Liaison Jamie Khoo was approached by Malaysian Airlines to write two articles on the hidden treasures of Nepal. Jamie has been to Nepal a few times and knows the ins and outs of Kathmandu quite well. So it is only appropriate for her to write these articles which are superb. To top it off, Jamie has a very accurate memory so her writing will be excellent. 

Of course being the passionate writer that she is, Jamie came up with the two articles effortlessly, recalling all of the places that she had gone during her many pilgrimages and very quickly selected all of her good photos. Both of her 5-page articles were published in Malaysia Airline’s September in-house magazine called Going Places. 

Take a look at the spread below… or if you’re flying on Malaysian Airlines sometime this month, have a pleasant read on the plane! Read up, you can learn from these articles on a hot tourist spot called Kathmandu. Enjoy!

Tsem Rinpoche

 The September 2012 issue of Going Places, Malaysia Airline’s in-house magazine.

Tips

Be prepared

Nepal has many of its own quirks that you should get to know before arriving, so as to avoid any rude shocks! These are the top three things to take note of:

1. Load shedding, which are power cuts that can run up to 16 hours a day. Make sure you pick a good hotel that will have a generator and don’t be surprised if you’re occasionally plunged into darkness.
2. Nepal is a deeply religious place so be respectful and aware when you go into temples and places of worship.
3. The cold of the winter months in Nepal can be brutal especially when there’s no central heating and sometimes, no electricity. Make sure you bring enough warm clothes and layer up well. 

Inner peace

Bask in the heavenly energies of the Boudhanath stupa in a quaint corner of the Kechara Lounge, a branch of the prominent Buddhist organization, Kechara, in Malaysia. Watch a DVD of a Buddhist teaching, read a spiritual book, or simply meditate against the stunning backdrop of blue skies and one of Kathmandu’s holiest Buddhist sites.

Opens 11am – 5 pm daily www.kechara.com/lounge

3 hidden treasures of Kathmandu

There’s a side to Kathmandu most tourists don’t usually see and this is where the real Nepal is to be found – its people, its milky cups of tea and the many uneven labyrinths that lead you to amazing discoveries.

Thahity Chowk

Located just off the busiest tourist hub of Thamel, Thahity Chowk is authentically local and real. The coloured shops of Thamel are offset by the area’s simpler stores that sell nothing in particular, rickety old houses and children running across dusty streets.

The best time to go is in the late afternoon – get a rickshaw to take you to the edge of the square, then take off on your own for a wander down the cobbled streets. Peek in between streets and find old Newari-style buildings nestled among lopsided, bare houses. Or be adventurous and walk into side lanes; you may just find a beautiful small stupa in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by family homes and children kicking oranges around.

‘Load shedding’, or power cuts, abound in the centre of town, especially in the colder dry periods of the year. But Thahity is one of those rare, busy, happy places where you see how the locals aren’t fazed by the fact that they have to sit in the dark. It’s always business as usual. Rickshaws jostle for space with cars and motorcycles, grubby-faced children and fruit sellers. All the people of Kathmandu seem to gather here, then disperse into their own corners of the city. Further along the lanes, people huddle in little tea shops for an early evening cuppa and the oily goodness of fired snacks.

Don’t miss the cramped but colorful fabric shops just at the edge of the Thahity Chowk square. Get them to make you a traditional Tibetan chuba out of brocade and silk, for less than RM150 and within three days. Pop into the spice shops around that same square for a dose of masala and fragrant teas.

Naranthan, Boudhanilkantha

Naranthan is most famous for its Hindu temple of Lord Vishnu and the little village that surrounds this central site. The village is small but is quaint and lovely, and is a wonderful place to start exploring at the crack of dawn.

It sits at the bottom of a hill, which leads up to one of the most prestigious residential areas of Kathmandu A scenic walk up to the top takes 30 – 45 minutes and leads to the Sivapuri National Park, which provides more beautiful nature and a stunning vista of Kathmandu’s madness. Right next to the forest reserve is also a famous Buddhist Vispassana meditation centre which is worth a visit.

Along the way, look out for little old shrines that dot the hillside and a Tibetan Buddhist monastery nestled against the hillside. See how giant houses sit next to very basic, small hovels. Stop for a cup of chai if you’re lucky enough to find the tea shop towards the top of the hill.

Don’t miss flower offerings on sale in Naranthan village each morning, in preparation for people going to prayer at the temple. Stop for a moment and talk to the people there –  they can’t speak much English but they smile an awful lot. If your stomach can take it, the fried pakoras are especially delicious. On the main road into or out of Naranthan, stop by the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Center (KAT Center) to see the tremendously good work started by a single British lady to better the lives of abused and sickly stray dogs in the valley.

Patan

Located about 40 minutes away from the centre of Kathmandu, Patan Is part of the older quarter, believed to have been built in the 3^rd century. It was formerly known as Lalipur (The City of Beauty) and is one of three royal cities in the Kathmandu valley. Durbar Square is just walking distance away and full of ancient historical buildings, temples, tatues and the best of Newari architecture.

Today, Patan is known for being a flourishing centre of art and traditional, religious culture. You can’t help but notice the abundance of handicraft shops as you walk down the old streets, but the craft produced here isn’t created just for the sake of business. Patan is known to be an artisans’ colony and many of its craftsmen boast skills that have been passed down through the generations. Get talking with the shop owners and you may even be lucky enough to be offered a visit to their workshops.

Don’t miss the incredible shopping, from the most exquisite statues of exotic deities to figurines and fine hand-crafted jewelry fit for a queen. Stop by the Patan Museum for a trip back to Nepal’s glorious past. Located within one of the royal palaces of former kings, the museum brings you deep into the soul of this old country. Also, scout out the Mahabuddha Temple off the main roads of Patan. It’s an exact 16^th-century replica of the stupa in Bodghaya, India – the site of Buddha’s enlightenment – built for the Nepalese to perform their pilgrimage.

Sacred sanctuaries

Places of worship abound in Nepal and many are icons that draw not just thousands of locals daily but also pilgrims and tourists from around the globe.

You can’t help but fall in love with the deep spirituality that is so apparent in Nepal and the happiness that radiates from its people. There is something beautiful and elegant about the way in which religion is so intricately a part of the way of life in this Himalayan nation. Here, Buddhists go to Hindu temples to make offerings and Hindus join in Buddhist festivities. They have faith that a blessing is a blessing, no matter where it comes from.

Places of worship abound in Nepal, from the largest World Heritage sites to secret family chapels. The latter are mainly visited by locals while the former draw thousands of tourists from around the globe. Here, we visit some of the country’s must-see temples.

Boudhanath Stupa

If there’s only one spiritual site you visit in Kathmandu, make it the Boudhanath Supa, Nepal’s largest and most prominent Buddhist site. Believed to have been build in 600 A.D. and contain a precious bone relic of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, it has become one of the most significant Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world.

Surrounding the stupa is a flourishing Tibetan Buddhist community and a large number of monasteries and nunneries. At all times of the day, Tibetans circumambulate the stupa, prayer wheel in one hand, prayer beads in the other, while they recite mantras. Old people who can barely walk show their devotion with prostration; young people join in after work in the early evening. At night, makeshift tables spring up and the area resounds with the chink of butterlamps as they’re laid out for people to light as offerings to the Buddhas.

Parphing Vajrayogini Monastery

This ancient Newai town sits about 19 km south of Kathmandu, just above the Bagmati River, and features many of the city’s most famous religious sites. It is now a popular destination for both Hundus and Buddhists pilgrims from all over Nepal.

A short walk away from the most central hub of temples is a very special little chapel – so much so that they are strict about allowing photography within the space of the altar. This is because chapels like these often begin as personal family shrines, which then grow over generations to become full-fledged places of worship that are open to the public. The hundreds of layers of offerings draped over the central image of the female Buddha Vajrayogini (also known as Bajrayogini in Nepali) and the constant flicker of butterlamp candles lit around her is testament to how greatly she is revered by the locals.

Chenrezig Temple

You’ll need to find yourself a local guide to get to this temple as it’s tucked away very obscurely within a courtyard, behind the main streets of Kathmandu. But whatever effort to get here wil be totally worth it. Featuring the most intricate of traditional Newari architecture, this temple speaks of an old splendor and hundreds of years of worship and love.

The inner sanctum is dedicated to a central image of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Wisdom. Not just any Chenrezig statue but one that is a part of a special set of three known as “The Self-Arisen Three Brothers”. One of the other statues is currently with H.H. the Dalai Lama in India and another in the Potala Palace of Tibet. Here, in a much-loved Kathmandu courtyard, he isn’t just worshipped by Buddhists or Tibetans. People from al backgrounds come to pray and offer the most precious offerings.

You will see on this statue layers of jewelry, silk and a wealth of flower garlands. Many more old images of deities embellish the outer walls of the temples and the surrounding courtyard.

Swayambunath Stupa

This second largest stupa in Kathmandu is significant also because of the other holy sites around it. Like Boudhnath, Swayambu is also a protected World Heritage site and a frequent pilgrimage spot for Buddhists. It is situated on top of a hill, so visitors can choose to walk to the top or drive up. The walk is a pretty one, flanked all the way by street vendors selling prayer beads, jewelry and knick knacks.

Just next to Swayambunath is the famous Temple of Doors, known to house attained beings called Arhats who are awaiting the right time to emerge. People are known to have caught glimpses of these ethereal beings on the very rare occasion that the doors were opened to the public – once every seven years.

Across the other side of the hill is a plain open courtyard known to be a teaching site of the Buddha of Wisdom, Manjushri. It is believed that once a year, the Buddha descends upon this place to give profound teachings to celestial beings. We might not be able to see him but the blessings are said to be very powerful all the same.

Sangkhu Vajrayogini Temple

A quiet sleepy town almost an hour away from central Kathmandu, Sangkhu used to be an important trading post during the Middle Ages. Now, it’s famous for its deep spiritual practice and this special temple.

The temple itself is built in the majestic Newari style. It is worth travelling here just to see the level of detail and artistry that went into creating this building. When you visit, challenge youself by walking up the 480 stairs, then stop at the top to marvel at the sheer splendor of the temple.

The Sangkhu temple is especially known for housing an unusual Vajrayogini stsatue, quite unlike any other. It is said that there lived a very holy female practitioner in the area who was engaged in deep spiritual practice. It is believed that she became fully enlightened and when she died, many miraculous signs appeared. The people of the area decided that they would create a statue in her likeness and that relics left behind from her cremation would be interred within. This particular statue became a central focus of worship for the area.

The Pashupatinath Temples

Famous among both Buddhists and Hindus, the Pashupatinath area resounds with spirituality. A river runs along the area, and Nepal’s largest and most famous Hindu temple sits on one side of the riverbank while old historical caves of Buddhist yogis sit on the other.

The ancient temple complex of Pashupatinath is regarded as one of the holiest sites in the Hindu world. Serious practitioners and Hindu pilgrims from the entire sub-continent are known to travel here just to pray.

Just a stone’s throw away are the caves of two of Buddhism’s most respected old masters – Naropa and his teacher Tilopa. To pay respect to them, devotees can still go down to the caves regularly to make offerings; over time, some have even created images of these masters within the caves.

Vijashwari Vajrayogini Temple

Walking distance from the Swayambunath Stupa is an old but very unusual chapel called the Vijashwari (or Bijashwari) Temple. The central images in the temple are those of the Tantric Buddha Vajrayogini who is highly worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal. This temple is unique for it features statues of all four forms of Vajrayogini, each said to have appeared at different periods, according to the needs of the people at each time and place. Like many places in Nepal, the caretakers watch visitors’ cameras like dragons, so images of these central deities are very hard to come by,

The chapel itself is a single-storeyed structure with an elaborate Newari-style, pagoda-like roof built over the small shrine room. Housed within the building is a small area where, presumably, people gather for puja (prayer sessions) or to make candle offerings. Outside is a large central courtyard which features an unusual collection of stupas and antique Buddha images lined against the walls.

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