It was already more than a week ago that we had
a great experience in the world’s biggest Buddhist Stupa, called Boudhanath (or
Boudha). Well, it’s really-really a place that is worth visiting! Imagine a
huge square with colourful shops all around where it’s pretty difficult to pass
without at least thinking about shopping and with a giant white stupa in the
middle that takes about five minutes to walk around! During this five minutes,
you can meet all kinds of people walking around the monument – from the
Buddhist monks living in the stupa, to tourists from all around the world, as
well as Buddhist people who came from far away to get a chance of experiencing
the atmosphere of this monument. While walking around, you can see prayer
wheels all over the wall of the temple that people touch and spin while walking
around and praying in order to avoid rebirth in a similar body. At the other
side, there is a small fire burning where Buddhists are supposed to wave the
smoke on themselves which’s meaning – as far as I understood – is just about
the same as spinning the prayer wheel. When you go closer, you can also walk up
to the top of the stupa from which there’s a pretty nice view on the square and
on the mountains further away. Also, if you are lucky, you can also see some
monks and other Buddhist people praying on the floor and practising some ritual
motions there.
After taking our time to explore this monument –
also during sunset! – we had a nice dinner at a vegetarian restaurant with a
great view on the stupa – which was a perfect ending of the day, too.
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