13 Nov 2016
Greetings all! I'm finally getting the final entry to our Tibet/Nepal vacation written..a couple of months late, but better late than never! The last leg of our trip to Tibet and Nepal was to go to Kathmandu! It's hard to say the word without hearing the Bob Segar song.."going to Kathmandu"! We did it...we went to the fabled place of the song and of the 1960's hippydome! We had originally planned to drive from Mt Everest to Kathmandu, but with the earthquakes of 2015, the roads were destroyed, so we had to fly. Over 8500 people died in all of Nepal during these earthquakes and the country is still recovering and slowly rebuilding. I've already showcased the faces of Nepal in another entry, so this one is all about the other things we saw in our short visit.
Nepal and Hindu general information
The population of Nepal is 28 million people, and is about the size of the state of Arkansas in the US. Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. The main religion (~75% of the population) is Hindu. The Main trading partners are India and China. The language is Nepalese based on San Scrit. Money is Nepalese Rupi. Exchange rate between Rupi and USD is 104 Rupi = 1 USD.Napa calendar is different . Right now. They are in the year 2073. Their calendar was started by a Nepalese King before the Christ died. Still has 12 months, their new year is equivalent of April in Western calendar.
Napal got rid of monarchy in 2008 in peaceful transition by parliament, not by a vote. Now the government is parliament and president and prime minister by election of the parliament persons. King was not exiled and lives in his own private palace.
Electricity is provided by 1 hydro power plant for the entire country and they do not have enough capacity to meet demand, so there are 3 planned outages each day for 2-3 hours each. So major businesses and hotels all have generators. They still have public water/ public bath areas. Marriages are arranged. The Dowry paid by daughters side. Amount of dowry is not fixed or forced in Nepal, but Pressure to provide more, increases respect.
When daughter is married, the new couple is responsible to pay for husbands parents in retirement. There is no fixed pension for retirement, except for government officials.
The cow is considered a goddess of prosperity and is considered holy. They will eat a male water buffalo (not female) But the male and female cow are not killed for food. All Brahmin people are vegetarian typically. For lower casts, they are not vegetarian unless in the case of a personal choice
4 casts : from top to bottom) even though outlawed, still practiced in villages).
1 Brahmin (government, and high ranking professionals)
2 chetrilia. (service)
3 bashia (business merchants
4 Dalit (butchers, cobblers, sweepers still considered untouchables)
Touring around Kathmandu
While driving around, we saw some big bamboo Swings which are part of a yearly festival where at least 1/ year you leave the ground , you are on your way to heaven. We stopped and had a swing with the local children! |
| Rod swinging in Nepal..leaving the ground! |
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| Sarah swinging in Nepal...believe it or not, the swing seemed pretty sturdy...but looking at the picture now, not sure sure! |
We went to the Monkey Temple/ Stupa Swaymvhu Stupa is World heritage site and it sits on top of the hill overlooking the Kathmandu valley.
365 steps to the top, gives you merit for each day of the year. Lots of monkeys that come from the jingle around the stupa. 108 also a very special number in Hinduism. 12 zodiac signs x 9 planets = 108 and this is what fixes the future in Hinduism.
Stupa has Buddah eyes (stands for wisdom and compassion) this is painted on all 4 sides of the stupa to show Buddah always watching all over. Each stupa has 13 steps at the top to represent the 13 steps of mediation to reach nirvana.
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| Sarah at the monkey temple in Kathmanudu |
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| A Stupa in the Kathmandu valley in Nepal |
The original The Buddah was born in Nepal. His name was Siddhartha, who was born to an original royal family in Nepal at 563 BC. When he was born he could walk immediately and the first 7 steps he Sprouted lotus flowers so it always shows Buddah on top of a lotus flower. He left home and meditated and became enlightened to them take on the name the Buddah. (Which means enlightened one)
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| A monkey on at the temple |
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| Monkeys getting ready to jump into a swimming pool below at the temple |
Napal resisted being colonized by the British when India was..they traded their indépendance for labor in the British army. Girka army is still used to help supplement the British army, a left over from when Brittan ruled India. It is not an official part of the Nepal Army, the Girkas are selected by British to be a special part of British army.
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| Rod with one of the Girkha soldiers |
We stopped by a place that had a "Singing bowl" demonstration...if you rub the rim of the bowl, it vibrates with a very high pitch. It also has a nice ring when you strike it, like a bell. In these bowls, there are 7 different metals. According to the therapy demonstration, The bowl vibration keeps the Chakras in order. We enjoyed the demonstration, but didn't buy any bowls...but did get a Gong!
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| Sarah getting a bowl treatment on her back! in Kathmandu |
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| Rod getting a bowl treatment on his back...see that gong hanging in the background? It came home with us! |
We visited 3 UNESCO world heritage sites all in various states of ruin after the earthquake and all in the Kathmandu valley. Boudha, Bhaktapur and Nyatapola. They all have a Durbar square which is where the royalty lived. Below are a couple of very short videos of the reconstruction work and areas in these areas.
In the Kathmandu valley, here are many Tibetans who fled from Tibet in 1959 when Tibet became part of China. We visited some shops and saw some interesting woolen wares, in a Tibetan style.
The colors and design were very interesting to me.
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| Tibetan wools made in Nepal |
A Nepalese Cremation
Probably the most morbid, yet interesting stop we had was seeing the cremations. There are several places to do cremations, but the one we went to was the Pashupati temple by the Bagmanti River.
All temples for cremation must be by a river for the religious ceremony。 This river in Nepal the equivalent of the Ganges river in India. Very holy for Nepal Hindus.
The Hindu's cremate as soon as possible. They call the funeral service to take the body to the special stone slab on the river bank and put the feet in the river, the family members splash the water on the body. They take the clothes off under the shroud and put it in the river. The put a type of red paint powder on the shroud and on the face. After a certain time, they believe the spirit has left the body. The then carry the body to another location where there is stacked wood. They carry the body around the wood 3 times before putting it on top of the stacked wood. The body is always facing north. After this, the son lights the fire and then the funeral director tends the fire to make sure the body burns all the way. It will take 3-4 hours to burn the body. The family stays the entire time. After the body is burned, the sweep the ashes into the river. Counting all, a funeral will take 5-6 hours for the family. The have funerals 24 hour/7 days a week. The believe that if the souls is trapped in the dead body too long, it will get angry, so they do it as soon as possible. After the cremation, The son must fast for 13 days, he can eat 1/day no salt. He can drink only water, and eat only fruit and must shave all hair for 13 days. He must wear all white for 1 year. It can be reduced to less time by a priest by doing certain rituals.
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| The cremation ceremony on the river. Yes, that is a body in the pile on the dock. |
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| The "funeral workers" putting the shroud of the body in the river (must be a big jam in the river down stream!) |
The colors of Nepal
Probably the most striking thing about Nepal to me were the colors...fabrics, dyes, clothing...all so vivid! |
| Dyes for use during their religious ceremonies |
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| Dyes in the market in Nepal |
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| Fabrics in Nepal |
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| Clothing and fabrics in Nepal |
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| dresses in Nepal |
So that about does it for this trip. Blessings to all and until the next time!
Rod and Sarah
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