Nepal in Photos: The Harati Devi Stupa

In this post: a virtual tour of Swoyambhu's 'Monkey Temple.'

Unless you visit Harati Devi at 5am, you will be unable to avoid tourists - mostly Chinese from the PRC, with zoom lenses they can scarcely carry unsupported. There are however, for those who know, areas of unparallelled solitude and beauty to be found. Of course, I'll tell you about them. You can also click on these images to see larger versions in a lightbox - this will be useful for some of the panoramic shots.

From central Thamel, a one-way cab to the Swoyanbhu Monkey Temple (ask the cab driver for 'Swoyambhunath') should cost no more than 150 NRs out of tourist season, and 200NRs in season (Oct-Nov inclusive).

 Prepare yourself for an onslaught of stray and dying animals as you walk through central Kathmandu. This is the reality of city life.

Strap yourself in for a bumpy ten minute ride out of Thamel, over the reeking river, to one of Kathmandu's more unsuspecting centres of tranquility. Alternatively, the walk from central Thamel will take 40 minutes - expect to pass through 'Meat Street', which will coat the insides of your head with the damp and festering odour of warm blood, burnt flesh and dirt. Look out for the decapitated 'buffalo' heads on iron work benches. Beef burger anyone? 

 Nepalese taxi rides should be somewhere on everyone's bucket list.

Once you arrive at the foot of the temple hill, you have two choices: walk around to the back to avoid the tiny fee of NRs200 entry - or climb the 300 odd steps to the top, pay the entrance fee to the boxed-in man on the left, and witness the glorious symmetry of the stupa as it's peak rises to your eyeline. Don't forget to turn around - the view of Kathmandu city isn't bad, either.

 Kathmandu city from the temple complex.

The first view of the Stupa; a giant bronze Dorje/Vajra (Tibetan thunderbolt) rests on a stone plinth at the top of the stairs.

The only thing you really need to remember when visiting a Stupa, is to always walk around it in a clockwise direction; never the other way. In this complex, there are some small Hindu temples which do not allow photos (or non-Hindus, shoes, fun, etc) and one Buddhist temple which requires you to slip your shoes off at the entrance. More about that later.

If you swing around to your immediate left, you'll see a cluster of small statues, a gigantic black bell and a wall that closes off the edge of the complex, overlooking Kathmandu city.

 All work and no play.

 By now, you would have undoubtedly noticed the monkeys. It might have been worth mentioning sooner the ins and outs of monkey conduct if you've never come across a macaque before. The small ones are cute, but don't touch them. Don't even go near them. There will be a raging mother monkey at your throat in a second. Don't smile at them - baring your teeth is a monkey challenge. Don't let them clock that you have food in your bag, if you do have any. You will become the screaming biscuit base of a hellish monkey scrum if they know that you're smuggling cookies. Go ahead and offer them a banana, though (which can be bought in bunches very cheaply at the market at the bottom of the steps) - it's not going to make them sick or send them into a carb-rage, and other tourists will be glad to take a photograph of a monkey eating a banana - it's secretly on everybody's list.

The terrifying proto-humans are do have their moments.

 The Stupa's peak looks best on a cloudy backdrop.

 Secondary, smaller Stupas are dotted around the perimeter of the main monolith.

As you make your way around the Stupa, you may feel inclined to take photos of worshippers or other visitors. Don't be Chinese about it - ask them nicely if they wouldn't mind, and if you're photographing temple staff, be sure to donate some Rupees for their time.

 A Newari lay Buddhist kindly let me take her photograph. 

 A mother and daughter light butter candles after finishing Puja [blessing/prayers].

As you make your way around the Stupa, resolve to do one or two quick rounds before slowing down and checking in on every building that surrounds the steeple. Thinking of the Stupa as an analogue clock: if you came up the stairs at 6 'o' clock, you'll come to a tiny museum of stonework sitting at about 11. Although small, the museum houses an extensive collection of stone Buddhas and deities and religious narratives from Nepal, India and further south. Don't miss it.

 One of many ancient Buddhist carvings from India. Lord Buddha sits between two other deities, who appear to be [Tibetan]Chenrezig - the Buddha manifestation of compassion. Note the text in the bottom of the image, apparently Sanskrit.

Statues are stained red from receiving Tika blessings at dedicated Puja.

After you've seen the contents of the museum (don't forget to inspect the Sanskrit stone at its exit), you'll be facing the small stairway that leads to a compact Buddhist temple. Visitors are welcome, but please; no shoes, offer a donation, do not take photographs during worship. If you manage to catch the monastery in a quiet period, you'll be able to get a close look at the central shrine, the torma carvings, and some of the bronze artefacts used during recital of the holy scriptures. You may be lucky enough to watch a monk chanting sutras during worship.

 Even the smallest Buddhist monasteries are decorated with intricate and colourful Tibetan motifs.

As you leave the monastery, you'll see on your left a carving of Lord Buddha - supposedly carved from a single piece of stone, centuries ago.

From the elevation of the small temple, you can watch the incoming clouds engulf Kathmandu's hills like a frozen wave.

As you continue walking clockwise around the Stupa, you'll have a chance to spin prayer wheels and watch sacred fires burning. Ten steps away from the small temple is a negligble opening in a flat building which leads into a small corridor. Remember this spot.

 

Prayer wheels are worn from the push of countless hands.

 A forest of micro-stupas lies behind the main building, and spread back to the end of the courtyard.

 

Holy fires are lit at intervals during the day.

Sadly, some aspects of the tourist industry have a heavy influence on the temple complex. The ubiquitous 'Om Mane Padme Hum' song will be playing on loop here from dawn to dusk, and every shop at floor level will be surrounded with a barricade of sprawling souvenir stands. Naturally, the same thing you'll find in Thamel but at a hugely inflated price. As you circumnavigate the stalls and stupas, you'll arrive at the last large building next to the main Stupa. It houses a large statue of Lord Buddha, flanked by another statue of Padmasambhava ('Guru Rinpoche', founder of Tibetan Buddhism) and a third gilded individual of whose identity I never learned. If you look to the left in this large room (located at 3 'o' clock on the aforementioned clock face) you'll see a small doorway - follow it and take a right to see more stone Buddhas inlaid in the temple wall. Pass this right turn and head towards a window at the end of the corridor, and on your right you'll see some double doors. These lead to the ceremony room of the temple. It wasn't open at any of my visits to Harati Devi, so I can't say what takes place inside. The notice on the door lays out the ettiquette for attending tourists - it'll be a rare opportunity if you do manage to look in on a ceremony.

 The unidentified Golden Boy who sits to the right of Lord Buddha in the final monastery.

 I've never managed to place the connection between pigeons and stupas.

 The gilded Stupa tower, radiant in afternoon sunlight.

 Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) in the main hall of the complex.

 Draw me like one of your French monkeys, Jack.

 Seconds before she took a swipe at my bag. 

Stray dogs have also managed to find a home within the temple complex.

 The Stupa glows, even on overcast days.

  I could go on posting images of the Harati Devi Stupa until the internet broke. But there's more fun to be had in discovering the rest for yourself. I will, however, share the area's best kept secret - the Nirvana Cafe.

If you're living in Kathmandu for a while and working on a daily basis, you won't get the same chances to take refreshing breaks from the city as other visitors may do. The Monkey Temple offers a hidden chance to get away from the fury and the dirt and the unrelenting noise of Kathmandu - complemented with a beer, a mint ice tea, and food options.

The entrance to Nirvana Cafe is (on the aforementioned clock face) at exactly 12 'o' clock. A square building stands in front of the Stupa, with a small doorway between sellers' stalls that leads into a corridor, opening into a courtyard. Go through the corridor and turn right. Take the stairs up one flight, and you'll see a blue door with glass panels - this is the Nirvana Cafe. Enter, greet the friendly staff, and head up the stairs on your right. (If you're anything over five feet and seven inches tall, mind your head constantly while inside). At the top of the stairs, take the door on the right to the balcony area and prepare for the most breathtaking view in all of Kathmandu city.

 The sun is sinking behind the valley's green hills. A vortex of golden eagles ride the air currents past the edge of the building, metres away from you. The noise and the chaos are only a distant hum. The air is fresh, above the stifling shroud of pollution that lingers like the mists of the Styx around the streets of the city. If you're here for a long haul, this place will become your source of sanity.

You can grab a rooftop table and take in a panoramic view of Kathmandu valley. From time to time, monkeys hop across the walls and disappear into the rooftops beyond. Most tourists simply don't find this place, which is why it is a bubble of calm and tranquility. I'm sure few enough people read my blog as to have no effect on the amount of people here, so relax. 

You will never tire of this view. In the winter, the temperature plummets as soon as the sun vanishes behind the hills. At this point, you'd be best to ask to sit in the private room (which seats plenty) at the top of the stairs you've just climbed. There's a large room downstairs with windows facing outwards. Sitting here as the sun sets and the lights of the city gradually flicker into existence will alleviate the stresses of life in Kathmandu. And whilst the cafe's prices are certainly aimed at tourists, if you choose the Nepalese food from the menu, it's a fraction of the price and infinitely better than tourist options.

Nirvana Cafe is a place in which the laid-back Nepali approach to almost everything truly comes into its own. Most tourists will make their way home after sunset. By the time the city's lights are coming on, if you want to stay, you'll only have the staff for company. Luckily, they're great company (especially so if you are a good customer). At this point, if the temperature has dropped away with the sunlight, head inside and hit the liqour. As you'll probably know by now, Nepali measures for spirits don't tend to come in smaller than 60ml, so bring a friend. In a practical sense, someone to hold onto as you make your way down the first hundred near-vertical stone steps in total darkness.

If you visit on a couple of occasions, get to know the staff and take at least one opportunity to climb the final flight of steps to the private roof at the top of the cafe (ask nicely). This gives the highest possible viewpoint of the back of the Stupa. In November when the air is clear and free of clouds, from this rooftop you will be able to watch a blood red sun sink into the western hills - turn around and marvel as the sunset dyes the peaks of the Langtang Himalaya region a fiery orange. The sunlight on the ever-present Himalayan snow seems to emit a glow of its own, beyond all description and imagining. On the clearest days of the year, from these great heights, you may even be able to see the Eastern Himalaya Range stretch away into the night, tinged pink in the setting sun.

 

The sight of distant mountains has always encaptivated me - I've spent whole afternoons sitting atop various hills in the city on clear days, watching them fade into the evening haze.

Of course, no grainy image from a phone camera straining to digitally zoom can do the endless and unparallelled magnificance of the Himalaya mountain range any kind of justice. This sight has to be witnessed firsthand to truly sink in.

As you stand in the center of the dirt and the heat of Kathmandu city and focus on these mountains, silence will rise up from within you. The world will slowly fall away, until there is nothing left but you, and the mountains. Every human life on the planet has sparked into existence and faded away in a fragment of the lifespan of these mountains. Kingdoms have risen and fallen, wars have raged without cessation; and yet, they stand. Unmoved and unmoving. If you spend enough time near these mountains, you will truly come to understand the dichotomy of existence and nothingness; of eternity and all endings. While all things change, they remain the same - perhaps, when considered in depth, gazing at the mountains and letting the wider world dissolve from your field of vision is the first step towards putting life into perspective.

Don't overlook the Harati Devi temple if you're in Kathmandu for a long stay. It can become such an important refuge when the suffering and sadness you're routinely exposed to as a volunteer starts to seep through the cracks in your resolve.

The setting sun above the hills of Kathmandu.