vaga #6/6 Kathmandu

PART VI

this would be an intense day in Kathmandu, it is the sum of several days that go from the mundane to the sacred.

"My windows" of each house are always a source of information about the environment, when observing with time details are revealed little by little, intimate scenes of the neighbours, never with the idea of spying, but of observing, learning from whatever. Through this window of Kathmandu where I spent about 3 months in and out, located two blocks from Thamel, seduced by its garden, a necessary oasis if one thinks to stay for a long time. Located on the fourth floor, the roof of the building with a tremendous terrace, which allowed me to have a very wide spectrum of views towards three cardinal points, discover that there is daily life on the rooftops, the mornings are the busiest.

At dawn, they begin with prayers, and I would say in all those in which I had within my sight, although in this neighbourhood the bells were barely heard in the distance, even being Hindus there is a variety in their rites. Here, offerings of fresh flowers and petals every day, holy waters, incense and prayers. Men have different rites, they open their arms to the sky, bow again and again and murmur something out loud. Later they start with other chores such as washing and drying clothes, washing pots and dishes from meals, taking care of their plants, bathing under a makeshift shower with a thin saree (first photo), on another side a woman makes her daily prayers different from the others with her body half naked (second photo), they bathe the children. It is a territory of women; grandmothers, daughters and grandchildren

......... music..... One morning .......

music ……one morning ……

......... music..... One morning ...... and many others not reported.......

Looking down at the building on one side, I deduced the lower floors without access to the roof or the poor with no access to water from the top is in the common courtyard on the ground floor of the building. The somewhat old buildings or the basic ones that in this area are almost all of them, do not have running water, nor bathrooms on the floors. The water is down below, a single tap, along with the toilet box. It is rented per room, only one family per room, there would be about 30 rooms that is, 30 families in the building. There is just a program in Nepal, and it is "every house with bathrooms", but these are old buildings, and it would be for new constructions. Therefore, in the courtyard clothes were washed, dishes, pots, they bathed, all with buckets, many buckets, no sinks, no showers. The boys bathed in the middle of the day, brushed their teeth all out in the open. There was movement all day. They looked very tidy, clean, never altogether. It was clear that they were well organised.

in the middle of the city is the "Buddha Stupa", from the fifth century. It is a World Heritage Site by Unesco. With the 2015 earthquake, it lost the entire top of the dome. With the help of Buddhist groups of the world and volunteers it was rebuilt, it took more than a year, cost over two million dollars and 30 kilos of gold. Prayer drums are played around the Stupa. In the last photo there is a large one that rotates with some mechanism without stopping, and you hear recorded mantras. Many of the Tibetan refugees who arrived in Nepal in the 50s settled to live next to this Stupa.

the good thing about going in low season is you avoid the mass of tourists and in this case one can feel the recollection of the place, observe the devotion of the faithful in their prayers, otherwise there would be an aglomeration taking photos, talking loudly and the magic of the place is lost.

The streets are impossible. With Rafael there, trying to cross an avenue. On the one hand one says hopefully it rains so that the smog goes away, then finally the expected rain falls, and another chaos begins. The vast majority of the streets are not paved and get muddy, they are filled with puddles of water and when passing cars, buses, motorcycles you get muddy. Then it is an odyssey to cross dodging traffic and trying to get out undefeated from mud splashes, which is almost never achieved, obviously you end up opting for mud rather than being run over. There are very few traffic lights to cross with, in peak hours at a few intersections there is a tower on the axis of the crossing and a policeman with hand signals skilfully directs traffic from his small height. The city is bustling, messy, chaotic, quite big. There is the area or neighbourhood today when the city of "Patan" and its square "Durbar Square de Patan" with another royal palace is enlarged. Which is also a World Heritage Site. I always told myself I would go next week, but I lost track of time, and I couldn't get there, it's of the same characteristics and architecture as Durbar Square in Kathmandu. Yes, I went one night to the neighbourhood of "Patan" to an opening in of an art gallery with some Nepalese friends. A neighbourhood dotted with modern buildings with old ones, with paved avenues, traffic lights, chaotic traffic, good restaurants, in the most affluent residential area.

Always with Rafael we visited the temple of Pashupatinath "Sacred Dwellings of Shiva". It is also sometimes referred to as the "Temple of Living Beings". It is a World Heritage Site and is the only "living" one. We entered through a sacred forest at the back of the temple, the place is very large and in that area there were many cemetery niches. Pashupatinath Temple is the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu, it is one of the four most important religious sites in Asia for Shiva devotees. It is located on the banks of the Bagmati River. I learned that there are about 492 temples, all with names and stories from Hindu mythology that are a nightmare of names, gods, goddesses and demons, in the end they are samples; of courage, of protection, of compassion,....... Buddhist images are also found around. In Nepal,  it is very clear how both religions mix, share some rituals, and above all respect each other from the governmental level.

From the area of the niches where there are many monkeys and mosses of a variety of greens that covers almost everything, then one goes down several stairs, in a turn of the pavement you can see from that height the Bagmati River and a large esplanade. I was very impressed to feel an unparalleled combination of spiritual and cultural experiences. It feels latent, hence the name "Temple of Living Beings".

You see the crematoriums, one was still smoking and a couple of men were putting logs on the fire so that everything is consumed, in the end the ashes are deposited in the river. Cremation rituals as they say are not for the faint of heart. Cremations are performed on elevated platforms along the river. Very impressive. I was engrossed with what I saw, I could have stayed the rest of the day watching. A few months ago I learned that the cook from my house in Chiang Mai had died, only 30 years old, with her, I had shared a lot, and she gave me food on the side or gave me extra food at night, her name was Note. She was cremated and for me, it was a shock, because I already had a face, name and memories with her. They sent me the photos of her entire funeral and the same a pyre of fire!!!. I couldn't get the picture out of my mind for quite a while. In our country cremations are done away from one's eyes, it is not new, but seeing the bonfire and its smoke stirs the spirit.

on the edge of the river, there are many offerings, priests, ascetics, faithful. It is uncomfortable to approach and even more so to take photos, it is like a lack of respect for their intimacy. There are places and temples that  you are not allowed to enter if you are not a Hinduist.

This March 11, a date that changes every year according to the lunar calendar will be  one of the most relevant festivals of Nepal Hindus and the temple is "Maha Shivaratri", also called "the great night of Shiva", a popular Hindu festival celebrated every year in honour of the god Shiva. The faithful fast the day before and remain in vigil throughout the night. The party is also usually accompanied by games and popular celebrations. This holiday is considered good luck for women. Married women typically pray for their husbands and children, single women pray for the ideal husband, identified with Shiva. It is also time for forgiveness of sins through different rituals, where the god Shiva is worshipped as Pashupati which means 'lord of the beasts'. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Nepal and India and visitors come to this temple that night each year, forming large queues of pilgrims waiting for hours to leave their offering at the temple.

Pashupatinath, the temple, is illuminated with oil lamps and remains open throughout the night, the photos I have seen are wonderful, as they illuminate it and have kites hanging everywhere. Thousands of devotees take ritual baths in the Bagmati River during the day of the festival. They depart at 4 am, clean themselves, wash Shiva's clothes and jewellery, then have breakfast offerings, follow the pujas for specific reasons. More offerings, pujas, meditations, various ceremonies and in different temples in the course of the day, finally there are several days for everyone to have the opportunity to participate in their festivities.

Kathmandu, Nepal and its festivities make a lively, cheerful, devout country. There are more than twelve official festivities between, Hindus, Buddhists, Catholic, (Christmas), Muslim and national. The religious festivities last between three and ten days, which gives at least one holiday per month. Schools, public and private administration cease their jobs, plus those of communities and ethnicities that are many that are not official. Previously in "vaga #6", (Thamel), I have related two of them, in others I participated, and I will relate it later. There are 5 different new years; the World, (December 31), the others vary their days by following lunar calendar and are; Buddhist, Tibetan, Chinese, Nepalese, and other ethnicities that have their own.

On one occasion talking to Gopal, I was already far away from Nepal, he told me enthusiastically that he will reach Kathmandu (he was returning from a trek), for the women's party and I felt him so animated about a festival that he does not want to miss. Women's Festival. I found out more and in September "Haratalija Teej", coincided with the monsoon season, the "teej" celebrates the existence of the goddess Parvati becoming the day to honour the wives and women of Nepal. Red outfits, mud baths and music in the streets flood the country for three days. He told me that he had to visit the sisters, aunts, mother, and take care of his wife. On another occasion speaking with him,  he told me that it is the festivity in which men can go and party and always very lively, he told me that everyone had to  drink a lot and even smoke marijuana, everything is allowed, the same thing I find out, and it is the festivity "Raksha Bandhan", it is about fraternity, and they are the men who celebrate it for days, and it is  official.

As I said on March 11 is the "Maha Shivaratri", March 20 the festival "Holly", Hindu, where coloured powders are thrown, with an endless number of colours everywhere, April 21 "Ram Navami", is Hindu and parades through the streets, in May the end of "Ramadan" is celebrated, May 26 birth of Buddha,  November 4: Tihar Festival that floods the houses with carpets of flowers and lights. Five days of painted mandalas, celebrations in the streets and gifts among loved ones to celebrate the union between gods and mortals, on November 19: "Guru Nanak Jayanti" the most important celebration of Sikhism begins with a great parade followed by night prayers and gifts and food shared among all. There are more festivities such as the return to democracy, that of the king who modernised Nepal, that of the army with horse parades around the city, and the hundreds of communities that celebrate in their villages. This is a sign of their culture.

One day during my visit where the dentist told me that I could not attend the following week because it is a holiday, and I  asked her and I spent an hour in her office with the secretary where they explained the whole holiday. Another of Nepal's famous ones, Hindu "Dashain Festival", celebrates the blessings of the gods. Well, I told myself I'm getting ready to go out to the street to enjoy the show. However, here I learned that there is no show, they were personal rites, and grandparents are visited, families gather within the country, it is 10 days of festivities. Each day has its own rites. Most importantly typical dishes are cooked for those days, women wear flowers and green leaves behind the ears and fresh rice buds are put everywhere, they put a thick and red rice paste on their foreheads, men and women. They prepare for festivities for weeks.

The only thing I could witness from my house one morning of those days, I went down to have breakfast and saw in the car park the manager's car with the hood open and inside were new stalks of rice and flowers on the engine, bicycles and a couple of motorcycles, all with new rice bushes, of a very light green colour,  necklaces of flowers "marigolds", and various decorations. I went up the 4 floors quickly to get my phone and took these photos well disguised. On the floor a decoration with coloured powders, flower petals, incenses the same as  those I saw them in many parts of the city during those days outside businesses, houses and temples. I was surprised to see the car, I assumed that they are blessings for everything that moves and protects against accidents that end in death, on the street everyone had these decorations, on cars, motorcycles and bicycles. They are one of my most incomprehensible photos, however, with time I told myself, my mother always had an image of  "San Cristóbal" in the car for protection, it is just a different version but behind it is the same, asking for protection from some divinity.

Finally, the temple "Swayamhunath" surrounded in a narrow space of numerous temples, shrines, handicraft vendors, and offerings, located on a hill in the centre of the city. It is better known as the "Temple of the Monkeys", and its nickname is indisputable. It is a World Heritage Site. It has several entrances and all are full of Tibetan prayer flags which gives it an air of festivity plus the hundreds of monkeys jumping everywhere without respecting stupas and icons.

World Heritage Sites, by Unesco, has 7 sites altogether in  the "Kathmandu Valley", only in this chapter there are three, Durbar Square, in the previous one, another is Patan, which I did not see, and the other two are somewhat removed from the city. This speaks of transcendence, of history, of architecture, of beauty, worthy of protection so that their mark on humanity is not lost. If you add to this the many festivities, temples, Thamel, a chaotic and harmonious daily life, with the warmth of its inhabitants make Kathmandu, a powerful place, without equal, at least for me.

from here are the photographs of my tribute to Tibetan flags in the chapter "vaga #6/1" Puffff Nepal

with the sunset sun on the temple

for the evening I spent it at an art opening in a gallery in Patan, and then we ended up playing guitar, beers and pizzas, back to the Bohemian flavour, but this one with contemporary artists

a silkscreen  based on their "ricksha" bicycles

as I always close the chapter, with a photo of something curious, remarkable by itself, or almost always with humour, here is my neighbour who every morning with tremendous breasts in the open air, she prayed, put incense, flowers, waters, and climbed a small platform uncovered as the picture shows , I laughed privately to see this situation, I sent the picture to Gopal to explain to me, he told me, that they wet their breasts with "Holy Water". By the end of my stay in that house, I was no longer amazed. How one widens in the incomprehensible, and it becomes part of daily life, it is life and no more, understanding or not.