Today we traversed the city of Kathmandu as quickly as traffic would allow. I will say that the traffic flows much better than India, and the roads and sidewalks are generally cleaner. Electricity however, is another story. We began our day in the Hanuman-Dhaka Durbar, a Square. This is a World Heritage site built between the 12th and 18 centuries and contains 25 temples (Hindu and Buddhist) as well as several palaces and the home of The Kumari. The Kumari is a living goddess in Hinduism and must be a pure, blemish free girl of age 5-12. Once menstruation begins she is no longer pure and a new Goddess is appointed. We were lucky enough to have her hold court while we were in her house. It is considered a blessing. No pictures are allowed of her although I did take a picture of her courtyard and the window where she appeared. The woodwork in the houses, palaces and temples is quite elaborate. There is also a photo that I took a picture of to show how elaborately The Kumari is made up daily. We observed classes being taught in a temple. The other sites were also breath taking as was the climb to the top of one of the palaces. From there it was on to The Boudhanath Stupa, an homage to The Buddha. I received a blessing from one of the Buddhist Monks. We also joined in a wedding procession. Our final stop of the day was the Pashupatinath Hindu Temple. One of the most revered in Hinduism and the site of an annual pilgrimage. We were not allowed in the temple but the grounds were full of amazing sites. We also discovered the origin of the term “Monkey Bars”. This is also where Hindu residents of the Kathmandu Valley are cremated. There were several going on while we were there. We watched a body be prepared for the ceremony. The evening was capped off with a traditional Nepalese meal along with some regional dances.
