{"id":1823,"date":"2026-05-29T12:54:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T11:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/?p=1823"},"modified":"2026-05-30T04:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T03:51:14","slug":"nepal-bhutan-may-2026-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/nepal-bhutan-may-2026-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Nepal-Bhutan May 2026 #3"},"content":{"rendered":"

29\/5\/26<\/span><\/strong>
\nToday is a more peaceful – and shorter – day of sightseeing, than yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"Kopan<\/a>
Kopan Gompa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We begin at Kopan Gompa (Monastery), home of Mahayana Buddhism in Kathmandu, where I find, in the library, a little bookshop, and – amongst one or two other finds – buy a copy of Hermann Hesse’s Siddharta,<\/em> a book which I read in the early 1980s, and which it would be good to read again. \u00a0In novel form it tells the story of the Buddha’s life, which is the centre of all the various forms of Buddhism. \u00a0The main shrine is beautiful- like that at Namobuddha – but somehow the Dalai Lama seems more prominent here. Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Mahayana and very strong here. \u00a0 Mahayana Buddhism includes many boddhisatvas along with the teachings of the Buddhas, and their own many and varied guides to the Way. Very strong here at Kopan is the Boddhisatva Avalokiteshvara, whose specialisation is compassion.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>
At the Sleeping Vishnu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We then go to the Sleeping Vishnu – the Buddhanilthankah Temple. \u00a0This 7th century carving from a single slab of basalt rock is sacred to the Buddhists, too, as an emanation of Avolkiteshvara. \u00a0Completing a trinity of sanctity, this statue is also regarded by the Shaivites as the emanation of Shiva known as Nilakanta Shiva. \u00a0Young boys trained at the Temple monastery preside here, chanting, and placing tika on foreheads and garlands of flowers around necks. \u00a0I am very touched by the whole experience, despite the long queue! \u00a0The chanting here is quite mesmerising, and learning it from my guide, I repeat the mantra as I pay homage to the shrine.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sleeping-Vishnu.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

\"Lama<\/a>
Lama at Triten Norbutse Bonpo Monastery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thirdly we climb up into the hills again for our second Buddhist Temple of the day, this time the Triten Norbutse Bonpo Monastery. \u00a0Bonpo is one of the lesser known schools of Buddhism, with its stronghold in the West of Nepal, rather than in Kathmandu, but there are 280 monks here, and I met a lama – who liked my beard – and invited me to light a large butter candle, saying a prayer for my loved ones, before going in to see the main the temple.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lighting a butter candle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cotton<\/a>
Cotton Mandalas in the Main Gompa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here the very ancient (pre-Buddhist) roots of Bonpo are visible in the unique cotton mandalas, and the intensity of their relationship with the Buddha in the – equally unique – and huge mandalas painted directly onto the ceiling.<\/p>\n

\"Huge<\/a>
Huge painted mandalas on the ceiling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lastly, we pass through Kathmandu Durbar Square, the medieval royal heart of the city, with its 15th and 16th century pagodas, and its early 20th century neo-classical dictatorship palace. \u00a0Most interesting, for me, is the Kaal Bhairav <\/a>– the great Shiva in his aspect of destroyer and protector. \u00a0The presiding priest places the unique black tika of this emanation of Shiva on my forehead.\u00a0 In one of the many shops, I acquire a brass Kaal Bhairav to take home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

29\/5\/26 Today is a more peaceful – and shorter – day of sightseeing, than yesterday. We begin at Kopan Gompa (Monastery), home of Mahayana Buddhism in Kathmandu, where I find, in the library, a little bookshop, and – amongst one or two other finds – buy a copy of Hermann Hesse’s Siddharta, a book which … Continue reading “Nepal-Bhutan May 2026 #3”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nepalbhutan2026","category-journeyman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1823"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1838,"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kreps.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}