can see the Lingam, symbol of the Hindu god Shiva. Some areas of this complex may only be visited by Hindus though and there are orange monkeys running around which you best treat with respect. They do not attack adults, as far as I could see, but they seem to think that small children, who are roughly of their own size, can be bullied.
In all of these mini- temples there is one Lingam. In this area there are by the way also funeral burnings taking place which you can watch.
A red Temple in Pashupatinath.
Two elephants who like each other . Nepal has a lot of beautiful and breathtaking nature, which of course it also likes to present to tourists, e.g. from the back of an elephant.

Unfortunately my elephant lady was stressed and so I received a rather sad view on the treatment of animals when they happen to be moody. It was interesting, I would not recommend a ride on the elephant though, out of compassion for the animals. Here the riders are still using metal sticks on the elephants heads which can cause quite nasty wounds.
Two wild rhinoceros  (is the plural rhinoceri ?), the photo taken from the elephant's back.
© Carola Parbott  back to index page