Eyes and ears !

This post follows two earlier posts describing Nepal, fleetingly seen in limited time ! This is the concluding post.


Swayambu. ‘Buddhas eyes’, they say. Peaceful and serene. Looking over all of Kathmandu. More here.



Eyes that seem to invite you to just sit there and do nothing while the bells keep whirring away, which perhaps is the most ingenious mechanisation of mantra chanting !


‘With sacred mantras written in them, all you have to do is to keep spinning’, the gentleman who accompanies me states in much of a matter-of-fact manner. Perhaps in a matter-of-mantra manner !

Buddhists and hindus jostle for space with tourists and cameras. Against a backdrop of a wistful sky, a small group of animated locals peddling stuff to open mouthed tourists set upon an evening chill. These serve as a perfect recipe for permanent storage in the mind.

The hill country is so pristine that makes you scamper for a word that embodies ‘pristine’ better. The Pashupati nath temple is simple and stately.


Legend has it that Lord Shiva got bored of Mt.Kailash and discovered the Kathmandu valley and ran away to settle down here. That was Lord Shiva. My inarticulate meanderings of how pristine the place is, needs not a single additional letter.

They speak in such an easy tone.



Beyond a point, you cant walk with shoes on and beyond another you cant walk with cameras! For many centuries now, the priests for this temple come only from Shimoga district of Karnataka, India!

People throng the place yet there is a sense of peaceful order. Just beyond the temple, infact adjacent to the temple, by the banks of the Bagmati river, is a cremeation ground with dead bodies on fire. Lessons on how close Creation, Destruction and sustenance are, couldn’t have had a better stage setting.


The Nepali cops and armed forces look majestic! A smartly dressed traffic cop with a tie on and such else is a pleasure to watch. Perhaps the only respite against the stiffest of traffic. And the cops, indeed have a way of carrying themselves and their costume err..uniform, with such artistic élan that can only kickstart envy !

The Nepali’s prominent headgear, which some of my sources tell me is called the ‘Dhaka Topi’ is a piece of evidence in that direction. It’s almost the first thing that I notice as the immigration officers sports this. The one that waved me in wore such a funky design that he caugt me staring at it and perhaps regarded me as a rather ‘slow person’ as it took a while for me to answer his questions!


The caps come in many patterns : checks, waves, stripes etc. The good people they are, gifted me one of these and the missus has since been thinking of so many designs for the headgear that she could be given honorary citizenship there!

She is mighty excited you see, one more piece of clothing to look out for and ofcourse, to go discount hunting for! Exciting i say !


The earlier posts are here and here

12 thoughts on “Eyes and ears !

  1. Interesting post, liked it.

  2. RGB says:

    Plain envy! But glad I got a glimpse of Nepal through your posts. Your pictures definitely tempt me to consider Nepal as my next vaction’s destination! Going places, discovering new lands, people and culture is a wonderful experience. Thanks very much for sharing such precious insights of your journey 🙂

  3. Insignia says:

    I am jealous. Your description of the Swayambunath temple reminds me of the monastery in Bylakuppe near Coorg in Karnataka.

    I also recall reading the ‘racism’ factor w.r.t Indian priests at Pashupathinath.

    Glad you had a wonderful work cum pleasure trip to Nepal.

  4. aativas says:

    Legend has it that Lord Shiva got bored of Mt.Kailash and discovered the Kathmandu valley and ran away to settle down here.

    Liked it. We have very humane Gods!

  5. PriPat says:

    Hope even I get chance to visit this place in the future! Lucky u!

  6. Swatantra says:

    interesting pictures and a write up for them..

  7. nsiyer says:

    Gautama, the Buddha, left everything for nothing and created a lot of everything.

  8. I liked the second pic most. 🙂 Clouds look awesome. 🙂

    Free shoe service pic. 😀

    Dhaka topi is beautiful. 🙂

    Happy New Year. 🙂

  9. Jeevan says:

    The facts are interesting and the way u regard the circumstance was wonderful! i like the topi and want to check this place sometime.

  10. radha says:

    Interesting post, lovely pictures.

  11. Lovely pictures as usual, Kavi! Interesting description of the temple.

  12. Carmi says:

    No one paints pictures of places better than you. I feel like I’ve been there, thanks to your lens and your pen.

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