Holi Schmoli
The day after I made the last post was the Hindu festival of Holi. This is very enthusiastically followed by everyone in Kathmandu, even if they are not Hindu's. The shops and businesses close for the day in order to cause havoc in the streets. Water bombs, water shooters, water pistols and plain buckets of the stuff are thrown from the rooftops over innocent passers by. Water is then followed quickly by a large amount of coloured dye. Its much like being tarred and feathered against your will!! ...of course I had to be on the streets to witness this! There was utter chaos for the whole day -the streets taking on the feeling of a warzone - shops with thier shutters down, rickshaws and taxi's covered in sheet plastic, and lots of tourists hopping about with white tee-shirts - inviting a dousing. Street corners were full with naughty groups of boys (from the age of 5 to 65) all waiting for thier next victim!
All in all, I had an excellent time, although I have now got a cold from being thouroughly doused in ice water so much....of course they target girls more than boys (as they make more noise!!) and of course tourist girls on thier own even more!! hahah! Of course I make a lot of noise anyway....
The pictures of the aftermath are on my photobucket website so have a look. For days and days afterwards, the streets were littered with powder stains and broken waterbomb skins. Also, a lot of dogs around the city were sporting very fetching multi colour fur. Sweet!
The next day I had hired a taxi man to show me the sights of Kathmandu. We spent the whole day cruising the city looking at magnificent sights. The first of which, I now know, is the ICONIC landmark of Kathmandu - the Pasupati temple - which is a large white Buddhist stupa which is topped with the very famous "eyes of peace" and the squiggly "nose" looking like a question mark - this I learnt is the Nepali figure for the number one. The significance of the whole thing is "bringing together the city with peace for all" very nice too. The Stupa is surrounded by hundreds of prayer wheels, which the faithful will turn as they pray. You have to walk clockwise round the stupa (to do it right!), So I just sat and watched the marvellous parade coming round in front of me. The area is steeped in temples, monastaries and churches for many different religions, but mostly Buddhist (and one Hindu), so its in this area that I encountered my first Buddhist monks and nuns, in all shapes and sizes - some of whom are also obviously western. The atmosphere was enhanced by many colourful prayer flags flying about and above the stupa, as well as all manners of insence being burnt - which was also being sold by many stalls in the area - interestingly looking like inscense and myrre of days of yore - from bags of crystalline salty stuff to bits of ferns and tree bark. It all smelt lovely.
Driving through the city to the next destination, I watched the daily life continue oblivious to little me. The streets thronging with people - mostly shopping in tiny shops in crumbling ancient buildings. There are few new developments in KTM, mostly old flaky buildings with carved wooden lattice windows and balconies. The shops are in small cubby holes in the bottom of the buildings - almost too small to hold the stock and one person - but filled to the seams with all manner of things - from drums to shoes to packets of biscuits. Most of the shops have shutter doors which can be closed and padlocked if the keeper is going to lunch! Old men and women squat on the pavement drinking tea or selling piles of veg, as rickshaws, cars, dogs and children crowd the street. The most gory area is the butchers shops which are a grisly table in the cubby hole piled with all manner of meats, innards and buckets of blood. One delightful stall I saw had a goats head on a nail by its eye socket...ahem...nice.
Anyway, we sped through the madness to the next interesting stop in the list, which is Boudha - stupa and ghats. This is a Hindu sanctury which is straddling a river, in which, the bodies of the dead are washed and prepared for thier cremations - at the burning Ghats. Now, I had read about this place in the book, so I was a bit prepared, but untill you have seen human flesh melting in front of your eyes, while the corpses wailing relatives loudly and longly mourn next to the pyre, you cannot believe how shocking yet moving the whole thing is. You can sit on the opposite side of the river to watch the cremations, so it becomes a bit like very macarbre theatre, which I thought I could handle...but I was a bit wrong. I left there with very mixed feelings.
First of all, the dead body is washed in the river by the relatives (who are constantly wailing). The river is FILTHY with the remains of previous burials (pieces of material, flowers, unidentified charred remains...) and also all the usual indian style water detritus - sewage basically. The washing is done in full view of all the people, and the body is not covered up at all. I saw three dead people.....shiver shiver.
Then the body is transported to the funeral pyre on the ghat. Then there is a long ceremony, where all the extended family anoint the body(which is wrapped in a safferon sheet by now) and lay flowers on it. Its also doused with water from the river (which cannot be good for the bodies flammability...) and then at the end, the oldest son has to go around the body three times with a lighted flame torch, and then set the whole thing on fire. While burning, the body is doused in Ghee or butter, which helps the flames. I watched with gobsmacked gory interest while the body went up. It melted. I saw the flesh melt. God, It was something I wont forget in a hurry, nor would I like to see again really. The rest of the site is a very beautiful complex of Hindu temples and shrines inhabited by many many dope smoking sadhu's. I didnt get any pictures of them because they just demand money for pictures and it annoys me!! (I know they are holy men and all, but they should have more decoram!)
Anyway, next on the agenda was the most beautiful Patan Durtbar square. The Durbar square's in Kathmandu and Patan are the oldest parts of the city - they both are similar in that they are still working parts of the city, and still used by the people to go about thier daily lives in - shopping, bartering, praying and generally wandering - but the difference is, that its all done amongst some of the oldest buildings in the country. The buildings in both these squares date back to pre-civilisation of Kathmandu. The squares have many many temples and holy buildings - many in Tibetan/chinese palace styles - topped with several stacked roofs and heavily carved struts and details on the buildings. Also many of the palaces and temples display giant carved animals and gargoyle like friezes on the doors and roof details. Its really wonderful to be able to wander through these areas which are like living museums. In Kathmandu Darbur Sq there is a lot of restoration going on, helped by the tourist rupee, so that is great news. In the Kathmandu D/S there is a palace where there is a "living goddess" which is a hindu child which is thought to be a goddess. Notably, when she gets old enough to get her period, she is chucked out and a new kid is given the accolade of being a goddess. Also, the old one is never allowed to get married (should also die a virgin). Seems to be a bit of a raw deal to me, but apparently, its a HUGE accolade for the family if the church says the child is a goddess. There is only ONE alive in the world at any one time, and they always keep them in the palace here.
Also in KTM D/S there are some amazing HUGE Hindu sculptures of angry looking god incarnations. One of them is meant to strike you dead immediately if you tell a lie in front of him. These people believe it so much that they still use it as part of the court process here! I believe it too - the sculpture is very mean looking. I found myself trying to think true thoughts (just in case...) There is also another one which, on high days and holidays they pour beer through its mouth - and those who manage to get some of the beer become prosperous for the coming year. Nice.
The last place I visited was the Sinoyambhu temple on the top of the hill overlooking the KTM valley - which was also imaginatively known as monkey temple - as it sports some very smooth looking monkeys. This place had a stupa quite similar to the Pasupati temple - with the "eyes"etc, but the best thing about it was the prolific number of prayer flags - and also its position - which afforded the most spectacular views of KTM and the surrounding plateau and mountains. From there, KTM reminded me alot of Quito in Ecuador. Similar setup - mountains, plateau, big city all viewed from "on high"
What a day!
On the way back to the hostel, I noticed a sign for a dentists - they had before and after pics of the peoples teeth, except (I hope) they got them the wrong way around. The "before" shots were of perfect white straight teeth, and the "after" shots were of brown deformed gappy teeth...unless that is a comment on the quality of dental care in KTM!
The following day, I had a little jolly taxi ride out to a "subcity" of KTM called Bhaktipur. This place is also a living fossil of a city - it is "as KTM was" hundreds of years ago. They do not allow motor vehicles into the city, and all the buildings were "as was" Temples on every corner, streets filled with people pushing hand carts and leading yaks and buffalo, squares scattered through the city all resembling Durbar, and all very beautiful and peaceful. It was really like wandering through a HUGE living museum. Really fascinating. The other thing this part of the city is famous for, is pottery. There are whole areas of the city which are dedicated to potters and pottery - beating clay, spinning pots on potters wheels, sculpting, drying pots in the sun, and firing them in huge pyres. Very interesting. I almost got hands on...it looked too inviting for words - but at the crucial moment a wedding procession went past and took my attention away for a bit.
After hours wandering in this marvellous ancient city, I was whisked up to the top of a very large hill overlooking the KTM valley and the surrounding mountains, to see a spectacular sunset. Beautiful!
All in all, I had an excellent time, although I have now got a cold from being thouroughly doused in ice water so much....of course they target girls more than boys (as they make more noise!!) and of course tourist girls on thier own even more!! hahah! Of course I make a lot of noise anyway....
The pictures of the aftermath are on my photobucket website so have a look. For days and days afterwards, the streets were littered with powder stains and broken waterbomb skins. Also, a lot of dogs around the city were sporting very fetching multi colour fur. Sweet!
The next day I had hired a taxi man to show me the sights of Kathmandu. We spent the whole day cruising the city looking at magnificent sights. The first of which, I now know, is the ICONIC landmark of Kathmandu - the Pasupati temple - which is a large white Buddhist stupa which is topped with the very famous "eyes of peace" and the squiggly "nose" looking like a question mark - this I learnt is the Nepali figure for the number one. The significance of the whole thing is "bringing together the city with peace for all" very nice too. The Stupa is surrounded by hundreds of prayer wheels, which the faithful will turn as they pray. You have to walk clockwise round the stupa (to do it right!), So I just sat and watched the marvellous parade coming round in front of me. The area is steeped in temples, monastaries and churches for many different religions, but mostly Buddhist (and one Hindu), so its in this area that I encountered my first Buddhist monks and nuns, in all shapes and sizes - some of whom are also obviously western. The atmosphere was enhanced by many colourful prayer flags flying about and above the stupa, as well as all manners of insence being burnt - which was also being sold by many stalls in the area - interestingly looking like inscense and myrre of days of yore - from bags of crystalline salty stuff to bits of ferns and tree bark. It all smelt lovely.
Driving through the city to the next destination, I watched the daily life continue oblivious to little me. The streets thronging with people - mostly shopping in tiny shops in crumbling ancient buildings. There are few new developments in KTM, mostly old flaky buildings with carved wooden lattice windows and balconies. The shops are in small cubby holes in the bottom of the buildings - almost too small to hold the stock and one person - but filled to the seams with all manner of things - from drums to shoes to packets of biscuits. Most of the shops have shutter doors which can be closed and padlocked if the keeper is going to lunch! Old men and women squat on the pavement drinking tea or selling piles of veg, as rickshaws, cars, dogs and children crowd the street. The most gory area is the butchers shops which are a grisly table in the cubby hole piled with all manner of meats, innards and buckets of blood. One delightful stall I saw had a goats head on a nail by its eye socket...ahem...nice.
Anyway, we sped through the madness to the next interesting stop in the list, which is Boudha - stupa and ghats. This is a Hindu sanctury which is straddling a river, in which, the bodies of the dead are washed and prepared for thier cremations - at the burning Ghats. Now, I had read about this place in the book, so I was a bit prepared, but untill you have seen human flesh melting in front of your eyes, while the corpses wailing relatives loudly and longly mourn next to the pyre, you cannot believe how shocking yet moving the whole thing is. You can sit on the opposite side of the river to watch the cremations, so it becomes a bit like very macarbre theatre, which I thought I could handle...but I was a bit wrong. I left there with very mixed feelings.
First of all, the dead body is washed in the river by the relatives (who are constantly wailing). The river is FILTHY with the remains of previous burials (pieces of material, flowers, unidentified charred remains...) and also all the usual indian style water detritus - sewage basically. The washing is done in full view of all the people, and the body is not covered up at all. I saw three dead people.....shiver shiver.
Then the body is transported to the funeral pyre on the ghat. Then there is a long ceremony, where all the extended family anoint the body(which is wrapped in a safferon sheet by now) and lay flowers on it. Its also doused with water from the river (which cannot be good for the bodies flammability...) and then at the end, the oldest son has to go around the body three times with a lighted flame torch, and then set the whole thing on fire. While burning, the body is doused in Ghee or butter, which helps the flames. I watched with gobsmacked gory interest while the body went up. It melted. I saw the flesh melt. God, It was something I wont forget in a hurry, nor would I like to see again really. The rest of the site is a very beautiful complex of Hindu temples and shrines inhabited by many many dope smoking sadhu's. I didnt get any pictures of them because they just demand money for pictures and it annoys me!! (I know they are holy men and all, but they should have more decoram!)
Anyway, next on the agenda was the most beautiful Patan Durtbar square. The Durbar square's in Kathmandu and Patan are the oldest parts of the city - they both are similar in that they are still working parts of the city, and still used by the people to go about thier daily lives in - shopping, bartering, praying and generally wandering - but the difference is, that its all done amongst some of the oldest buildings in the country. The buildings in both these squares date back to pre-civilisation of Kathmandu. The squares have many many temples and holy buildings - many in Tibetan/chinese palace styles - topped with several stacked roofs and heavily carved struts and details on the buildings. Also many of the palaces and temples display giant carved animals and gargoyle like friezes on the doors and roof details. Its really wonderful to be able to wander through these areas which are like living museums. In Kathmandu Darbur Sq there is a lot of restoration going on, helped by the tourist rupee, so that is great news. In the Kathmandu D/S there is a palace where there is a "living goddess" which is a hindu child which is thought to be a goddess. Notably, when she gets old enough to get her period, she is chucked out and a new kid is given the accolade of being a goddess. Also, the old one is never allowed to get married (should also die a virgin). Seems to be a bit of a raw deal to me, but apparently, its a HUGE accolade for the family if the church says the child is a goddess. There is only ONE alive in the world at any one time, and they always keep them in the palace here.
Also in KTM D/S there are some amazing HUGE Hindu sculptures of angry looking god incarnations. One of them is meant to strike you dead immediately if you tell a lie in front of him. These people believe it so much that they still use it as part of the court process here! I believe it too - the sculpture is very mean looking. I found myself trying to think true thoughts (just in case...) There is also another one which, on high days and holidays they pour beer through its mouth - and those who manage to get some of the beer become prosperous for the coming year. Nice.
The last place I visited was the Sinoyambhu temple on the top of the hill overlooking the KTM valley - which was also imaginatively known as monkey temple - as it sports some very smooth looking monkeys. This place had a stupa quite similar to the Pasupati temple - with the "eyes"etc, but the best thing about it was the prolific number of prayer flags - and also its position - which afforded the most spectacular views of KTM and the surrounding plateau and mountains. From there, KTM reminded me alot of Quito in Ecuador. Similar setup - mountains, plateau, big city all viewed from "on high"
What a day!
On the way back to the hostel, I noticed a sign for a dentists - they had before and after pics of the peoples teeth, except (I hope) they got them the wrong way around. The "before" shots were of perfect white straight teeth, and the "after" shots were of brown deformed gappy teeth...unless that is a comment on the quality of dental care in KTM!
The following day, I had a little jolly taxi ride out to a "subcity" of KTM called Bhaktipur. This place is also a living fossil of a city - it is "as KTM was" hundreds of years ago. They do not allow motor vehicles into the city, and all the buildings were "as was" Temples on every corner, streets filled with people pushing hand carts and leading yaks and buffalo, squares scattered through the city all resembling Durbar, and all very beautiful and peaceful. It was really like wandering through a HUGE living museum. Really fascinating. The other thing this part of the city is famous for, is pottery. There are whole areas of the city which are dedicated to potters and pottery - beating clay, spinning pots on potters wheels, sculpting, drying pots in the sun, and firing them in huge pyres. Very interesting. I almost got hands on...it looked too inviting for words - but at the crucial moment a wedding procession went past and took my attention away for a bit.
After hours wandering in this marvellous ancient city, I was whisked up to the top of a very large hill overlooking the KTM valley and the surrounding mountains, to see a spectacular sunset. Beautiful!
posted by Abster at 12:33 pm
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