Day 01
Morning Spiritual Visit to Bouddhanath and Pashupatinath
- We will start the tour at 7 o'clock in the morning to see Kathmandu at its best, with no traffic and people engaged in their daily early morning routine.
- The first stop is Bouddhanath, with its all-seeing eyes of Buddha. It is surrounded by monasteries where monks are busy with their daily prayers. There is a flow of people turning the prayer wheels, performing the Kora, and lighting butter lamps. We will mix into the flow.
- Our second stop is a short drive to Pashupatinath, a Shiva temple situated on the bank of the Bagmati River. Here, the flow of people participating in their rituals is even more colourful. Priests seated on the riverbank help guide local people with their rituals, while mantras from religious scriptures are chanted and bells are rung.
- And in the midst of all this, a funeral ceremony is in progress on the other side of the riverbank. Relatives bid farewell and give their final respects to the deceased. The body lies atop a pyre and burns on the funeral pyre.
- We take it all in and return to our hotel to understand and contemplate the morning we have just spent in Kathmandu.
