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UNESCO World Heritage Site : 1979
Kathmandu (Népal)
| | | | Swayambhunath (Devnagari : स्वयम्भूनाथ स्तुप - sometimes romanized Swoyambhunath) is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west. | | Swayambhunath Temple : Virtual tour |  | 22 sections and 6 items |
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Swayambhunath Temple : Entertainment (1)
Swayambhunath Temple : Guide (1)
|  | Visit guide, map and satellite view of the Swayambhunath Temple (4)
Swayambhunath can be gotten to by foot, bike or taxi. It is a pleasant walk from Thamel to here. Unless you tell the taxi driver he will usually take you on the road that goes via the National Museum to the western side of f Swayambhunath. From there it is an easy walk to the top of the hill.
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|  | Pilgrims at Swayambhunath Temple
For the Buddhist Newars in whose mythological history and origin myth as well as day-to-day religious practice, Swayambhunath occupies a central position, it is probably the most sacred among Buddhist pilgrimage sites. For Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism, it second only to Boudhanath.
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|  | Sadhu at Swayambhunath Temple
In Hinduism, sadhu, or shadhu is a common term for a mystic, an ascetic, practitioner of yoga (yogi) and/or wandering monks.
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|  | Anantapura Sikhara
Anantapur
1646
The two bullet-shape temples (shikra) on each side of the stupa, known as Pratappur and Anantapur, were given by King Pratap Malla to help him earn a victory over Tibet in the 17th century. The story of his success is inscribed on the twin bells in front.
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|  | Crowning steeple
The crowning steeple, the Buddha's crown, is usually hand-made of brass and/or covered with gold leaf. It is segmented into 13 tapering rings (chatraveli), a parasol and a twin symbol of the sun and the moon.
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|  | Dongak Choling Gompa
If you make a right after coming up the eastern stair there is a gompa where there is a 5 meter high statue of Avalokiteshwara and huge prayer wheel. At around 04:00 pm there is an interesting ceremony in which there is chanting, trumpeting and cymbal banging.
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|  | Gateway
A large, brightly painted gateway frames colorful statues of Buddha and the 365 steps to the Swayambhunath Monkey Temple.
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|  | Hariti Temple
Ajima Temple
The two-storied pagoda style Hariti Temple is one of the popular places for both Hindus and Buddhists in the Swayambhunath complex.
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|  | Pratapura Sikhara
Pratappur
At the stop of the stairs are two shikhara Indian style temple and stone lions and a huge dorje that were built by King Pratap Malla in 1646. The right temple is the Pratapura temple and the one on the left on the Anantapura temple.
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|  | Prayers wheels
A prayer wheel is a cylindrical "wheel" (Tibetan: 'khor) on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather, or coarse cotton.
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|  | Shantipura Stupa
Shantipura, the symbol of sky (either) is north of the platform.
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|  | Staircase leading to the Bodhnath Stupa (2)
XVIIth century
You can reach the stupa by car by taking the western entrance. The more interesting and more difficult way to reach the stupa is climbing the eastern stairways.
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|  | Vajra
XVIIth century
A giant vajra (Tibetab dorje) sits on top of a pedestal at the top of the stairs at the entrance to the stupa. The pedestal contains the 12 animals from the Tibetan calendar : hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog, pig, mouse, ox, and tiger.
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| | Swayambhunath Temple : Hours | |
Admissions :
There is an entry fee of NRP 75 if you enter from the western side where the car park is located, but there is no entry fee if you climb the eastern stairs.
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| | Swayambhunath Temple : Visit Guide | |
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Swayambhunath can be gotten to by foot, bike or taxi. It is a pleasant walk from Thamel to here. Unless you tell the taxi driver he will usually take you on the road that goes via the National Museum to the western side of Swayambhunath. From there it is an easy walk to the top of the hill.
The walk up the eastern stairways is an interesting way to get to the stupa on top of the hill. It is a fairly hard climb. A taxi from Thamel to the western side of Swayambhunath is NRP 150) and to the bottom of the eastern stairs is little less.
If you ride a bike to Swayambhunath it could be a good idea to pay a few rupees for someone to look after your bike when you get there.
There are two routes to walk to here. On one you start in Chhetrapati, west of Thamel and you descend to the river and other way you pass the Indrani Temple before going over the bridge. You can clearly see the stupa on top of the hill. You then pass Bijeshwari Temple on the left and Shobabaghwati Temple on the right. From the river it is a one kilometer walk.
From Durbar Square you take Maru Tole (Pie Alley) to the footbridge across the river. It is then a pleasant one-kilometre walk pass some shops, gardens and shops to the base of the hill.
Safa tempo n°20 shuttles between Swayambhunath's eastern stairwair and Kathmandu's Sundhara district, near the main post office (NRP 10). | | Swayambhunath Temple : Description | |
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The Tibetan name for the site means "Sublime Trees", for the many varieties of trees found on the hill. However, Shing-kun may be a corruption of the local Newari name for the complex, Singgu, meaning "self-sprung". For the Buddhist Newars in whose mythological history and origin myth as well as day-to-day religious practice, Swayambhunath occupies a central position, it is probably the most sacred among Buddhist pilgrimage sites. For Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism, it second only to Boudhanath.
The Swayambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a variety of shrines and temples, some dating back to the Licchavi period. A Tibetan monastery, museum and library are more recent additions. The stupa has Buddha's eyes and eyebrows painted on. Between them, there is something painted which looks like the nose - but is the Nepali symbol of "unity", in the main Nepali language dialect. There are also shops, restaurants and hostels. The site has two access points: a long stairway, claimed to have 365 steps, leading directly to the main platform of the temple, which is from the top of the hill to the east; and a car road around the hill from the south leading to the southwest entrance. The first sight on reaching the top of the stairway is the Vajra. Tsultrim Allione describes the experience :
We were breathless and sweating as we stumbled up the last steep steps and practically fell upon the biggest vajra (thunder-bolt scepter) that I have ever seen. Behind this vajra was the vast, round, white dome of the stupa, like a full solid skirt, at the top of which were two giant Buddha eyes wisely looking out over the peaceful valley which was just beginning to come alive.
Much of Swayambhunath's iconography comes from the Vajrayana tradition of Newar Buddhism. However, the complex is also an important site for Buddhists of many schools, and is also revered by Hindus.
Places on Hill
At the stop of the stairs are two shikhara Indian style temple and stone lions and a huge dorje that were built by King Pratap Malla in 1646. The right temple is the Pratapura temple and the one on the left on the Anantapura temple. Dorje is the Buddhist word for thunderbolt. With the thunderbolt there are often bells. The thunderbolt symbolizes the male force and the bell symbolizes the female wisdom.
If you make a right after coming up the eastern stair there is a gompa where there is a 5m high statue of Avalokiteshwara and huge prayer wheel. At around 4 pm there is an interesting ceremony in which there is chanting, trumpeting and cymbal banging.
There are several temples on top of the hill. A large image of the Sakyamuni Buddha is in a monastery next to the Stupa.
There is a temple dedicated to Hariti Devi, the goddess of smallpox and fertility. The Newars know her as Ajima, and worship to protect children. She is seen sucking the inside out of a corpse. It is said that she was asked by the Buddha to stay near Buddhist temples and not inflicts disease if she was worshipped. There is a huge prayer wheel next door.
There are pillars near the Hariti Temple that have various deities on them. There is an interesting figure of Tara, making a hand movement.
There is also a temple dedicated to the goddesses Yamuna and Ganga (Ganges) that has an eternal flame. There is a Museum that has a good collection of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures. The International Buddhist Library, behind the stupa, is open daily except Tuesday 11:00am to 03:00pm.
The symbols of the five element are located around the hilltop — earth, water, fire, air and either. Behind the Anantapura temple there are the Vasupura, the symbol of the earth and Vayupura, the symbol of air. Northwest of the platform is Agnipura, the symbol of fire and Nagpura, the symbol of water is north of the stupa. Shantipura, the symbol of sky (either) is north of the platform near the Shantipura building.
Near the north part of the platform, there is a big statue of the Buddha and an ancient stone inscription dating form 1372.
Architecture
The stupa consists of a dome at the base. Above the dome, there is a cubical structure present with eyes of Buddha looking in all four directions with the word "unity" in the main Nepali dialect between them. There are pentagonal Toran present above each of the four sides with statues engraved in them. Behind and above the torana there are thirteen tiers. Above all the tiers, there is a small space above which the Gajur is present.
From simple domed burial mounds, "build to hold relics of Buddha", stupas they evolved over the centuries to become complex structures that represent Buddhist philosophy - the five elements characteristic to the Buddhist universe. The base symbolises the earth, the dome the water, the spire the fire, the umbrella the air and the pinnacle the ether. At the lowest level of the stupa is the plinth, which may be a simple square platform or terraced one. The plinth at Boudha Natha stupa is made of three tired crossed platforms and represent a mandala (aka a circle of completion), being used by the pilgrims as circumbulatory passages.
A little above there is a series of recessed niches encircling the entire periphery of dome where a total number of 108 stone sculptures of Buddhist deities - 108 is a magic number in Buddhist philosophy.
The hemispherical dome (kumbha), freshly whitewashed every year, symbolises the water.
To the top of the stupa dome is the harmika, a square usually painted on each side with a pair of eyes along with question marks. With these ever cautious eyes, the lord Buddha beholds every happening constantly with a very keen attention. Topping the harmika is a tapering section of 13 stages, representing the 13 different mental stages on the way to Nirvana (the final salvation, freed from the worldly bondages).
Above the harmika, there is a vessel in the form of an inverted lotus patel, which is to be filled with the water of knowledge. On the top, a gild metal parasol or umbrella to capture the wind.
Symbolism
The dome at the base represents the entire world. When a person awakes (represented by eyes of wisdom and compassion) from the bonds of the world, the person reaches the state a bit higher. The thirteen pinnacles on the top of it symbolizes that sensient beings have to go through the thirteen stages of enlightenment to reach Buddhahood.
On each of the four sides of the main stupa there are a pair of big eyes which represent Wisdom and Compassion. Above each pair of eyes is another eye, the third eye. Saying goes that when Buddha preaches, cosmic rays emanate from the third eye which acts as message to heavenly beings, so that those interested can come down to earth to listen to the Buddha. The hellish beings and beings below the human realm cannot come to earth to listen to the Buddha's teaching, however, the cosmic ray relieves their suffering when Buddha preaches.
There are carving of Panch Buddhas (five Buddhas) on each of the four sides of stupa. Apart from this, idols of the Buddhas are at the base of the stupas. Panch Buddhas are Buddha in metaforical sense in Tantrayana. They are Vairochana (occupies the center and is the master of the temple), Akshobhya (faces the east and represents the cosmic element of consciousness), Ratna Sambhava (faces the south and represents the cosmic element of sensation), Amitabha (He represents cosmic element of Sanjna (name) and always faces the West) and Amoghsiddhi (He represents the cosmic element of conformation and faces the north).
Each morning before dawn, hundreds of Buddhist (Vajrayana) and Hindu pilgrims ascend the 365 steps from eastern side that lead up the hill, passing the gilded Vajra (Tibetan : Dorje) and two lions guarding the entrance, and begin a series of clockwise circumambulations of the stupa.
From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swayambhunath
Text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License | | Swayambhunath Temple : History | |
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Mythology
According to Swayambhu Purana, the entire valley was once filled with an enormous lake, out of which grew a lotus. The valley came to be known as Swayambhu, meaning "Self-Created." The name comes from an eternal self-existent flame (svyaṃbhu) over which a sūpa was later built.
Swayambhunath is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west. They are holy because Manjushree, the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning was raising the hill which the Swayambhunath Temple stands on. He was supposed to leave his hair short but he made it grow long and head lice grew. It is said that the head lice had transformed into these monkeys.
The Bodhisatva Manjushri had a vision of the lotus at Swayambhu and traveled there to worship it. Seeing that the valley can be good settlement and to make the site more accessible to human pilgrims, Manjushri cut a gorge at Chovar. The water drained out of the lake, leaving the valley in which Kathmandu now lies. The lotus was transformed into a hill and the flower become the Swayambhunath stupa.
History
Swayambhunath, is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal. It has been built sometime between the 4th and the second half of the 9th century. According to the Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī Swayambhunath was founded by the great-grandfather of King Mānadeva (464-505 CE), King Vṛsadeva, about the beginning of the 5th century CE. This seems to be confirmed by a damaged stone inscription found at the site, which indicates that King Mānadeva ordered work done in 640 CE.
However, Emperor Ashoka is said to have visited the site in the third century BCE and built a temple on the hill which was later destroyed.
In 1346 Mughal invaders from Bengal broke open the stupa in the search for gold. King Pratap Malla added the stairway in the 17th century.
Although the site is considered Buddhist, the place is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus. Numerous king Hindu followers are known to have paid their homage to the temple, including Pratap Malla, the powerful king of Kathmandu, who is responsible for the construction of the eastern stairway in the 17th century. The Harati Devi Temple here is a popular Hindu temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Harati.
The stupa was completely renovated in May of 2010, its first major renovation in 90 years and its 15th in the nearly 1,500 years since it was built. The dome was re-gilded using 20 kg of gold. The renovation was funded by the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center of California, and began in June 2008. | | Swayambhunath Temple : More pictures | |
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