LONG MILE PILGRIMAGE
HOLY LAND OF NEPAL
Kathmandu- bustling but quiet
According to ancient legend, this place was a shimmering lake, the god Manruxuê was so absorbed in sharpening his sword by the lake that the lake dried up, leaving Kathmandu as it is today. We arrived in Kathmandu on a rather leisurely day off, the moment when this city located in Central Nepal looked like the streets of Hanoi in early spring. The cold air blew down the valley from the high mountains on all sides, making Kathmandu, which was usually quiet, look like a flower hidden at the foot of the Himalayas.
Tourists coming here cannot help but set foot in the bustling Tanman district full of foreigners with the bustling atmosphere of an Asian market with a bit of grassland in public and a bit of hustle and bustle of the industrial age. Colorful Indian scarves, a bit of golden sunshine of the winter mountain town... all come together.
and flare up to create a unique beauty for Kathmandu.
| The early history of Nepal begins in the Kathmandu Valley, which 200,000 years ago was a giant lake. By 300 AD, the Ly-tra-vi dynasty had created what is known as Nepal's first golden age, and introduced Hinduism and Buddhism to the kingdom. |
Along the streams are rows of shops close together, souvenirs and fabrics hung all over the shop fronts, spilling out onto the street so that people cannot accidentally pass by. The art of carving bronze statues and souvenirs and worship items in Nepal has truly reached a superlative level. The ancient bronze casters seem to be reviving right on this street, making many tourists wander absent-mindedly in a space that is both ancient and modern before the interesting blend of local and international colors. Here, Thangka paintings, special paintings of Tibetan Buddhism, are sold everywhere, reminding us that the two streams of Buddhism and Hinduism coexist, watering the lives of the Nepalese people with a source of morality and faith. Wandering visitors drift from street to street and can only leave with the promise to return to feel a little more about
Kathmandu in the slowness of a day in the valley, the hustle and bustle of visitors from all over with today's thoughts and aspirations.
Abode of Hindu gods
From the Kathmandu Valley, you can see the snow-capped mountains like a great white wall. This capital city deep in the Himalayas is a treasure trove of mysterious stories, a separate world of gods, devout people and strange temples. One such temple we visited is dedicated to the goddess Kali, one of the most famous deities of Hinduism. According to statistics, about 86% of Nepal's population now follows Hinduism, the oldest religion in human history, and this belief is part of the daily life of Nepalese people.
According to Hinduism, Kali is a very holy evil goddess, both bloodthirsty, destructive and willing to grant salvation to believers, so she is worshiped by everyone. Kali is the guardian goddess of Kathmandu. According to legend, she is one of the wives of the great god of destruction Shiva. Hinduism has three supreme gods, leading millions of other gods: Prahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The image of goddess Kali with her mouth often open, tongue sticking out, earrings are the corpses of men, necklaces are human skulls, jewelry are snakes. Not only has the function of destruction, goddess Kali also oversees reproduction, both cruel and gentle. While destroying, she still blesses and helps all things to reproduce, which are two sides of the same problem of the humanism and cosmology of Hinduism.
The architectural features of temples and palaces in Nepal are multi-storey towers with gradually smaller roofs that look mysterious and majestic. We visited the Radet temple on the banks of a river that is a tributary of the Ganges in the heart of Kathmandu. In the temples, there are usually one or more Brahmin priests sitting and chanting and giving blessings. You will have to pay a small symbolic amount to have the priest put a lucky red dot on your forehead, or to listen to the teachings of the scriptures. These people belong to the highest social class, have great spiritual power and are often hereditary, being the foundation of a respected religious society.
In Hinduism, there are not only human gods but also gods of animals, plants, objects… all of which have souls, authority, knowledge, supernatural powers and great capacity. No one can know all the gods, including the religious leaders and wise men. Because each god has many incarnations, continuing endlessly. At the Radet temple, there is a very effective worship stone, which can be prayed to for healing.
Leaving the capital city of Katmandu, we visited the old imperial city area, where the main and most splendid architectural works of the ancient capital Bharatpur in the lower Himalayas are located. When we come to ancient cities, even though they are unfamiliar to our homeland, we all feel nostalgic and moved. What mysterious thing has created that psychological state? It is difficult to answer, but perhaps it is the sediment of time. Time has made the face of the world change continuously, creating nostalgia, making us startled and awakened. Time is cruel and fair, cold but kind, reminding us like the god Shiva himself with his alarm bell about the law of birth and death. Life always has yin and yang, birth and death, good and evil. That message of Hinduism and Buddhism flies to every corner of the world, right from the squares and street corners of this ancient capital.
| Time has made the face of the world change constantly, creating nostalgia, making us startled and awake. Time is cruel and fair, cold but kind, reminding us like Lord Shiva himself with his alarm bell about the law of birth and death. |
During our journey to explore this mystical land, we experienced countless moments of floating amidst the unparalleled beauty of nature, whether it was just dawn or dusk. Once breathless when seeing the majestic and majestic Mount Everest, we were now stunned when facing the dawn in the almost absolute silence on a mountain range in Nepal. The night seemed to be split in two by the cut of the mountain range carved into the sky, revealing the amazing crack of the 7,400m high Ranet peak. In the moment the sun appeared, we seemed to be standing before the amazing transformation on the horizon. In the thin mist, the high peaks were still dreaming and the valley below was also immersed in a deep sleep.
The early morning in the valley changes slowly. Following the traces of each ray of sunlight in the dim, gloomy mist, in the deep and pure space, the traveler's heart soars as if accidentally lost in a fairyland. When looking at the majestic natural paintings, we understand that Nepal is quietly and wisely attracting a part of the modern world to itself.
Visit the Buddanat temple complex
Returning to Kathmandu, we visited a religious building that holds an important place in the spiritual life of the Buddhist people of Nepal. From afar, one can immediately tell that this is a stupa of Tibetan Buddhism. Five-colored Ha Dat cloths flutter in the sky. The Buddha's eyes are full of wisdom and power. The sound of respect and devotion resounds everywhere. That is the Buddanat stupa, a stupa that worships the relics of an ancient Buddha. According to the Nepalese people, the Buddanat stupa was built in the 5th century by the princess of the king of Nepal who "begged" her father many times to build a stupa to worship the ancient Buddha, and later became a holy place for Buddhists in Nepal.
Nepal is a country that lives in harmony between Buddhism and Hinduism, so scattered around the relic site, we can see Buddhist and Hindu relics mixed together. By 1959, the local people considered this Buddanat stupa as a symbol, and the most sacred place outside of Nepal and the Tibetan people. Therefore, every year, many Tibetans come here to make pilgrimages. Unlike Buddhist holy sites in India, Buddhist structures in Nepal all bear the mark of Buddhism, mainly Tibetan Buddhism. Take a walk around the Buddanat stupa with the hope of feeling the sacred atmosphere of a Tibetan Buddhist holy site, and reverence towards the spiritual depth here.
During the long journey of discovering the land and people of the holy land of Nepal, we truly fell into a Hindu eight trigrams, so diverse and rich, unique and thrilling, the further we went, the more we realized the greatness of the Himalayan civilization.
In the homeland of Buddha's birth
Currently, Nepal has only 8% of its population following Buddhism, while Hindus make up 86%, but this land where Buddha was born gives us a complete feeling that this is a holy land of Buddhism, that in the midst of this deep Himalayan forest, the compassionate and wise thoughts of Buddhism still quietly spread through every mountain pass and mountain pass, to penetrate into human life in every sacred place.
.jpg_7.jpg)
Nepal is not a Buddhist country but there are 3 places associated with Buddhism that make it famous. First is the place where Buddha was born, secondly from this country Buddhism was transmitted to Tibet, and finally this is the place of practice and manifestation of Bodhisattva Manjushri. We continued to worship a sacred place of Buddhism, that is Van Thu mountain located on a high hill in the region of Soa-ya-bo-nat about 200 km from the capital Kathmandu.
| This land where Buddha was born gives us a complete feeling that this is a holy land of Buddhism, that in the midst of this deep and dark mountain forest in the Himalayas, the compassionate and wise thoughts of Buddhism still silently spread through every mountain pass and mountain pass, to penetrate into human life in every sacred place. |
From the foot to the top of Van Thu mountain is a long path of 360 stone steps, winding under the beautiful canopy of the forest. Along the way, there are many clusters of worship, the Buddha statues are very elaborately and delicately crafted, mostly made of stone and bronze, some are newly made of cement and look very impressive. According to a legend, on this hill, people kept the relics of Ca Diếp in a large tower, but most people believe that the tower was built to commemorate the manifestation of Van Thu.
You can buy these candles lit with oil to make offerings along the way or on the top of the mountain, where there are magnificent pagodas, towers, and temples. This is a very typical custom of Tibetan Buddhism, both magical and sacred. The worshiping needs of Buddhist pilgrims are very diverse. For example, people pour gold on the white tower to paint a lotus flower to fulfill their wish to make offerings through the monetary contributions of everyone.
The architectural complex of the Manjushri stupa is made up of bricks, the upper floor is made of bronze and is the main architectural model of the relic. The stupa was built under the reign of King Victani and then completed by the Mala dynasty, from the 8th to the 15th century. In fact, in this palace, we have seen statues dating back to the 7th century, such as the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. All practitioners of Tantric Buddhism in Nepal consider this place to be the place with the strongest spiritual convergence in the country. According to legend, this is where Bodhisattva Manjushri, the Bodhisattva symbolizing the wisdom of Buddhism, appeared in this land.
Leaving Nepal with great nostalgia, a country filled with love, the birthplace of Buddha Shakyamuni, we all silently promised to return to this holy land many times in the future.
