Nepal.. A family affair

 Nepal, a country boasting over seven UNESCO sites in its capital city of Katmandu, has always fascinated us. Despite being in the airline industry for over three decades, somehow, we had skipped this place. There is indeed a time and place for every event. Bangalore was going through a sweltering summer this year. We arrived in Nepal for a four-day holiday to escape Benguluru's heat.

Our travel companions for this trip were two incredibly spirited young ladies, Sashi Akka and Shantha Amma. Shashi is Amma's niece; however, she is older than her by a few years. Seeing their bonding in these four days, they are more like thick school friends who have seen life, lived it beautifully, and aged gracefully. The bonding between them is endearing to observe despite their differences. They were up and ready after finishing their morning prayer routine every morning, dressing brightly, twinning on all the days. They never complained about the dust, distance, inconvenience, bumpy roads, or boredom. During waiting periods when flights got delayed (all the time ), they relaxed and chatted with each other. It was an object lesson in dignified aging. Their penchant for shopping at every opportunity is another lovely trait to imbibe. 

 Traveling with elders can be challenging regarding the places of interest one chooses to sightsee. Nepal offers a blend of nature and culture to satisfy the needs of every tourist. It is home to many beautiful temples, Buddhist stupas, plenty of exciting treks and adventure sports for the adventurous, not to mention the UNESCO sites. We had decided to split our time to cover our varied interests. We covered the Pashupathi Nath temple and Guhyeshwari Shakti peeth on the day we landed.

Guhyeshwari Shaktipeeth

This is one of the 51 Shakti peeth, located 1 km east of the Pashupathi Nath temple. The temple's architecture is made in the  Pagoda style. The outside architecture of the temple is very simple, unlike the usual grand ones we see. The top of the temple is an open dome shaped out of four gold-plated snakes. Inside of the temple is decorated with flowers. This temple is known as a sacred place, especially for Tantric worshippers. We were pretty aghast to see a sacrificial lamb inside the sanctum. While Sashi and I sauntered in, I saw Arvind beating a hasty retreat out of the sanctum out of the corner of my eye. Then we saw a knife being sharpened for the sacrifice and went out so fast that we almost met ourselves on the way. We thought that different beliefs and customs may not be so suited to our thinking...

Pashupathi Nath Temple.

It is the most sacred Hindu temple in Nepal. It is located on both banks of the Bagmati River and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. We arrived in time to witness the aarthi at the temple. The temple's roof is made of copper and covered with gold. One of the remarkable features of the temple is the enormous golden statue of Nandi facing the inner sanctum. We could not explore the temple completely as it was closing time in the evening. 

On day 2 of our journey, we visited various temples around Katmandu. All the places are within driving distance of Katmandu. Traffic and dust on the roads were enough to drive us insane. Bengaluru traffic was a breeze, we thought. Despite that, we managed our itinerary and reached the airport in time for our flight to Pokhara. 

Swayambunath

It is an ancient religious complex on top of a hill in the Northwest of Katmandu Valley. The climb to the hillock is a flight of steps. One can get a panoramic view of the city from the top of the hill. The glory of Kathmandu Valley is believed to have started from this point. Swayambhu is the holiest Buddhist Stupa. There are numerous shrines, chaityas, statues, and monasteries within its premises. There are monkeys all along the way, and you are left alone if you don't catch them in the eye. We were astounded at the super seniors in our group who climbed all the way at their own pace. 

Climb to the stupa 

Budhanilkanta Temple

The name Budhanilkanta translates to Old Blue Throat. It is an open-air temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This temple can be identified by a giant reclining statue of Vishnu. The statue of the Lord lies in the middle of a pond that is surrounded by railings. The water in the pond is believed to come from Gosainkunda Lake, Where the Samudra Mathana is said to have taken place. The temple is situated below Shivapuri Hill at the northern end of the Kathmandu valley. The temple courtyard has small statues that represent different gods of Hinduism. There was a ceremony of lighting piles of wicks in the central courtyard. Anyone could go and push the wicks with the bamboo sticks. We joined the queue and tried our hand at the ritual without understanding the significance. With the burning fire and long bamboo sticks,  it turned out to be a great photo-op. A large Rudraksha tree adorns the area, and one can rest on conveniently placed benches in the cool shade. There is no mad rush or jostling and shoving; people patiently wait in queue, and everyone gets an opportunity to perform Jal Abhishek.

Jal Narayan 

Wick burning ritual 

Beneath the Rudraksha tree

On day 2 of our trip, we flew to Pokhara on the Regional Airways of Nepal. This was interesting because the flights get rescheduled at short notice. One has to be ready to wait at the airport for an hour, at least before the scheduled departure time. Having been used to punctual departures from Emirates and Indigo, it was difficult for us to simply twiddle thumbs and wait as the departure time was delayed in installments. But the entire crowd at the airport seemed quite at ease at this procedure. Landing at Pokhara International Airport with a delay of over 2:30 hours, it was past sunset. 

The airport was built with Chinese help, and it seemed that no Indian flights landed directly. As such, the airport had only domestic departures and arrivals. However, one can glimpse the snow-clad peaks right from the airport driveway. As luck would have it, with a combination of carbon emissions, forest fires, road construction, and lack of rainfall, all we could see was the haze. Sashi and Shantha Amma decided to go sightseeing locally, and Arvind and I opted for a short trek in the nearby mountains. The short hikes in Nepal are nothing less than 3 to 4 hours and involve plenty of climbing. 

Pokhara delights. 

We returned to Katmandu from Pokhara the same night. The next day, Amma and Sashi were on a flight to Sitapur, Sita's birthplace. Durbar Square refers to the plazas and areas opposite the royal palaces in Nepal.  The Durbar squares are filled with temples, flagstaffs, open courts, water fountains, and much more. Before the Unification of Nepal, Nepal consisted of smaller independent kingdoms, and Durbar Squares are some prominent remnants of those old kingdoms in Nepal. Three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley belong to the three Newar kingdoms. The most famous ones are the  Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, and Bhaktapur Durbar Square. Arvind and I explored Katmandu Darbar Square and Patan Darbar Square. More about the Darbar squares in the next blog. 

Sita Mahal 

Darbar in Katmandu Valley 

All in all, it was quite a mixed bag - If Nature has it, the mighty Himalayas can remain unseen (of course, with a human effort of pollution, etc.) So, we came away without a single view of the snow-capped peaks, but we also got to see the UNESCO heritage sites of Darbar Square and others. We got away from the searing Bangalore heat and experienced cooler climes, ticking off one more country from our Bucket List. Most of all, we experienced the pleasure of traveling with elders and enjoyed the ride.