Stupa View Restaurant, on the third floor of a building on the north side of the Boudhanath Stupa, has brown rice, pizzas, pastas and Greek salad, among other things on its menu. It has a great view and a roof terrace. It is mainly vegetarian Low to medium.
SV Terrace Restaurant, next door, is less expensive and not as good.
Ristorante Italiano La Calabria, next to the stupa, has good Italian food. It has good views form its rooftop location. Rs 130 to Rs 200 for a main courses.
Double Dorjee Restaurant, on the main road east of the stupa, is a popular place to sit around. It has good Tibetan and Western food including good apple pie.
Om Shanti, next to the stupa, has cheap Tibetan (Rs 30 for a dish) and Indian (Rs 40 to Rs 100).
Bir Restaurant, on the main road west of the stupa, is a popular cheap place.
Land of Snows Restaurant, with a view of the stupa, has good Tibetan and Indian food. Rooftop seating.
Steed Restaurant has cheap Tibetan food.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Where to stay?
There is a good selection of places to stay in the area, and it is a nice area to stay overnight. It is best to avoid the places on the noisy main road.
Peace Guest House, near the entrance of the stupa, is a really basic place that has dorm beds for Rs 100.
Lotus Guest House (472-320, 472-432; fax 478-091), east of the stupa, behind the Dobsang Monastery, has clean, basic rooms with common bath for 200/300 and with bath for Rs 250/350. It is well-located, peaceful, has a pleasant garden, and is a good value.
Dragon Guest House (479-562; fax 486-744), to the left of the stupa, has clean comfortable rooms for Rs 250/ 400. It has a good atmosphere and good views. It is a friendly place and is often full.
Bir Restaurant (470-790), on the main road just west of the stupa, has rooms for Rs 250/300.
Kailash Guest House (480-741), on the road going north from Sakyapa Gompa, is a friendly place with basic rooms with common bath for Rs 175/225 and with bath for Rs 300.
Snowlion Lodge, on the main road 500m east of the stupa, has rooms for Rs 250/300.
Maya Guest House (470-266), on the main road east of the stupa, has a nice garden and rooms for $30.
Happy Valley Guest House (471-241; fax 471-876), north of the stupa, has a great view of the stupa from the roof terrace and is well-managed. The comfortable rooms are $25/40.
Hotel Padma (479-052; fax 481-550), near the stupa, has large, comfortable rooms with bath, TV and phone for $22/30. Often 25% discounts can be gotten. Rooms face inside and do not have views.
Stupa Hotel (470-400), past of the Maya, is a well-managed place.
Hyatt Regency Kathmandu, 1km west of the stupa, is a new five-star luxury hotel.
Peace Guest House, near the entrance of the stupa, is a really basic place that has dorm beds for Rs 100.
Lotus Guest House (472-320, 472-432; fax 478-091), east of the stupa, behind the Dobsang Monastery, has clean, basic rooms with common bath for 200/300 and with bath for Rs 250/350. It is well-located, peaceful, has a pleasant garden, and is a good value.
Dragon Guest House (479-562; fax 486-744), to the left of the stupa, has clean comfortable rooms for Rs 250/ 400. It has a good atmosphere and good views. It is a friendly place and is often full.
Bir Restaurant (470-790), on the main road just west of the stupa, has rooms for Rs 250/300.
Kailash Guest House (480-741), on the road going north from Sakyapa Gompa, is a friendly place with basic rooms with common bath for Rs 175/225 and with bath for Rs 300.
Snowlion Lodge, on the main road 500m east of the stupa, has rooms for Rs 250/300.
Maya Guest House (470-266), on the main road east of the stupa, has a nice garden and rooms for $30.
Happy Valley Guest House (471-241; fax 471-876), north of the stupa, has a great view of the stupa from the roof terrace and is well-managed. The comfortable rooms are $25/40.
Hotel Padma (479-052; fax 481-550), near the stupa, has large, comfortable rooms with bath, TV and phone for $22/30. Often 25% discounts can be gotten. Rooms face inside and do not have views.
Stupa Hotel (470-400), past of the Maya, is a well-managed place.
Hyatt Regency Kathmandu, 1km west of the stupa, is a new five-star luxury hotel.
Gompoas in the area of the stupa
There are over 30 gompas in the area. Each of the four main Tibetan Buddhist sects has at least two gompas in Bodhnath. North each of the monasteries has a morning and evening puja.
Dilgo Kyentse’s Gompa is one of the most interesting monasteries at Boudhanath.
Sakyapa Gompa
This gompa is directly on the west side of the stupa. There is a beautiful Tara covered in colorful embroideries. There is a huge prayer wheel left of the entrance and some nice paintings.
Kargyupa Gompa
It is also known as the Ka-Nying Sheldrup Ling Monetary. It has some large thangkas and some nice painting. It is a large white gompa that you enter on the left side of the metal gate. The friendly lama speaks English. There is an annual seminar studying Vajrayana, usually for two weeks in October.
Gelugpa Gompa
Northeast of the stupa is popular place with worshippers.
Chinya Lama Gompa
This gompa is on the right down the road that goes north from the stupa. It is named after a lama that was trained in China.
Nyingmapa Gompa
This is one of the more interesting gompas and it has a good number of monks. It is a large reddish color monastery design after a gompa in Tibet. It is well decorated inside by artist from Bhutan. It was constructed in 1984.
Sakyapa Gompa
The gompa is northeast of the stupa. It is not so interesting from the outside, but the main rooms with well-decorated and richly gilded. There are some really good paintings.
When you enter inside Gompas!!
You should take off your shoes and hat before entering, and should ask before taking photo. Smoking is prohibited. During a service photos should not be taken and you should not walk in between the monks or near the altar. The monk’s cushions should not be stepped over.
It is normal to give an offering at a gompas. It is traditional to give a khata (white scarf) to a lama (Buddhist monk), but a donation of money will be highly appreciated.
In the gompas there will often be large statues of forms of Buddha. Tibetan believe that the Buddha and reincarnated many times. There are also prayer wheels, rice offerings, and lamps with ghee (clarified butter) in them.
In all the gompas there are interesting mural paintings and sometimes there are thangkas, which are painted on a cotton material. Subjects of the paintings include pastimes of the Buddha, important lamas, deities and mandalas.
During ceremonies then are usually chanting a sacred texts, often along with the playing of musical instruments. Trumpets play and drums pound and cymbals bang. Often the instruments are not played in a systematic musical way. Often there is an uplifting effect.
Dilgo Kyentse’s Gompa is one of the most interesting monasteries at Boudhanath.
Sakyapa Gompa
This gompa is directly on the west side of the stupa. There is a beautiful Tara covered in colorful embroideries. There is a huge prayer wheel left of the entrance and some nice paintings.
Kargyupa Gompa
It is also known as the Ka-Nying Sheldrup Ling Monetary. It has some large thangkas and some nice painting. It is a large white gompa that you enter on the left side of the metal gate. The friendly lama speaks English. There is an annual seminar studying Vajrayana, usually for two weeks in October.
Gelugpa Gompa
Northeast of the stupa is popular place with worshippers.
Chinya Lama Gompa
This gompa is on the right down the road that goes north from the stupa. It is named after a lama that was trained in China.
Nyingmapa Gompa
This is one of the more interesting gompas and it has a good number of monks. It is a large reddish color monastery design after a gompa in Tibet. It is well decorated inside by artist from Bhutan. It was constructed in 1984.
Sakyapa Gompa
The gompa is northeast of the stupa. It is not so interesting from the outside, but the main rooms with well-decorated and richly gilded. There are some really good paintings.
When you enter inside Gompas!!
You should take off your shoes and hat before entering, and should ask before taking photo. Smoking is prohibited. During a service photos should not be taken and you should not walk in between the monks or near the altar. The monk’s cushions should not be stepped over.
It is normal to give an offering at a gompas. It is traditional to give a khata (white scarf) to a lama (Buddhist monk), but a donation of money will be highly appreciated.
In the gompas there will often be large statues of forms of Buddha. Tibetan believe that the Buddha and reincarnated many times. There are also prayer wheels, rice offerings, and lamps with ghee (clarified butter) in them.
In all the gompas there are interesting mural paintings and sometimes there are thangkas, which are painted on a cotton material. Subjects of the paintings include pastimes of the Buddha, important lamas, deities and mandalas.
During ceremonies then are usually chanting a sacred texts, often along with the playing of musical instruments. Trumpets play and drums pound and cymbals bang. Often the instruments are not played in a systematic musical way. Often there is an uplifting effect.
What to See?
From above, Bodnath Stupa looks like a giant mandala, or diagram of the Buddhist cosmos. And as in all Tibetan mandalas, four of the Dhyani Buddhas mark the cardinal points, with the fifth, Vairocana, enshrined in the center (in the white hemisphere of the stupa). The five Buddhas also personify the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), which are represented in the stupa's architecture.
There are other symbolic numbers here as well: the nine levels of Boudhanath Stupa represent the mythical Mt. Meru, center of the cosmos; and the 13 rings from the base to the pinnacle symbolize the path to enlightenment, or "Bodhi" — hence the stupa's name.
At the bottom, the stupa is surrounded by an irregular 16-sided wall, with frescoes in the niches. In addition to the Five Dhyani Buddhas, Boudhanath Stupa is closely associated with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Padmapani), whose 108 forms are depicted in sculptures around the base. The mantra of Avalokiteshvara - Om Mani Padme Hum - is carved on the prayer wheels beside the images of Avalokiteshvara around the base of the stupa.
The base of the stupa consists of three large platforms, decreasing in size. These platforms symbolize Earth, and here you can look out at the mountains while listening to the chants of the devout doing kora, walking around the stupa praying.
Next come two circular plinths supporting the hemisphere of the stupa, symbolizing water. As at Swayabunath, Bodnath is topped with a square tower bearing the omnipresent Buddha eyes on all four sides.
Instead of a nose is a question-mark-type symbol that is actually the Nepali character for the number 1, symbolizing unity and the one way to reach enlightenment—through the Buddha's teachings. Above this is the third eye, symbolizing the wisdom of the Buddha.
The square tower is topped by a pyramid with 13 steps, representing the ladder to enlightenment. The triangular shape is the abstract form for the element of fire. At the top of the tower is a gilded canopy, the embodiment of air, with above it a gilded spire, symbolic of ether and the Buddha Vairocana. Prayer flags tied to the stupa flutter in the wind, carrying mantras and prayers heavenward.
The main entrance to the upper platform of Bodnath Stupa is on the north side. Here Amoghasiddhi, progenitor of the future Buddha, presides. Below Amoghasiddhi is the Buddha Maitreya, the future Buddha.
Surrounding Boudhanath Stupa are streets and narrow alleys lined with colorful homes, Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and street vendors
There are other symbolic numbers here as well: the nine levels of Boudhanath Stupa represent the mythical Mt. Meru, center of the cosmos; and the 13 rings from the base to the pinnacle symbolize the path to enlightenment, or "Bodhi" — hence the stupa's name.
At the bottom, the stupa is surrounded by an irregular 16-sided wall, with frescoes in the niches. In addition to the Five Dhyani Buddhas, Boudhanath Stupa is closely associated with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Padmapani), whose 108 forms are depicted in sculptures around the base. The mantra of Avalokiteshvara - Om Mani Padme Hum - is carved on the prayer wheels beside the images of Avalokiteshvara around the base of the stupa.
The base of the stupa consists of three large platforms, decreasing in size. These platforms symbolize Earth, and here you can look out at the mountains while listening to the chants of the devout doing kora, walking around the stupa praying.
Next come two circular plinths supporting the hemisphere of the stupa, symbolizing water. As at Swayabunath, Bodnath is topped with a square tower bearing the omnipresent Buddha eyes on all four sides.
Instead of a nose is a question-mark-type symbol that is actually the Nepali character for the number 1, symbolizing unity and the one way to reach enlightenment—through the Buddha's teachings. Above this is the third eye, symbolizing the wisdom of the Buddha.
The square tower is topped by a pyramid with 13 steps, representing the ladder to enlightenment. The triangular shape is the abstract form for the element of fire. At the top of the tower is a gilded canopy, the embodiment of air, with above it a gilded spire, symbolic of ether and the Buddha Vairocana. Prayer flags tied to the stupa flutter in the wind, carrying mantras and prayers heavenward.
The main entrance to the upper platform of Bodnath Stupa is on the north side. Here Amoghasiddhi, progenitor of the future Buddha, presides. Below Amoghasiddhi is the Buddha Maitreya, the future Buddha.
Surrounding Boudhanath Stupa are streets and narrow alleys lined with colorful homes, Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and street vendors
Thursday, November 19, 2009
History of Boudhanath Stupa
Boudhanath was probably built in the 14th century after the Mughal invasions; various interesting legends are told regarding the reasons for its construction. After the arrival of thousands of Tibetans following the 1959 Chinese invasion, the temple has become one of the most important centers of Tibetan Buddhism. Today it remains an important place of pilgrimage and meditation for Tibetan Buddhists and local Nepalis, as well as a popular tourist site.
According to legend, Boudhanath Stupa was built by an an old poultry woman who asked the king for land to construct a shrine to the Buddha. The king agreed, and offered her as much land as she could cover with the skin of a water buffalo. The woman proceeded to cut a buffalo hide into thin strips, and placed them end to end to form a huge circumference. The king realized that he had been tricked by the old woman, but he adhered to his word, and the stupa was constructed according to these dimensions. Nowadays, the stupa is the most popular site for Buddhists in Nepal, and throughout the day pilgrims can be seen circumambulating the structure chanting mantras. It is especially spectacular at night when adorned with butter lamps. Remember to walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction and also to spin the prayer wheels clockwise. There is a small entry fee to enter the stupa area, though this is waived for guests of hotels located at the other side of the stupa. Here, you can also see Shechen Monastery, located in the alleys near the stupa. A very spacious and beautiful temple founded by the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. There is a garden restaurant near the monastery guest house.
According to legend, Boudhanath Stupa was built by an an old poultry woman who asked the king for land to construct a shrine to the Buddha. The king agreed, and offered her as much land as she could cover with the skin of a water buffalo. The woman proceeded to cut a buffalo hide into thin strips, and placed them end to end to form a huge circumference. The king realized that he had been tricked by the old woman, but he adhered to his word, and the stupa was constructed according to these dimensions. Nowadays, the stupa is the most popular site for Buddhists in Nepal, and throughout the day pilgrims can be seen circumambulating the structure chanting mantras. It is especially spectacular at night when adorned with butter lamps. Remember to walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction and also to spin the prayer wheels clockwise. There is a small entry fee to enter the stupa area, though this is waived for guests of hotels located at the other side of the stupa. Here, you can also see Shechen Monastery, located in the alleys near the stupa. A very spacious and beautiful temple founded by the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. There is a garden restaurant near the monastery guest house.
Introduction of Boudhanath Stupa
The Buddhist stupa of Boudhanath dominates the skyline. The ancient Stupa is one of the largest in the world. The influx of large populations of Tibetan refugees from China has seen the construction of over 50 Tibetan Gompas (Monastries) around Boudhanath. As of 1979, Boudhanath is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Along with Swayambhunath, it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu area.
The Stupa is on the ancient trade route from Tibet which enters the Kathmandu Valley by the village of Sankhu in the northeast corner, passes by Boudnath Stupa to the ancient and smaller stupa of Cā-bahī (often called 'Little Boudnath'). It then turns directly south, heading over the Bagmati river to Patan- thus bypassing the main city of Kathmandu (which was a later foundation). Tibetan merchants have rested and offered prayers here for many centuries. When refugees entered Nepal from Tibet in the 1950s, many decided to live around Bouddhanath. The Stupa is said to entomb the remains of a Kasyapa sage venerable both to Buddhists and Hindus.
The Great Stupa of Boudhanath in the Kathmandu valley, a vast dome-shaped monument representing the Mind of the Buddha, is the primary pilgrimage destination for Tantric Buddhists of the Himalayas and a major draw for Tibetan Buddhists from all over the planet. This small book brings together virtually all we know about the Great Stupa of Boudhanath. The core text translation relates the Tibetan legend of the massive monument’s origins and describes how it is to be worshiped, the benefits of worship and the apocalyptic results of failure to maintain it. The introduction describes the fabric of the Stupa in detail, its symbolic meaning and its functions. The history of the stupa from its origins in the fifth century to the present day is also presented here for the first time.'
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