The bloody temple of Kali. Patan

I've set the alarm quite early in the morning. I had big plans in that day. I was thinking to visit a Kali temple situated 20 km away from Kathamndu and Patan. But, when I woke up in the morning around 5:45 it was still dark outside, so I slept 45 more minutes. At around 7 o'clock in a nice cool morning I was outside searching for a bicycle to rent. I found one just around the corner. It was only 100 rupees (a bit more than one euro) per day for a chinese mountain bike.

I jumped on the bike and let's go. It was early in the morning and the narrow streets of the old Kathmandu were quite crowded. Once again I’ve crossed the checking point for Durbar Square without being asked for a ticket and I kept going down south of the city. The Bogamati river flows between Khatmandu and Patan. But I didn’t want to cross the bridge to Patan. It was another one south East of Khatmandu that I wanted to cross. But I didn’t manage to find it. At same point I found myself in a kind of dumping ground with garbage, dozens of dogs around me and slams everywhere. Some of Khatmandu’s poorest and lowest communities live here. I went farther as fast as possible to pass this trash hell, but finally I’ve managed to arrive nowhere. A dead end was in front of me. I had to come back through all that mess and start asking around. But nobody seems to know where was that crossing point. On the map was there just in front of me, but I couldn’t find it. Finally I gave up and I went farther west and I crossed the river using another bridge.

After 20 minutes I was on a nice small road far away of Khatmandu’s traffic. The road goes up and soon cycling become very difficult. The slope inclination was bigger and bigger and most of the time I was walking rather than cycling. It was a valley along the Bogamati river which was on my left. I passed some newari villages with a lot of nepalis staring at me. Not so many foreigners come here cycling on this damn hill. Finally I reached Pharping, a small newari town just 3 km away of Dakshinkali, my final destination. In Lonely Planet guid was written about it as a pilgrimage site for both buddhists and hindus. But it wasn’t so interesting. A lot of new Tibetan monasteries and some hindu temples. And after a shor break I went farther to Dakshinkali.

Dakshinkali is quite isolated. Situated between two hills and at the confluence of two rivers, Dakshinkali is a hindu temple dedicated to the bloody goddess Kali. Here is the place with Nepal’s biggest number of animal sacrifices. They slit the throats of the animals (buffalos, goats, pigs, lambs, chickens or ducks) whit knives or they chop off the heads and hold the decapitated animal so a stream of blood goes toward the Kali. The sacrifice will please the goddess and is interpreted also as doing the animal a favor by releasing him from a life of suffering and giving him a chance to be reborn as a human being. It can be sacrificed only an uncastrated male. I wasn’t there in a sacrifice day (in every week on Tuesday and Saturday) so I haven’t seen any of these sacrifices. The temple is very small and it has no walls, just a small fence around it, so u can see inside the Kali’s image. U can guess that here most of the time is a lot of blood, because the ground in front of the temple it’s almost covered with flies and has a reddish nuance.

Actually there is nothing special with this temple apart of the sacrifice, and I was thinking that I came there cycling so hard for almost nothing. The way back to Khatmandu was much more easier, except the climb from Dakshinkali to Pharping which was the most difficult part from the whole itinerary. The sky was cloudy and it was very nice to cycle back to Khatmandu. The only problem was the bike saddle. It was very uncomfortable and my bottom part wasn’t so happy and complained a lot.

When I was close to Khatmandu I took the right road to Patan. It started raining when I arrived in Patan and I was very hungry, so I stopped in the center of the city for a quick lunch. In front of the restaurant on the road some people were working to raise a strange construction: a kind of cart with huge wheels and a thin but tall tower on top of it. It was about 10 – 15 meters high, and somebody told me that there is a festival in the city and this cart will be dragged around the narrow streets of Patan.

Patan Durbar Square is my favorite among all three of Durbar Squares from Khatmandu Valley (Khatmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur). Here are the biggest number of temples and statues. All these temples face the former Royal Palace residence. Now, one section from this building was renovated and houses the best nepali museum. The glory of the square was during the Malla kings (14th to 18th centuries). The entry fee is 200 rs for foreigners and is payable at the southern end of Durbar Square. I arrived in Durbar Square from west side and I was thinking that doesn't make sense to go until the south end only to pay the entrace fee. Actually I was thinking that doesn’t make sense for me to pay at all. :D I don't mind paying but I hate this indian/nepali policy in which the price for foreigners is 20 times or even more bigger than the fee for locals. So, I didn't pay and nobody asked me about ticket. Only when I entered in the square a guide offered me his services and after I refused him he told me to go and buy a ticket from the south part. „Not right now.. First I want to see north part of the square and afterwards I'm going to south part to buy the ticket", I told him.

There are around 15 temples in the square, most of them with newari architecture. The three-storey Bhimsen Temple situated at the north end of Durbar Square is dedicated to the god of trade and business. Maybe because of this it's very weell-kept. Krishna Mandir has an Indian influence, unlike the near by Newari multiroofed pagoda temples. The temple is dedicated to Krishna an incarnation of Vishnu. In front of the temple sitting kneeled with folded arms on top of a column is the man-bird Garda, the god’s vehicle. Krishna Temple an octagonal stone temple is also situated in front of the palace and has two stone lions in front of the entrance.

Facing the former Royal Palace is a tall column, topped with a statue of King Yoganarendra Malla (1684 – 1705) and his queens. The king is represented kneeling and is protected by the hood of a cobra. On the cobra’s head is a bird figure. The legend says that as long as the bird remains there, the king may still return to his palace. A door and a window of the palace are always kept open for the return of the king.

Patan Museum is situated in a section of the palace around Keshav Narayan Chowk. The entrance for foreigners is 250rs and it’s said that is the best museum from Nepal. The main exponents of the museum are religious hindu and buddhist sculptures. And here one can find very detailed explications about hindu mythology. Who is Shiva and Vishnu? What is a Shiva lingam? What vehicles and consorts the gods have? U can find here answers for these questions along with others about buddhism. I found it very interesting from this point of view. But I was very disappointed because I couldn’t see any nepalis weapons. :(

And Durbar Square is not everything u can see in Patan. One can walk around, and find a plenty of temples and hitis(traditional nepali water tanks) along the narrow streets. Most of these are situated north of Durbar Square. I took a walk around with my bike and I managed to lose my chain locker. For a while I had to keep my eyes on my bike. Until I found a shop where they had bicycle chain lockers. I bought one and my bike was safe again.

The Golden Temple Buddhist monastery is not far away from Durbar Square. The doorway is flanked by a pair of lions male and female. The male male lion had a big sexual organ painted in pink.

It was almost the dusk and I decided to return to Khatmandu. Patan is very close to Khatmandu being separated only by Bagmati River. It was a rush hour and the traffic vas very very slow and was already dark outside when I arrived in Thamel. And Thamel is not the best place for cycling in an evening. The streets are narrow and there are a lot of pedestrians, and bikes everywhere. A nice walk through these narrow streets full with shops and restaurants during the evening is the best. So, I went to my hotel gave back the bike had a shower and came back to Thamel. The power cuts are very common here, but almost all of the shops have a diesel generator. That’s way even if there is no electricity one can hardly notice this. A tasty chicken steak with French fries and vegetables salad and a cold beer on a roof top restaurant. What else do u want more after a hot day of cycling around Khatmandu Valley?

Swayambhunath Stupa

Along the steps on the both sides there were a lot of stall selling handicraft and religious stuff. Most of them were tibetans. I’ve seen the traditional nepalese game: the lion and the goats. I was interesting to buy it but they asked me for a big price and I’ve changed my mind. Two small boys aproached me, asking my name and a lot of questions. I was sure that either they will try to take me in some place to buy something or they will ask me for money. And in the next one hour they followed me, trying to explain me what is what. I’ve tried to ignore them. I didn’t listen to their explication. I wanted to be alone not followe by those kids but in the same time I didn’t want to be rude with them, so I let them to follow me. At the end of course that they asked me for money.

“I don’t have parents, I’m alone, can you give me some money?” I don’t like this kind of aproach. I didn’t ask them to come with me and now they ask me for money. I gave them a little, 20 rs, that was almost nothing for me, but for a 10 years old kid from Nepal I think it’s something. And he asked me for more.

“You know what, I didn’t ask you to come with me. If is not enough give me the money back”.

Finally they left I could enjoyed alone the last 20 minutes. At the beginning they showed me another entrance from behind, and they told me that if I take that way is for free.

“Here 100 rs, entrance, there no money sir..”

But I didn’t listen to them and I took the main entrance paying 100rs. I don’t know why I didn’t take the other entrance. I guess I wanted to be honest in from of the kinds, not an european who wants to cheat. But in the next days I tool only the behaind entraces and I didn’t pay any ticket.

Swayambhunath stupa was quite impressive for me and something very different from what I’ve seen so far. A huge white dome, with a kind of golden square tower on top of it. On the each side of the square there are painted the eyes of Budha watching in each direction across the valley. The nose is actually a question mark, and is the nepali number one (ek), the symbol of the unity of all life. There is represented also the third eye, the symbol of Budha’s insight. And hundreds or even thousands of multicolour prayer flags are hanged around the stupa in all the directions. These flags, are usually a piece of cloth as big as a A4 or A3 paper written with prayers (mantra) in tibetan. All around the stupa there are prayer wheels, which piligrims spin as they pass by walking around the stupa in a clock-wise direction. On the each prayer wheel is written the sacred budhist mantra om mani padme hum (hail to the jewel in the lotus).

Around the stupa there are some small hindu temples and a lot of stall selling tibetan budhist handicraft. There are also some houses around(tibetan settlements), monasteries, restaurants, and you can see the whole Kathmandu Valley in front of your eyes. And of course… a lot of monkeys. I left the beautiful stupa walking towards Kathmandu just before the dusk.

When I arrived in my room I had the pleasant surprise to find that there was hot water. After the shower I had some fights with some huge cockroaches that invaded my teritory. I hate those huge cockroaches. I’ve killed three with my shoes.

Exploring Kathmandu

The capital of the Nepal kingdom, Kathmandu is the biggest city of the country with an over 740.000 inhabitants. Actually is the only city of the country, Pokhara the second city and tourist destination being just a small town. The city is situated in Kathmandu Valley just next to Patan being separated only by Bagmati river. The other city from the Valley, Bhaktapur is very close also, just 20-30 km far away. The original inhabitants of the Valley are called newars.

I woke up quite early in the morning when the weather was cool, the best time for visiting Kathmandu in a summer day. Of course I stopped first in the main tourist area of the city: Durbar Square. This area used to be in the Middle Age the center of the city. Here was the palace of the king, the central square and a lot of temples. In all the three cities from Kathmandu Valley there is a Durbar Square. In The Middle Age each one was a medieval kingdom and it was a kind of competition among the kings for building a lot of temples in Durbar Squares.
The fee entrance for Durbar Square in Kathmandu was 250, but somehow I manage to cross the checking point without being asked about the ticket. Actually I didn’t know where was that point until I effectively crossed it. The place is very interesting and different. Imagine yourself two huge squares joined together with a lot of pagoda temples and statues all around. The name of the city is called after a temple from Durbar Square called Kaasthamandap, buit in 1596 A.D. by King Laxmi Narshing Malla. The entire temple is built from wood without any metal nails and it’s said that it was built from the timber from a single tree. All the temples from the Square are hindu temples, but there are completely different from the Indian temples. All are pagoda temples with two, three, four or five story. And most of them have erotic carvings on the roof strut. It’s an entire Kamasutra carved in wooden. You can see there animals, women and animals, gods, people all of them having sex in different position. There is also a big sculpture in the Square with Kali the bloody goodness, where every year during the Indra Jatra Festival in September water buffalos and goats are sacrificed being decapitated with a single blow of the sword. In front of the square is the former king palace and on the right side of the palace there is a very nice building with a lot of wooden carvings of it. It’s the house of Kumari, the living goodness. The name of the building is Kumaru Bahal. She is a young girl chosen from a certain cast of Newari when she is very young 4 –5 years old, and she is not a goodness all her life. As soon as she is a women, after her first period or after she loses a lot of blood because of an accident she is not anymore a goodness and she has to leave the house. The process of finding a Kumari is very complicated. There are a lot of demands for her. She must have the body of the Banyan tree, legs like a deer, neck like a conch and eyebrows like the cow. She must never have lost a drop of blood. But once she is chosen she lives in luxury life. Her feet must not touch the ground. When she leaves the palace she is carried in a palanquin. Is very difficult for an ex-Kumari to find a husband. It’s said that a man who married a Kumari will day young.
Although Durbar Square is not anymore the center of the city is the most used place for meetings, and is the perfect place to come and observe the Nepalese life. Here, around the Kaasthamandap temple the vegetables vendors come to sell their products. And also here the young couples or the good friends come in the evening to meet, sitting on the stairs of the numerous temples and talking. Here in Nepal the cows are also holly like in India, and in Durbar Square u can find lots of them. Most of the temples are still in use and u can walk around and watch the hindu people praying or dooing pooja, the hindu ceremony of offering food, fruits and flowers to the gods. It’s a kind of jumping in time the walking tour in this Durbar Square. All around you amazing medieval streets, buildings and temples, ladies in sari, ancient traditions and ceremonies. And not only Durbar Square is like this. The entire part of the old Kathmandu city is like that. The streets are narrow and all around you is full of pagoda temples, in the same style. Almost all of them are small two or three story temples. Some of them are with a huge clock in front of the temple, or they have a 4-5 meters pillar with a god statue on the top in front of them.
In Lonley Planet guide there are two walking tours from Durbar Square. One is going up north of the Durbar Square and the other one down south. Along this walking tours you pass narrow streets, big chowks where 4 – 6 streets meet and form a kind of square with some temples, streets vendors and old newari traditional buildings. The water tanks, so called Hiti, with a lot of sculptures and steps where is the place where the women go for the water with huge pots carried on the top of the head and stopping for a small chat with the other female neighbors. This is the old part of the city. There is also a new part with fancy shops, large streets, nice buildings. It’s the best place from Nepal to see the different between old Nepal and new Nepal. The imposing king’s palace is situated just next to Thamel, the tourist district of Nepal. The pink modern building is surrounded with a double 5 meters fence, with huge gates and guards everywhere.
After half of the day walking around Kathmandu I’ve started starving. A good time to eat something, I was thinking. And where can be the best place to eat in Kathmandu? Of course that Thamel, the tourist district of Kathamandu. This place is amazing. It’s packed with restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, travel agency. And tourists everywhere. And nepalis hanging around and asking you if u want some grass. Or trying to sell you something. The travel agencies offers great tracking trips, rafting trips, paragliding, safari trips, Tibetan trips. Nobody can complain of coming here and becoming bored. I noticed, that the price are slightly bigger than in India for rafting and tracking, but it’s understandable as far as Nepal is one of the best destination from world for this kind of activities. After thirty minutes of walking around Thamel I’ve spotted my restaurant: “Yak Café”, a Tibetan-run restaurant. And what else can u try in a Tibetan restaurant than MOMOS, the Tibetan well-knows dish. I’ve order buffalo momos(mince buffalo meat wrapped in dough and fried) and tongba (hot millet beer). The momos were delicious. They Tibetan equivalent of Romanian sarmale. The tongba was quite strange. I didn’t like it so much I guess because I wasn’t used with it. They bring u a wooden mug full with wet millet seeds and they pour inside hot water. And u drink it with a straw. U can feel the alcohol inside the hot beverage.
After having such a nice lunch it was the time to move on. Next destination was Swayambhunath, a Tibetan stupa one hour walking from Thamel. The stupa is known as the “monkey temple” because of the large number of monkeys that are everywhere around you. I decided to walk to the stupa from Thamel. In my way I passed one village where I was followed by a lot of nepalis eyes. From the base of the hills there is a road around the hill for the cars and there steps up to the stupa. I took the steps.