Are you a spiritual person? Are you a traveller who loves to explore old temples and unveil mysteries? Or are you one of those who think that there is too much hype about temples in the Kathmandu Valley? Well….. We guess you have landed at the right place…… Just be seated as we will begin our ‘temple run’ in this blog.
We call ourselves travel freaks…………..
Now let us start with a common notion about Kathmandu………
1. Is there any other tag that can be associated with Kathmandu apart from “cultural pot”?
Well, the answer is Yes, but before we start anything. Let us welcome you all to the last blog of our Nepal series, where we unveil Kathmandu’s spiritual gems.
This place can also be referred to as the “city of temples“. Ever since our trip started, we were excited to visit the marvellous temples in the valley and hopeful to experience some divine encounters.
Interestingly, all the temples have their own specific history, myths and rituals that reflect why Kathmandu is also rightly termed as the cultural pot of Nepal.
Not again….. Okay, we know what you might be thinking………..
2. When did we land in Nepal, and how much did we explore in Kathmandu?
You will get all your answers if you go through our previous blogs.
Checkout our Chitwan, Pokhara, Muktinath, Manakamana Temple and Kathmandu blogs.
Yes, indeed, by reading our blogs, you will be able to plan your own customised itinerary. In case of any queries, do reach out to us. We are always available.
It is just a quick recap to our readers that we explored the Nagarkot and Bhaktapur regions in Kathmandu for a full day. The next day and the last day, we saved for exploring the temples within the Kathmandu valley.
You might be curious to know……..
3. How was the experience at the famous Pashupatinath Temple?
We were also excited as we planned to visit this first and then the rest of the temples.
Coming back to our story…………
We decided to start early in the morning seven o’ clock . After spending the previous day at Nagarkot and Bhaktapur Durbar Square and visiting a few shops we were left with today’s day only.
As we just told you, the first place we decided to visit was the Pashupatinath temple. The distance was hardly 7-8 km. It took us less than half an hour to reach.
The bus dropped us near Pashupatinath Road. We walked for around 10 minutes to reach the temple’s main gate.
On the way, we noticed many shops selling homage items for the deity. We chose one of the shops near the main entrance to drop off our shoes.
There was a long queue to enter the temple even though it was eight o’ clock. We stood in the queue for over half an hour and entered the temple premises.
It was a beautiful pagoda-style temple where we noticed hundreds of devotees performing rituals, praying and meditating around the premises.
We guess a few of the readers might be a little bit curious about……….
4. How was the atmosphere inside the Pashupatinath Temple?
As we entered the temple, the surrounding atmosphere caught our attention. Be it architecture or the devotion of the people.
Soon, we realised that we needed to stand in another queue in the temple to catch a glimpse of the Pashupatinath idol. We could even spot the Nandi bull we generally witness in Shiva Temples.
One of the temple priests was there to push the worshipper and was forced to move ahead as it was crowded. Somehow, we were successful in our quest to view the holy four-headed Pashupatinath Idol.
The temple rightly falls into one of the UNESCO world heritage sites. On exploring the temple premises, we observed the Bagmati River flowing on the backdrop of the temple. There was a burning ghat on the backside of the temple premises.
After spending nearly two hours, we decided to move on to our next destination, i.e., Dakshinakali Temple.
Now obviously, you might think……..
5. How was the experience at the Dakshinakali Temple?
Dakshinakali Temple was a little over 20 km from Pashupatinath Temple that took us around one hour to reach.
There were a few homage item shops on getting down from the bus. The temple was below the road level. So, we had to get down slowly using the steep steps present there.
In the meantime, our feet went numb after taking off our shoes due to the icy surface.
The temple was dedicated to the goddess Kali. Unlike the Pashupatinath Temple, we could even take snaps within the temple premises as photography was allowed.
We even noticed blood spilt over many places on the floor. It seemed sacrifices were made by worshippers visiting the temple.
After spending close to an hour, we moved on to Budhanilkantha temple.
We know what you might be thinking now…….
6. What was so special about the Budhanilkantha Temple?
Our bus took over an hour to reach Budhanilkantha Temple from Dakshinakali Temple. The temple was empty as compared to our last two temples.
The temple was dedicated to Lord Narayana or Vishnu. One thing that amazed us was that it was the first time we noticed any deity in a resting position. We observed that the idol was carved out of a single black stone.
Some myths and mysteries added an air of mystic environment in the temple. Some locals say that a farmer came across the idol while cultivating, and some say that it was brought during the reigns of Vishnu Gupta, a ruler in the 17th century.
Irrespective of any myths, we enjoyed every bit of this temple. Snaps were allowed within the temple premises.
The next spot was Guhyeswari Temple.
Before you could ask anything, let us ask you. Do you know anything about Shakti Peeth?
Okay, so now you might wonder………
7. How is Guhyeshwari Temple related to Shakti Peeth?
We will answer this through our experience.
While discussing among ourselves the temples we had visited since morning , and in no time reached Guhyeswari Temple.
The temple is located close to the Pashupatinath Temple. We suggest planning this temple after visiting the Pashupatinath Temple.
This temple is one of the many Shakti Peeths and offers tremendous spiritual significance. If any of our readers are unaware of the Shakti Peeths, you can read it online.
Coming back to our story, we entered the main temple and noticed that the main idol was worshipped in water, which you could view from the top. It was mesmerizing to spend time within the temple premises.
Finally, after exploring the temple premises at our own pace, we decided to move on to the next spot, i.e., Boudhanath Stupa.
Now your curiosity might have increased about……….
8. How was the exeperience of the Boudhanath Stupa for travellers like us?
See, we are travellers and not tourists. Certainly, we go to live and experience a place rather than spend money on stay and food. So we take utmost interest in visiting cultural monuments irrespective of religion. Boudhanath Stupa was one such place.
So coming back to our story……….
Boudhanath Stupa was close to the Guhyesyari temple. We looked at our watch and it was already two o clock. We stopped for our lunch midway and then reached Boudhanath Stupa. The bus parking was about 1 km away from the main temple. We walked for a little over 15 minutes to reach the main gate.
The size of the stupa was mammoth. On entering the gate, we noticed many Tibetan-style shops enclosing the stupa. We witnessed some stunning views of the blue sky on the backdrop of the stupa.
We entered the stupa and worshipped in front of the Buddha Idol. Many Buddhist pilgrims were meditating in front of the Buddha Idol.
We felt like spending more time in that place. However, due to time constraints, we decided to return to our stay. We planned to visit the Kathmandu Durbar Square in the evening for some shopping.
Many of you who are following us might have noticed that we told you that we would be visiting the China Market, and now we have mentioned Kathmandu Durbar Square.
We will answer that also. Before that we know what is going on in your mind………….
9. Are there any other temples apart from the ones we mentioned?
The answer is a big “YES”; there are many temples.
Even though we stopped exploring the temples after the Boudhanath Stupa, there were numerous other notable temples that our readers may visit.
They are Swayambhunath Temple, Jagannath Temple and Kirateshwar Mahadev Temple. It was a challenging task for us to choose from such a long list.
But still, we were happy and fortunate to witness the temples during the day. We had tea with snacks in the evening and quickly left to explore Kathmandu Durbar Square.
Hmmm… We know what you might think……….
10. How was the experience of the Kathmandu Durbar Square?
Let’s take a deep breathe and then tell you.
It was approximately 5-6 km from our stay. So, we decided to better take the local transport. We got down near Ratna Park and slowly explored the area to reach the central region of Kathmandu Durbar Square.
We spotted shops selling some authentic souvenirs, winter items, cosmetics and cooking utensils, to name a few. The alleys and the lanes within the marketplace represent something we see in web series or movies focusing on Nepal. It was so amazing and, at the same time, heartbreaking as we were returning the next day to our respective home locations.
Due to time limitations, we could not explore any Casinos even though we spotted many across the city. Finally, when it was close to 8.30 at night, the shops were closing we decided to return to our stay by taking a cab. We planned for an early morning departure to Birgunj from Kathmandu.
As our trip to Nepal was about to end……….
Yes, we know what you might ask……..
11. Were you guys emotional about the completion of that memorable trip?
It was indeed very emotional for us.
We must confess that we could not sleep for the whole night; instead, the memories we created came in front of our eyes as we lived every moment. With heavy hearts, we sat on the bus and gossiped about every bit of our experience for close to 6 hours till we reached Birgunj.
We stayed there for the night to catch our morning train from Raxaul. A memorable trip finally came to an end. We hope you loved our narration and enjoyed reading as much as we loved this journey.
Now we know your last question as usual…….
12. What kind of help are we gonna provide to you?
Hmm, this question is bound to come to your mind. Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will be giving you a glimpse of our journey and also helping you to plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and keep an eye out for the next destination story of Nepal. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
We hope to see you in the next blog series. Till then, follow us for another travel story.
by mitkau