Boudhanath

About 3 miles outside of Kathmandu is Boudhanath, the largest stupa in Nepal. It's a sacred site for Buddhists, particularly Tibetans. I had the chance to check it out last night and try out the night function on my camera (thanks Dad!).

Frommer's says it better than I can, so here's some info from them:

"Legend has it that Boudhanath Stupa was built after an old woman asked the king for enough land to build a shrine to the Buddha. The king agreed to give her only as much land as she could cover with the skin of a water buffalo. The woman cut the buffalo hide into thin strips, and, laying them end to end, formed a large circle that "covered" far more land than the king had intended to donate. Though he had been tricked by the old woman, he agreed, and her buffalo-hide circle became the circumference of the stupa.

With three square tiers surrounding the central circle of the dome, Boudhanath is built in the form of a mandala, a symbol of the universe that is often used in Buddhist meditations. The stupa also symbolizes the five elements within its design. The base symbolizes earth; the dome, water; the spire, fire; the crescent atop the spire, light; and the flame shape topping the spire, ether. A low wall set with hundreds of prayer wheels circles the base, and Tibetan pilgrims circling the stupa often spin them.

You enter the stupa grounds through a colorfully painted gateway that leads off the busy bazaar street that runs through the town of Boudha. Once inside the complex, remember to walk clockwise around the stupa. Opposite the main gate, on the north side of the stupa, is the entrance to the stupa itself, and just inside the stupa entrance, lamas often set up low tables beneath a tent and perform pujas. You will often hear them ringing their bells and chanting in the hypnotic drone of the Tibetan language. From this antechamber, a wide staircase leads up to the base of the stupa dome, where niches containing images of the Buddha can be seen."

Credit: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/kathmandu/A20281.html

Some other stuff I saw and learned that I won't just cut and paste from Frommer's (is that frowned upon by hardcore bloggers? oh well...):

• The eyes painted at the base of the spire are the eyes of Buddha
• The flags you see are prayer flags. They're red, yellow, green, blue and white representing fire, earth, water, sky and wind. By hanging the flags, the prayers printed on them are carried up to Buddhist deities.
• Boudhanath is an extremely important pilgrimage destination. Swarms of people walk around clockwise reciting prayers and spinning the prayer wheels. Others prostrate themselves (lie down on their stomachs), get up and then do it again for every single step.
• The Boudhanath neighborhood is a cultural and religious center for Tibetan Buddhism. It started as a stop on the trade route to Tibet, but when the Chinese invaded in 1959, many Tibetans fled here and have settled in the area surrounding the stupa.

It's a really beautiful and lively place. I'm so used to associating sacred places with quiet, and Boudhanath is anything but quiet. It was a pretty incredible thing to see.