Kathmandu’s Great Boudha Stupa – Still There after the Earthquake

One of the most beautiful sites in Kathmandu, Nepal is its Great Boudha Stupa (or Boudhanath Stupa).  First and foremost, it is a beautiful statement of faith, the largest such Buddhist structure in Nepal and the largest outside of any in Tibet.  That Kathmandu’s Great Boudha Stupa is pleasing to my eyes is a far second from that but, still, for this first time visitor to areas with a strong Buddhist influence, its physical beauty is indeed powerful. 

Sadly, I only got to see if after the earthquake of April 2015 so I missed seeing the stupa tower, the lotus, and the umbrella portions of the stupa which came tumbling down with the quake.

The stupa:  a place for faith

The stupa is very large in diameter.  The faithful, and those of us who respect them, walk around in a clockwise direction turning the prayers wheels with their prayers and stopping at different points for prayer.  The faithful believe one of the earlier Buddhas is buried under the dome of the structure.

There are some monasteries around it but the buildings around it also house shops and workshops where local artists create their pieces.

My favorite visit was to a shop with its associated workshop on the second story.  We got a nice explanation of the “emblematic” paintings we laymen just associate with Tibet and saw a few of the artists at work, painstakingly working on their creation.

The stupa:  a place of beauty

Halfway around our walk, we got up and a little closer to the dome which still remains unapproachable due to damage for the quake and on-going repairs to the site.  From there, one gets to higher ground to look around and get closer to the items near the dome.  I leave you with some final photos that are evocative of the beauty of the entire site!