A golden spire crowning a conical wooded hill, Swayambhunath
Stupa is the most ancient and enigmatic of all the holy shrines in
Kathmandu valley. Its lofty white dome and glittering golden spire
are visible for many miles and from all sides of the valley. Historical
records found on a stone inscription give evidence that the stupa
was already an important Buddhist pilgrimage destination by the 5th
century AD. Its origins however, date to a much earlier time, long
before the arrival of Buddhism into the valley. A collection of legends
about the site, the 15th century Swayambhu Purana, tells of a miraculous
lotus, planted by a past Buddha, which blossomed from the lake that
once covered Kathmandu valley.
The lotus mysteriously radiated a brilliant light, and the name of
the place came to be Swayambhu, meaning 'Self-Created or Self-Existent'.
Saints, sages and divinities traveled to the lake to venerate this
miraculous light for its power in granting enlightenment. During this
time, the Bodhisatva Manjushri was meditating at the sacred mountain
of Wu Tai Shan and had a vision of the dazzling Swayambhu light. Manjushri
flew across the mountains of China and Tibet upon his blue lion to
worship the lotus. Deeply impressed by the power of the radiant light,
Manjushri felt that if the water were drained out of the lake Swayambhu
would become more easily accessible to human pilgrims. With a great
sword Manjushri cut a gorge in the mountains surrounding the lake.
The water, draining away, left the valley of present day Kathmandu.
The lotus was then transformed into a hill and the light became the
Swayabhunath Stupa.
Swayambhunath's worshippers include Hindus, Vajrayana Buddhists of
northern Nepal and Tibet, and the Newari Buddhists of central and
southern Nepal. Each morning before dawn, hundreds of pilgrims will
ascend the 365 steps that lead up the hill, file past the gilded Vajra
(Tibetan: Dorje) and two lions guarding the entrance, and begin a
series of clockwise circumambulations of the stupa (Newari Buddhists
circle in the opposite, counterclockwise direction). On each of the
four sides of the main stupa there are a pair of big eyes. These eyes
are symbolic of God's all-seeing perspective. There is no nose between
the eyes but rather a representation of the number one in the Nepali
alphabet, signifying that the single way to enlightenment is through
the Buddhist path. Above each pair of eyes is another eye, the third
eye, signifying the wisdom of looking within. No ears are shown because
it is said the Buddha is not interested in hearing prayers in praise
of him.
The area surrounding the stupa is filled with chaityas, temples,
painted images of deities and numerous other religious objects.
There are many small shrines with statues of Tantric and shamanistic
deities, prayer wheels for the Tibetan Buddhists, Shiva lingams
(now disguised as Buddhist chaityas and decorated with the faces
of the the Dhyani Buddhas), and a popular Hindu temple dedicated
to Harati, the Goddess of smallpox and other epidemics.The presence
of the Harati Devi temple signifies the intermingling of the pantheons
of Hinduism and Buddhism in the development of the religious trends
of Nepal. As Buddhists had no deity in their own pantheon to protect
against the dreaded smallpox, they adopted the Hindu deity for assistance.
Atop Swayambhunath hill is another fascinating, though smaller
and less visited temple. This is Shantipur, the 'Place of Peace',
inside of which, in a secret, always locked, underground chamber
lives the 8th century Tantric master Shantikar Acharya. Practising
meditation techniques which have preserved his life for uncounted
centuries, he is a great esoteric magician who has complete power
over the weather. When the valley of Kathmandu is threatened by
drought, the King of Nepal must enter the underground chamber to
get a secret mandala from Shantikar. Soon after the mandala is brought
outside and shown to the sky, rain begins to fall. Frescoes painted
on the inside temple walls depict when last this occurred in 1658.
The small temple has a powerful atmosphere; it is mysterious, stern
and slightly ominous.
The complex of temples atop Swayambhunath hill is one of my most
favorite sacred places in the world. It was here, in 1967, when
I was thirteen years old that I first became enchanted with visiting
and photographing ancient pilgrimage shrines. Swayambhunath stupa
is also called the ‘Monkey Temple’ because of the many
hundreds of monkeys who scamper about the temple at night after
the pilgrims and priests have departed. These monkeys and a hashish
inspired yogi first introduced me to the magic of sacred places.
Nearby the Swayambhunath hill are other important temples such as
the Shiva Jyotir Linga temple of Pashupatinath, Boudhanath stupa,
Changu Narayan, Dakshinkali, and Budhanilkantha. Readers interested
in studying the sacred sites of the Kathmandu valley in detail are
referred to the works of Bubriski, Majupuria and Moran listed in
the bibliography.
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