Ashoka Stupa West, Patan
Ashoka Stupa West, Patan.
View along the main road north from Patan to central Kathmandu. Note the little white and red Suzuki cars - these are the taxis. The little white microbuses and the three-wheelers are the main form of public transport. The motorbikes are the main form of private transport.
A very special gate, but I'm not sure what!
Sheer coincidence led me to this stupa with its beautiful Buddha statue - I was trying to find a backstreets route around a traffic jam!
The Buddha in close-up
One of the bigger Hindu temples in Patan with an amazing tree in its courtyard.
A goat in the courtyard of the Hindu temple
Ashoka Stupa North, Patan
I wanted to take a picture of the 'Buddhist duck', who was also walking clockwise around the stupa, and then the little girl noticed my camera ...
... and her friends noticed it, too, and clamoured to have their pictures taken ...
... this one was meant to be just of the two girls ...
... and this one is of some special martial arts pose ...
Buddhist holy symbols - on the left at the front, the mandala, and in the middle the 'dorje'
Durbar Square, Patan. A world heritage site - the former royal square and holy site - temple upon temple.
Buddhist temple marking the site where Lama Marpa stayed on his journeys from Tibet to India. Marpa is one of the founding fathers of the Kagyu lineage of Buddhism.
The mandalas and dorje at the Marpa temple.
The Mahabuddha stupa. This is a smaller version of the big Buddha stupa in Bodh Gaja.
This was the original Mahabuddha stupa, which collapsed. A generous sponsor then enabled the building of a new one, but the old one was also reconstructed.
Our group - Juliana taking a photo, Jasper with his back to us, Lama Sam Ten and Khenpo Ramesh, unfortunately hidden by Juliane's arm!
Mahabuddha again.
Ashoka Stupa East (with a very narrow and precarious-looking house in the background!)
Ashoka Stupa East - this was a little outside the city limits. Crossing the ringroad on my bicycle to get here was not a task for the faint-hearted!
The stupas often have a little Hindu shrine added on. (And here in the foreground, the bicycle Jakob lent me - thanks Jakob!)
Ashoka Stupa South - the biggest of the four stupas that were first built around 2000 years ago by King Ashoka, who brought Buddhism to Nepal
Ashoka Stupa South - close-up of a special statue of Gautama Buddha, and I think a somewhat questionable quotation!
Ashoka Stupa South
