Michael A. Stecker
mastecker@gmail.com

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 Kathmandu, Nepal Photos 3
 Other Nepal Pages:
 Nepal Photo Index   Kathmandu 1, 2, 3   Pokhara Photos

The Buddhist Temple of Swayambhunath
The most ancient and enigmatic of all the Valley's holy shrines lies 2 km west of Kathmandu city on a wooded hill.  The establishment of Swayambhunath Stupa goes back to the legendary beginning of the Kathmandu Valley. The legend says that when the gods drained the waters of the lake to reveal the Kathmandu valley, the lotus of the lake was transformed into the hillock and the blazing light became
the Swayambhunath stupa. (Swayambhunath is a World Heritage Site)

Prayer flags over the stupa of Swayambhunath. The eyes of Buddha look out in four directions over the Kathmandu Valley.

Black Bhairab
Bhairab has many arms, rolling eyes and usually one head. He is the most distinctive tantric form
of Shiva. He wears a garland of skulls and has skulls in his crown. He is seen here with a Sankha
 (sea shell), Chakra (round weapon), Gada (stick) and Padma (lotus flower) in four of his six hands.

In Patan a statue of Garuda -- the half-man, half-bird vehicle upon which the Hindu
god Vishnu travels -- sits atop a high pillar

View of the Himalayas from Nagarkot in the Kathmandu Valley. Haze obscures all but the higher distant
snow capped peaks.