Patan

Our outing for today (Melissa's day off) was to Patan.  Once a separate city, it was one of the three main cities in Kathmandu valley.  As the cities grew, they've merged into one giant metropolis, but Patan is still technically distinct.  We went there to see the Durbar Square of Patan, where the royal palace housed its king centuries ago, before Nepal was unified.  Durbar Square of Patan is known for its remarkable concentration of architecturally significant temples and its royal palace that has been converted into a museum.  Bruce joined us for this day trip.  

Walking into the square one is immediately impressed by the number of temples, each with remarkably intricate carvings.  We read our guide book to learn when each was built and which deity it focuses on.  We went inside one temple, dark and damp inside, up to a second floor shrine where people were lighting candles in worship (no photos were allowed here).  I was struck by a significant difference between Buddhism/Hinduism and Christianity/Judaism/Islam.  In the eastern religions, there are holy shrines and buildings, but nowhere are there rows for gatherings of people to sit and worship together.  They have many festivals, but their worship and prayer are not communally based, nor focused on a specific time of the day/week, as best I can tell.  This is in contrast to western religions where our holy buildings are primarily built for gathering large groups of people at specific times.

Anyway, some highlights: one temple was draped with what Melissa correctly identified as intestines.  We learned from a tour guide that they were water buffalo intestines.  You can see them in the photo above.  Nice.  Also in the photos you see a Hindu ascetic holy man.  These people hang around all the major tourist sites, allowing pictures or giving a blessing for a "donation."  So we paid him for the picture.  Also in the pictures you see me next to one of the mythic snow lion statues.  A close relative of mine recently compared me to a dog in my current hairy state--I prefer comparing myself to a snow lion instead.  I look positively vicious.  

After a bite to eat (which included "chicken lollipops") we went to the museum.  Its reputation as one of the best, if not the best, in Nepal is well deserved.  It was clean, beautiful, informative, and had a remarkable collection of religious items.  Most of the museum was dedicated to explaining the religious iconography of Buddhism and Hinduism.  Since we've been here, we've marveled at the structure and age and intricacy of all the monuments, but there are so many and they're all dedicated to such diverse deities that it's quite overwhelming.  Hinduism as it exists today is a blending of many ancient religious systems, so the number of deities and the mythologies that surround them are vast.  For a westerner (and probably many easterners) it's tough to understand.  The museum explained many of the basics, which was great since we knew so little.  In one of the pictures above, for example, you see a variety of statues of Hindu deities, and the purpose of this display was to explain the symbolism in the different hand positions.  We soon became more familiar with how a given statue or image contains clues to who the deity is and what its intention is.  For example, Vishnu often holds a staff that represents wisdom and a shell that represents creation.  Another image might look similar, but a close inspection will reveal the deity holding a jug of water, representing health, or a string of jewels, representing prosperity.  The other items in the image helps identify as well; each deity has a vehicle, or animal.  Ganesh is accompanied by a rat; Vishnu rides a bird; and so forth.  I particularly liked learning about the different positions in which Buddha is depicted.  A hand extended indicates charity; a hand making an "OK" sign suggests Buddha is teaching; a hand raised represents comfort; a hand touching the ground symbolizes the moment of his enlightenment when he drew upon the power of the Earth.  Walking back home, we were able to stop at the roadside shrines and stupas and make more sense of the diverse symbolism.  I felt a bit like Robert Langdon.  (Melissa says I'm a dork.)  One last note on the iconography.  It is interesting that on many of the Buddhist and Hindu structures one sees the six-pointed star, an ancient symbol from Hinduism.  It is even stranger to see swastikas, an ancient Hindu symbol of balance.  And the swastikas aren't just on ancient religious structures.  One sees them on buildings conducting business.  On the road outside our hotel is a manhole, and the iron cover says something like "swastika sanitation" on it.  I imagine the 20th century meaning that this symbol has taken on is pretty far removed from Nepalese religious associations.  For a westerner, though, it's pretty strange to see.