This morning at 9, we board the buses for Doleshwar. Later, we will be visiting Boodhaneelkantha - a destination we had planned for August 30 after we return from Tibet. But with the rins and delayed flights, Hiraji felt that today was a better day for the group to visit.
Doleshwar Mahadev, in Bhaktapur, Nepal, is 20 kilometers away from Kathmandu. The legend of the Pandavas seeking Shiva for forgiveness and redemption after the great war of the Mahabharata that resulted in fratricide is well known. Shiva, disguised as a bull among a herd grazing on the slopes, slipped into the earth, but the Pandava, Bheema, held on to the hump that stayed above ground as the jyotirlingam of Kedarnath, and the snout appeared as the svayambhulingam at Pashupatinath (the snout) and Kedarnath (the hump).
In 2009, the head priest of Kedarnath declared the deity at Doleshwar as the head of the bull - thus making it a necessary milestone in a visit to Kedarnath. The hitherto unknown temple of Doleshwar, is now preparing for popularity, the repairs after the earthquake aligned with ambitious plans to make it as a large a temple as the current Pashupatinath complex. In 2013, with the flooding at Kedarnath, the head priest of Kedarnath had requested that the daily rituals of Kedar be continued at Doleshwar - this has significantly enhanced the stature of Doleshwar for Shiva devotees.
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| Entry to Doleshwar |
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| will figure out when installed |
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| Nandi |
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| from the old temple perhaps |
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| Anish getting rudraksha from a baba at Doleshwar |
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| Precious couple |
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| Shiva bhaktas locked in eye battle |
After an hour of darshan inside the temple, and the parikrama around the temple, looking at the various artefacts from the old temple, possibly to be placed in a small temple in the new complex which will decidedly be larger in size, we had exhausted the spots of interest here, and went back to the buses parked 100 feet below.
This was the first physical exertion of this yatra, and while most people are cheerful and optimistic with their sea-level meanderings in Dallas and elsewhere and this short uphill walk, the yatra looms large on my mind - not sure I will be able to stand the physical strain, not sure I can cross Dolma-La, not at all sure about Charanapada that I know from others' experience is quite a grueling task.
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| Durbar Square |
We packed into the buses for a ride back into Kathmandu valley, and then as we entered the town, the heat and the dust of Kathmandu carried itself into the buses through the closed glass windows. While we appear to look out at Indian streets, Kathmandu has the feel of a small town, not an international capital. It s a temple town that has grown in stature but not in size or infrastructure from a capital of a mountain kingdom to the national capital of a modern country.
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| the Mother |
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| carved doors |
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| carved columns |
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| amazing bath |
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| temple inside the complex |
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| carved bath |
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| carved columns |
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| Balvihar ladies in a palace jharokha |
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| Nepali caps for one and all by Dhamankars |
The Budhaneelkantha (बुढानिलकण्ठ मन्दिर, or the temple of the old blue throated one) is the floating sculpture of the reclining Vishnu on the coils of the cosmic serpent - Anantashayana Narayana. This is located in the northern part of the Kathmandu valley. Dressed in yellow silk, the reclining Vishnu is eye-catching. Attempts to study why the sculpture floats have been thwarted by the administration.
Back in 2014 when we had last visited, this was still a small temple. Now, ravaged a little by the earthquake in 2015, it has been given to the temple development board to renovate and maintain. There are young children being trained to be temple priests, who act as the bouncers at this temple, not allowing people to stand here or there, coming up with ad hoc rules on what can be done or not done at any spot in the complex. Very grateful for the camera we carried this time, I fully expect not to get a chance to take a picture of this beautiful sculpture if I come back a next time.
AUM Namaha Shivaaya
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