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| Was Buddha Born in Nepal? |
Before the
trip, while planning, I was excited to know that our dates coincide with a local festival: Buddha
Jayanti, the birthday of Buddha; however, I had no
idea that the event is also a bone of contention between India and Nepal! As
can be seen from the banner above, Nepalese cry foul of its neighbor for not
recognizing the Hiamalayan country as the saint’s birthplace. Instead, India
claims the honor to her benefit.
Without
knowing much about the controversy, we happily participated in the signature
campaign which you may described as بغض معاویہ rather than حب علی! Interestingly, there were grumblings around as locals were skeptical of us; they might be confusing us with Indians!
The Festival of
Budhha Jayanti
We spared Bhaktapur
at the tail end of our trip as a local CSer assured us to show us the celebration
around his hometown, which has an influential Buddhist population. But the guy
ditched us at the eleventh hour, which was off-course disappointing because we
would have better attended the event at Kathmandu’s Swayambhunath, which gets
extremely vibrant during Buddhist festivals.
Rather than whining
anymore, we decided having a walking tour of the town at our own.
ہمّت مرداں ؛ مدد خدا !
To our luck
we found a big noisy procession at Darbar Square, the most notable aspect of which
was the dummy of Dalai Lama; a crowned boy sitting on wagon’s roof maintaining
a demeanor expected from a religious figure. Simultaneously, a troupe of boogies
was dancing passionately on the deafening drumbeat flaring up the otherwise
docile march.
Further
roaming around took us to a monastery where the event was being celebrated
rather decently. As per the tradition, women from around the community brought
homemade food to be distributed among young students, or future monks. One of
the organizers got excited to know that we came from Pakistan and candidly
offered us the same food; a platter of daal bhaat and kheer. He further
enlightened us that the brighter ones among these pupils will be given
scholarships in Thailand. Ambiance inside the hall perfectly resembled to that
in a typical Pakistani seminary although I never thought that there might be
any influence of Buddhism on Islam, and that too in Pakistan. Or this may be a
reflection of shared Eastern traditions.
Change of Plan
Although it
was a happening first half of the day but things were not going as per the
plan, mostly because we felt ditched by the CS guy. That resulted in a heated
debate among us, the most obvious thing expected from a married couple regardless of the situation! Finally we both agreed to change the plan and ditch
Bhaktaour in reply, where we earlier intended to spend two nights, and instead thought
of visiting the nearby hill station Nagarkot.
Outside the
gated city, we tried negotiating the sightseeing tour with a cab driver who
referred us to a minivan. Good for us, as we wanted to checkout from the hotel
and needed space for the luggage and Urooba’s souvenir shopping. We texted this
change of plan to Kathrin, our kind host in Kathmandu, who was gracious enough
to accommodate us for two more nights, before we flew back to Karachi. On the
other side, the lady manager-cum-owner of Nyatapola Guesthouse, where we
were staying, got vivid by this sudden change of plan and tried fleecing us the
second night’s charge – unsuccessfully though.
Nagarkot –
Kathmandu’s Murree
Nagarkot
was to Kathmandu what Murree is to Islamabad, however, a lot less
commercialized. So if you endeavor deep into Himalayas – e.g. Pokhara, Everest
area, etc – there is no need, in my opinion, to bother visiting this resort
town. Having said that, I must say the place is a good escape if one feels
enough of the noise and pollution of Kathmandu.
We stayed
there till sunset and then came down to Kathmandu and visited the enroute Pashupatinath Temple
– a huge Mandir famous for royal cremations. It was getting darker and watching
a dead body being prepared for incineration at the Shamshan Ghat was too explicit
and nauseating for me. Perfect setting for a horror scene! Although Urooba was
more composed and analyzing the scenario, albeit with a distance, from the
the medical point of view. Nearby, I found a post-burial ceremony,
which was easier for me to negotiable with. A band of musicians was playing
some tradition rhythms, may be part of the local funeral rites, while the
audience was sitting in the rather Western setting.
With this,
we ended the day, and so did the Nepal trip, effectively speaking, as we spent
the coming day rather uneventfully at Kathrin’s place before returning back to
Karachi.
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| Budhha Jayanti Flag in Bhaktapur |
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| A Neighborhood Monastery in Bhaktapur |
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| Women from the Neighborhood were Distributing Food Among Students |
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| Looks Like a Pakistani Madarsa! |
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| It Was Kind of a Parents Day at the Monastery |
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| Heavy Woodwork is Bhaktapur's Specialty |
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| Bhaktapur's Artisan-ship is Evident from these Intricate Designs |
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| Attention to Detail! |
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| More Worldly Kids Outside the Monastery |
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| Bhaktapur's Narrow Alley |
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| Some Sort of Dried Vegetable |
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| Now Going to Nagarkot - Kathmandu's Murree |
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| Terrace Farming Around Nagarkot |
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| Himalayas Shrouded in the Mist |
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| Nepali Bamboo |
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| A Picturesque Dating Spot! |
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| Nagarkot Treeline Around Sunset |
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| Outstanding! |
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| The Darkness of Pashupatinath After Sunset |
