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Travelogues
On This Spot a Lotus Bloomed
by Satis Shroff
Nepalese men
and women work in the fields. They use the traditional bullocks and
buffaloes that are seen in the villages of Southeast Asia.
They dig the fields manually. The women work beside the men, with babies
strapped to their backs. Long wooden hoes are being used to dig and
break the soil, whole families pitching in to do the job. And far out in
the distance, the all-seeing-eyes of the compassionate Swayambhu
observes the land from the towers on which his eyes are painted.
As you start
for the temple, you're first greeted by two Tibetan lions, set in stone,
amid wonderful wooded surroundings. Behind the lions you see three
colossal statues of the Buddha, serene and daubed in flaming red and
gold. All around you there are naked trees in poses of suspended
animation.
The ground crackles as you step on the fallen brown and russet leaves.
Shrill bird cries ring through the air. It is roosting time, you say to
yourself. The trees are silhouetted against the evening sky and the
shadows are lengthening. Your eyes discern the prayers carved in the
granite slabs as you ascend the seemingly endless stairs.
A bearded tourist and a bevy of girls giggle nearby, talking in French
and eating peanuts. They pass some peanuts to the swarm of monkeys who
are a regular feature of Swayambhu. The Rhesus monkeys are creeping,
jumping, fooling and fighting with each other.
"How happy they are", remarks a tourist with a laugh, as the monkeys
climb the spire of the stupa. The overhanging eaves of the stupa, gilded
with gold, are loosely chained together. The wind blowing from across
the silvery Himalayas makes them rustle. You are dumbfounded by the
majestic temple.
Three lamas go by: "Om mane padme hum" stirs in the air.
You take a cue from them and go about spinning the 211 copper prayer
wheels that girdle the dome. Then you peer at the all-seeing-eyes
painted on the four sides of the stupa and look where they look: at the
myriad pale yellow, white, blue and crimson lights of the Kathmandu
Valley below. You feel that you have indeed reached the top of the
world.
It is chilly, and an icy gust of wind blows your hair. The clatter of
the prayer-wheels is constant. The stony stairs are set at an extremely
steep angle, but there are railings to help you up or down. A Tibetan,
probably a Khampa from Eastern Tibet, mumbles his prayers as he comes
down from the temple. He is wrapped in heavy mauve woollens. A shaggy
Tibetan Apso, a tiny dog, like a Pekingese, with bells round his collar
jingles past.
You go on. A few paces up, a monkey stealthily passes by as though he
were a big-game hunter. You are again confronted by meditating Buddhas:
the Dhyanibuddha Akshobya who rides an elephant and a lion,
Ratnasambhava who rides a horse, Amitabha who rides the peacock and
Amoghasiddhi who rides the heavenly bird garuda.
The going is hard but the ascent is redeemed because of the breathtaking
beauty of the place. More Rhesus monkeys dart around you. One of them
takes a joy ride along the railings like a kid, skids off and vanishes.
You can't help laughing. You abruptly come across two statues of horses:
short and stubby. You're weary but you press on and come across small
elephant statues, with live monkeys playing pranks on their backs. The
monkeys give you a quizzical stare. These are all part of the Buddhist
pantheon. Now you begin to understand why the tourists call this temple
complex also "the monkey temple". The monkeys are protected by law (as
is the yeti) and have freedom there since over 2000 years. They live on
the offerings brought by the Hindus and Buddhists, and peanuts and
popcorn offered by the tourists.
Your climb is over. The sky is dark, blue, and is fast changing into
Prussian blue, and Venus has already appeared, but you have eyes only
for the gigantic white dome and stupa of the Self-Existent One. The
stupa is of great sanctity for all Hindus and Buddhists. It is
hemispherical and you are struck by its enormous size. The earliest
inscription on Swayambhunath dates back to the year 1129, but the stupa
is thought to be much older.
You make your way to a Buddhist monk and he tells you a legend about
Swayambhu...
"Once upon a time the Nepal Valley was a great lake. It was on this
spot, where you now stand that a lotus bloomed and became the heart of
the world."
March 31,
2007
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