Swayambhu, the Monkey Temple

There are a lot of holy sites in Kathmandu and the surrounding area, but perhaps none are considered as sacred as Swayambhu. Swayambhu sits on top of a steep hill on the west side of the Kathmandu Valley, overlooking the city. Buddhist tradition has it that the fully enlightened Buddha Manjushri had a vision of a lotus growing here and traveled to see it. At the time the valley was a large lake. Manjushri cut a gorge to drain the lake, creating the valley. When he did that a hill grew up where the lotus was and the lotus turned into a Buddhist temple or stupa.

The stupa was believed to have been constructed in the 5th Century, and it has become one of the major pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, or so I am told. It is also a major shrine for Hindus. Pilgrims climb the long, steep steps on the east side of the hill and then walk clockwise around the stupa spinning the prayer wheels as they go. The eyes on top of the stupa are said to be the eyes of Buddha and represent wisdom and compassion.

Swayambhu is commonly referred to as the Monkey Temple because there are monkeys that live there and are considered holy because they originated from the hair of Manjushri. There are monkeys everywhere on the hill, and yes they often tussled with each other. The merchants don't seem to like the monkeys but they can't do anything about it except chase them away from the merchandise with sticks and slingshots.

I'm glad that I had the opportunity to come here. While there were a lot of merchants, a lot of pigeons, and a lot of monkeys and all of them were annoying at times (more so the merchants than the animals), there was something spiritual about this place. Maybe because it was on a hill above the city, or maybe because there were many worshipers there, or maybe because it's an important place of worship for two of the world's largest religions. I'm not sure, but there were times when I could feel, just for a moment, what one of my ordained friends referred to as a thin place.

And now the photos, starting with a panorama of the city from the hill:

And continuing with a virtual tour of the site:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow, I feel more enlightened today...