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city A
park and a monastery
city The immigration
desk at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, clearly indicated
that Nepal offers the best tourist attractions, and that the country has
indeed seen the back of insurgency. As travellers in big groups occupied the
non-Saarc counter, the ones from Saarc were offered free visa on arrival. But
that’s where the positive bias for fellow South Asians ended. On the exit terminal, the
officer was generous to the ‘real’ foreigners and let them go without
even screening of their baggage, while an Indian in my queue was asked to
step aside for further scrutiny. “Why me?” he turned around and said.
“It’s the colour of your skin,” I tried to console. It was an SIT, 11-day
programme that brought some fifty participants from all over Saarc countries
to Park Village Hotel and Resort for the annual South Asia ‘Conflict
Transformation Across Cultures’ (CONTACT). As you come out of the
airport, the first few images of the city seal the impression. The state of
roads made me feel I was still in Lahore, amidst Shahbaz Sharif’s Bus Rapid
Transport Mission; the only thing missing was, of course, a life-size poster
of Mian Sahib happily overseeing his BRT amid the polluted environment and
disastrous traffic. Shikha Prasai, one of the
coordinators of the SIT Peacebuilding Program, explained the development on
the roads of Kathmandu. “There is a vast road-widening project going on in
the city, that is why you see all the traffic mess and pollution,” I was
relieved to see the transform-the-city-into-Paris project was being pursued
in other parts of the world. The streets of Kathmandu
offer you a mesh of different cultures, ethnicities and economic strata. You
see a definite influence of Indian goods and traditions. It doesn’t matter
what the roads are like, you see the latest Indian-make TVS Bajaj Pulser,
Honda and Yamaha along the routes in Kathmandu. Like any other Pakistani, the
young girls on Vespas were a treat to watch. Stray dogs are in
abundance; surprisingly they are pretty clean. According to the locals, there
are clinics set up in every corner of the city that take care of these
‘pets’. In Kathmandu, you realise
how Bollywood unites all South Asians. The Nepalis understand and can speak
fluent Hindi —the reason, they admit, is their love for Indian commercial
cinema. So billboards sporting Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir
Kapoor are a familiar site. And, in discos, the popular choice is Bollywood
songs. Visit to Boudhanath, one of
the holiest Buddhist sites in Kathmandu on the first anniversary of H.H.
Dalai Lama’s Nobel Peace Prize, was a moving experience. Worshippers,
mostly refugees from Tibet, thronged the temple to offer prayers for the life
of Dalai Lama. Located about 11km in the northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu,
Boudhanath is a Unesco World Heritage Site aince 1979, and is one of the most
popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu. Inside Boudhanath temple is
the gigantic and largest spherical stupa in Nepal. It is said that this
ancient stupa is one of the largest in the world. The guide at the temple
explained the Buddha Eyes are also called Wisdom Eyes that look out in four
directions to symbolise the omniscience of a Buddha. Buddha’s nose looks
like a question mark. This is the Nepali character for digit 1 —
symbolising unity. The temple has been
developed on commercial lines, offering shops, restaurants, cottages and lots
of photo-taking opportunities for the locals and visitors alike. Thamel is the main
entertainment district of Kathmandu and a haven for tourists. The downtown
narrow streets can be any shopaholic’s delight with traditional clothes,
bags, jewellery, handicrafts, local souvenirs and all. If you don’t have
typical Pakistani looks and look more like an Indian/Nepali who can converse
well in Hindi (Urdu), chances are you will get the best bargains. After the local traditional
items, if anything else is popular in Thamel, that is the Kahmiri shawls,
stoles etc. Though most Indians and Pakistanis thought the prices were on the
higher side. The programme itself was a
reunion of sorts when Fairoz Malla, a participant from Jammu met another
Kashmiri from Srinagar. They both quickly switched to Kashmiri and laughed
and hugged each other. On my query, Fairoz said, “We were saying these
Pakistanis and Indians are the culprits for the state that Kashmir is in
today.” Since Thamel is also a
pre-base camp for mountaineers, you get to see more ‘foreigners’ than
local Nepalis. That is one of the reasons why the place is so costly. It
boasts of a wide range of mountaineering gear shops, foreign money exchange
booths, pubs, clubs and nightlife along with the numerous travel agents and
guest houses. ‘Lonely planet’, a
website that serves as a guide for travellers, rightly says “if you want to
live, live it up in Thamel”! Some of our neighbours from the western-border
drew inspiration from this and decided to visit a strip joint, which didn’t
go down that well. They saw (what they wanted to) but immediately ran out of
the joint calling it a ‘cultural shock’; but not before they had paid a
heavy price for even one glance — 1000NPR per head. Photos by the author caption Thamel, the main
entertainment district of Kathmandu. caption Boudhanath, the largest
stupa in the world. caption Traditional souvenir shops,
Thamel.
A
park and a monastery In the lap of the
lush green mountain, the golden top of the monastery was dazzling like a gold
crown. The foot trails in the midst of thick vegetation lead to the ‘golden
Buddhist temple. Nestled in the Shivapuri
range of mountains and surrounding Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park in the
fringes of the capital city, the Nagi Gumba is one of the most popular
destinations for the people who want relief from the crowds and the dust of
the city. A half and hours drive
along the bumpy roads full of traffic mess would take to the foot of the
Shivapuri Mountain at Budhha Nilakantha. With the huge stony creature of
lying Vishnu(a Hindu God on one side) — a dark asphalt road goes up
straight to the main entrance of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park — spread
over 159 square kms in the northern fringes of the capital. Decades ago, in 1975, the
monarch of Nepal reserved the area as a wild life sanctuary and was
sanctioned a national Park status in 2002. Traditionally known as a
prime watershed area near the national capital, the thick woods
of Oak, pine and medicinal plants of the national park —houses more
than 177 species of birds and 19 species of mammals — a paradise of eastern
Himalayan flora and fauna. Streams and springs coming down from the mountain
are the source of millions of litres of water in the capital. Like wild lives, the
mysterious and inaccessible ridges and ravines of mountains once attracted
rebels to camp deep inside the forest during the civil war of the country.
The timeless silence of nature was shattered by gun shots during battles
between the state and the rebels. Recovering from the
nightmare of blood shed, Shivapuri is the house of peace again, but still gun
toting soldiers in the entrance of the park and their camps on top of the
hills still remind of the days of unrest. Among several other temples
nestled in the park, Nagi Gumba a Buddhist Monastery,
is an important place for both for Buddhists and travellers — who
love to explore the mystery of the nature. Close to the Sivapuri peak (2732
meters) — the second highest among the mountains surrounding Kathmandu
valley — the temple lies high on the top of a hillock, off a narrow foot
trail — six kilometres from the entrance of the park. Crossing the moist shadows
of the watershed zone and the monsoon plantations — the track goes through
the bright sun-lit valleys, full of cheering and whispering pines. Loose
sandy soils and scattered stones always keeps a traveller guessing. Careful
eyes towards the trail will deprive the trekker from the blooming and shining
rhododendrons waving off the track in breeze. A glimpse of colourful birds
and butterflies often bedazzle travellers so much so that it may even push
one towards the edge of the endless gorge. A detour from the track
heading towards the Sivapuri peak, will take one to the temple. A long narrow
series of the stairs finally land to a open space, and suddenly a tall
building with a golden crown pops up in the middle of mountains — Nagi
Gumba. A fleeting glimpse of a
shaved off head of a child clad in the red dress of a Buddhist monk, from the
top of the monastery reminds the curious eyes of a teenage Dalai Lama
watching from the terrace of the Potala Palace (shown in Seven Years in
Tibet). The heavy door of the monastery is open to all. Nuns will help a
traveller to visit inside the prayer room and then a warm welcome with a pot
of hot tea in the monastery canteen. A senior nun explained that
Nagi Gumba, formally known as Nangkyi Gompha, is a part of Tibentan Ka-Nying
Shedrup Ling Monastery where more than 108 nuns stay under the spiritual
direction of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche — abbot of the nunnery. Being allowed to
meet the abbot, I found that the shaved-head small boy — Guru Rinpoche —
whose curious eyes were always on us from the top of the temple was the
abbot. “He is eight years old
and is incarnated Guru Rinpoche,” whispered a senior nun, with an enormous
trust in her voice for her spiritual guru. “ The writer is a Principal
Correspondent, The Times of India, Kolkata Shivapuri Nagarjun National
Park Area: 159 sq kms Located: 12 kms from the
center of capital Kathmandu Entry Fee: Nepal Ruppes:
250 Wild life: Sloth Bear,
Leopard, Muntiac. Pallas Cat, Large India Civet, Indian Pangolin, Wild
Boar,177 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies Other attractions:
Monasteries and temples in the forest, mountain biking, trekking, hiking
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