Kathmandu - The Eyes of Truth Are Always Watching You!

This is Boudha and this is the Boudha Stupa. It is said to be the biggest stupa in Nepal, and it is big. This architectural masterpiece is a holy shrine for Buddhist where devotees walk around the shrine three times and spin the prayer wheels as it is said to be good luck and offer compassion to the world. The prayer wheels have "Om Mani Ped Me Hum" inscribed on the inside, kind of like a Mazuza with prayer scrolls on the inside. This is a mantra of compassion said by Tibetan Buddhists and others seeking universal solace. Walking around the shrine and spinning the prayer wheels generated a calm abiding within the mind. The ambiance of the surrounding areas along with the old Tibetan women with there prayer mala's or necklaces chanting, probably to themselves, the mantra of compassion offered a scene never to be forgotten.

Whenever there is a Hindu festival, you can always count on the Hindu's to be there, and boy, do they know how to party. Attending Lord Krishna's birthday at the Krishna temple was a mad-house. Krishna is said to be a reincarnation of the much beloved Lord Vishnu, one of the three main gods worshiped in the Hindu religion. Wow, there were sooo many people, and sooo much fun. I waiting in line for over a half hour waiting to enter the temple only to be told that only Hindu's could enter the temple. I was not giving in that easily, so I told them I was Hindu, showed them my Om necklace, and walked through the temple, then performed puja and received tikka thereafter. Oh, life, ha!Mother and child post puja, receiving tikka as well. So cute!
I walked around the city Patan, which is a neighboring town of Kathmandu, and entered a Buddhist temple during Lord Krishna's Birthday, where I found the guard to the gates of heaven - a tortoise.

More shots from Lord Krishna's birthday and tikka on the forehead. Lord Krishna is the god who plays the flute, and my understanding of Krishna is that he is the god of love and music. So, right on, they dance and spread the love!



















To all you meat eaters, beware! I went to a temple for the goddess Mother Kali, where they still perform sacrifices. This is a before and after shot of a chicken, and the chicken and its head in the hands of a little boy. My next meal, many hereafter, have been vegetarian.

More Kathmandu to come, then to Chitwan National Forest.