Unesco World Heritage Site of Swayambhunath 四眼神廟
We were so lucky to have a good bargain, NPR250 to go and NPR200 to be back, on a suzuki taxi.
Mobbed by monkeys and soaring above the city on a lofty hilltop, the "Monkey Temple" is a fascinating, chaotic jumble of Buddhist and Hindu iconography.
The compound is centred on a gleaming white stupa, topped by a gilded spire painted with the eyes of buddha. Depictions of these eyes appear all over the Kathmandu Valley.
Coming to Swayambhunath is an intoxicating experience, with ancient carvings jammed into every spare inch of space and the smell of incense and butter lamps hanging heavy in the air. Local devotes make a ritual circumnavigation of the stupa by spinning the prayer wheels set into its base, in the morning and evening.
According to legend, the Kathmandu Valley was once a lake and the hill now topped by Swayambhunath rose spontaneously from the waters, hence the name swayambhu, meaning "self-arisen".
During the 14th century, Mughal invaders from Bengal broke open the stupa in the search for gold, but the stupa was restored and expanded over the following centuries.
Eastern Stairway
Constructed by King Pratap Malla in the 17th century, this steep stone staircase is mobbed by troops of rhesus macaques.
From a collection of brightly painted buddha statues at the bottom of the hill, the steps climb past a series of chaityas and basreliefs, including a stone showing the birth of buddha, with his mother Maya Devi grasping a tree branch. At the top, the steps are lined with pairs of Garudas, lions, elephants, horses and peacocks, the "vehicles" of the Dhyani Buddhas.
Prayer wheels appear in every corner
Religious carving 
Numerous decoration 
We needed to climb a flight of stairs, quite steep. Near the top, we were waved to go to the ticket office on the left for buying tickets, NPR200 per person. 
People walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction.
Great Thunderbolt
At the top of the eastern stairway is an enormous, brass-plated dorje (thunderbolt) , one of the core symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. Known as the vajra in Sanskrit, the thunderbolt is a symbol of the power of enlightenment, which destroy ignorance, but is itself indestructible.
In rituals the dorje is used to indicate male power, while female power is represented by a ceremonial bell.
Symbols of the five elements - earth, air, water fire and ether - can be found around the hilltop.
Anantapura Temple
We were so lucky to have a good bargain, NPR250 to go and NPR200 to be back, on a suzuki taxi.
Mobbed by monkeys and soaring above the city on a lofty hilltop, the "Monkey Temple" is a fascinating, chaotic jumble of Buddhist and Hindu iconography.
The compound is centred on a gleaming white stupa, topped by a gilded spire painted with the eyes of buddha. Depictions of these eyes appear all over the Kathmandu Valley.
Coming to Swayambhunath is an intoxicating experience, with ancient carvings jammed into every spare inch of space and the smell of incense and butter lamps hanging heavy in the air. Local devotes make a ritual circumnavigation of the stupa by spinning the prayer wheels set into its base, in the morning and evening.
According to legend, the Kathmandu Valley was once a lake and the hill now topped by Swayambhunath rose spontaneously from the waters, hence the name swayambhu, meaning "self-arisen".
During the 14th century, Mughal invaders from Bengal broke open the stupa in the search for gold, but the stupa was restored and expanded over the following centuries.
Eastern Stairway
Constructed by King Pratap Malla in the 17th century, this steep stone staircase is mobbed by troops of rhesus macaques.
From a collection of brightly painted buddha statues at the bottom of the hill, the steps climb past a series of chaityas and basreliefs, including a stone showing the birth of buddha, with his mother Maya Devi grasping a tree branch. At the top, the steps are lined with pairs of Garudas, lions, elephants, horses and peacocks, the "vehicles" of the Dhyani Buddhas.
Prayer wheels appear in every corner
Religious carving
Numerous decoration
We needed to climb a flight of stairs, quite steep. Near the top, we were waved to go to the ticket office on the left for buying tickets, NPR200 per person.
People walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction.
Great Thunderbolt
At the top of the eastern stairway is an enormous, brass-plated dorje (thunderbolt) , one of the core symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. Known as the vajra in Sanskrit, the thunderbolt is a symbol of the power of enlightenment, which destroy ignorance, but is itself indestructible.
In rituals the dorje is used to indicate male power, while female power is represented by a ceremonial bell.
Symbols of the five elements - earth, air, water fire and ether - can be found around the hilltop.
Anantapura Temple
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