When I close my eyes and think back to the first night in Kathmandu, the glimpsing lights spread widely over the city while I am on the plane right above Kathmandu airport. The modern buildings scattered among slums. The special Indian smell rushed through my face as I walked through the cabinet door. All my Indian memories flashed back, even though I keep reminding myself that I am in Nepal, Kathmandu to be precise.
It was drizzling, same as my first night in Mumbai…The streets were exceptionally quiet at this time of the day, 11pm. Everything is so familiar, yet so different.
Bodnath-Kathmandu
Durbar Square-Kathmandu
Temples are like road lamps in this city, no matter Buddish or Hindu. There are 33 million gods in Hinduism, according to my tour guide, even though it sounds like he’s exaggerating. Temples can be as big as Bodnath or the ones in Durbar Square, or can be as small as a postbox at the corner of the small lanes. There is a god for any aspect of life, for cooking, for food, for love, for children, for health, for money, even for machines. This probably explains why there are so many gods in the first place.
It is hard to not find a temple in every hundred meters you walk in this city. So I felt very well blessed walking in the busy streets, while cars do not usually follow the traffic signals here.
Thamel-Kathmandu
Candles River-Swayambhu
I visited the legendary Monkey temple in the last rain of monsoon season. The rain was pouring heavily, as if it tries to wash away the un-religious part of this new visitor to the city. Wandering through the sculptures of gods in the temple, listening to the sound of rain dropping on my raincoat, looking over the entire Kathmandu and the Himalayas from far, a rainy day had never been so peaceful before…
The must visit temples: Bodnath & Swayambhu.