Today’s
The World Around Us
will be presented
in Nepali and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English, Nepali,
French, German,
Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish
and Thai.
Welcome, noble viewers.
Around 623 BC,
the enlightened Master
Gautama Buddha
was born in the garden
of Lumbini
in western Nepal.
On this special time
of year celebrating
Buddha’s birth,
we would like to
invite you to revisit
the living spiritual
and cultural legacy
of the Buddha:
World Heritage Sites
in Kathmandu,
capital of Nepal.
Kathmandu is nestled
in a valley that ties
together 130 monuments
and several pilgrim sites
of Hinduism
and Buddhism.
Legend has it that
the Kathmandu Valley
was originally a lake
but Divinely
transformed into a haven.
It is said that the place,
Kathmandu Valley,
was a lake.
In the lake,
a lotus flower blossomed
and in the middle,
the light is seen in the buds.
And it is said that
Manju Sri came to Nepal
and he made this place
habitable.
An urban crossroads
of Asian civilizations,
Kathmandu includes
another two sister cities,
Patan and Bhaktapur.
The tri-cities shares large,
connected architectural
urban compounds
known as Durbar Square.
This Kathmandu
Durbar Square is one of
the most important places
for the Nepalese history.
In the Malla Dynasty
period between 15th
to 17th centuries,
there were three kingdoms
in Kathmandu Valley:
Patan, Bhaktapur
and Kathmandu.
These three queen cities
are most important
in the history of Nepal.
Two hundred fifty years ago
in this Durbar Square,
there was a palace called
the Laiku in Newari,
the local language,
and then after,
100 years ago,
it was named the
Hanuman Dhoka Palace.
Near the Durban Square
is Kathmandap,
one of the oldest
two-story pagodas
in the city worshiping
Bodhisattva Gorakshanath..
He was the disciple
of Machindranath,
the founder
of Hatha Yoga.
Kathmandu is named after
the Kathmandap pagoda,
around which hundreds
of Buddhist monasteries
were built
throughout the history.
Now we are standing
on the front side
of the Kasthamandap.
The Kasthamandap
is the only temple
which was built
by a single tree.
While the Kathmandu
was the center
for the trading route for
India and China, Tibet,
at that time,
traders, the businessmen,
when they will go
from China to India,
and India to Nepal,
they’d take shelter
in this place,
at this Kasthamandap.
Kathmandu Valley
was ruled by the Buddhist
spiritual masters
just 150 years ago.
While king and the
ruling people of this area
used to take any decision
for the country and
for the decisions of the city,
they asked
the Buddhist people
and they’d go to
the Buddhist monasteries.
Within one kilometer
diameter, there are
300 Buddhist monasteries,
over here.
Durbar Square in Patan
is known for
the temple of Krishna
as well as high class
courtyards such as
Keshab Narayan-chowk,
Mul-chowk,
and Sundari-chowk.
The temple of Krishna
has 21 shrines in the form
of golden pinnacles.
The Malla King
Siddhi Narshinga of Malla
specially built
these palaces –
Krishna Mandir,
and many temples here.
There are seven, eight
chowks, only two chowks
are now popular –
Mul-chowk and
Keshav Narayan-chowk,
The most important is
Sundari-chowk in which
Siddhi Narshinga Malla
bathed and
formed a stone's light.
In 1979, United Nations
Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) designated
the Durbar Square
of Hanuman Dhoka,
Patan and Bhaktapur
World Heritage Sites
of Nepal.
When we return, we will
look at the two most holy
Buddhist pilgrim sites,
Boudhanath Stupa and
Swayambhunath Stupa.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
The World Around Us.
Each year, Kathmandu,
Nepal attracts hundreds
of thousands of people
from around the world
with her stunning
World Heritage sites.
Among them,
the magnificent
Swayambhunath Stupa
and Boudhanath Stupa
are the two most holy
Buddhist pilgrim sites of
the Kathmandu Valley.
In Sanskrit language,
the Shoyambhu
means self-existing.
People of
the Kathmandu valley
every year, they come here;
they celebrate
different types of festivals.
In the Buddhism
of Kathmandu Valley,
which is called
Vajrayana and
Mahayana Buddhism,
that Buddhism is running
on the basis
of the Shoyambhu.
They use a small chaitya
(Buddhist shrine)
and at first
they worship the chaitya
and then they start
in their activities.
So this is the main
[significance] for
the Kathmandu Valley.
In the Kathmandu Valley,
you can't see another site
like this.
It is very peaceful
for Buddhists
and non-Buddhists,
for everybody.
And many monkeys
you can see and
they are very peaceful.
Monks of these places,
every day in the morning,
they worship to chaitya
and five Buddhas.
Boudhanath Stupa
is located 11 kilometers
northeast from
the center of Kathmandu.
It has a huge
gorgeous mandala shape
that shows the influence
of Tibetan Buddhism.
In ancient times it was
one of the largest stupas
in the world.
Actually Nepal is known as
“the country of temples.”
There are lots of ,
Hindu temples
and Buddhist temples.
Boudhanath is the
very very important
and very significant
holy place for
the Buddhist people.
The stupa itself is actually
the mind nature
of the Buddha.
There is body, speech
and the mind.
The history
of the Boudhanath Stupa
can be traced back
to the 5th century.
It is believed that the relics
of Buddha Kasyapa
are buried
in the Boudhanath Stupa.
Boudhanath Stupa has
striking bright colorful
roofs, circled by
the beautiful lights
of offerings.
Around the stupa,
there are prayer wheels
everywhere.
The whole dome is actually
a kind of vase, a vase that
we put the holy water
in the spring.
This is a kind of
a holy vase and
then you can see
the mandala over there and
there is the lotus flower.
And to hold the mandala
and the lotus flower
there is one vase
and there is the stupa.
Inside the stupa,
there is a lot of sutras there.
There are a lot of statues,
a lot of relics.
One more important thing
about this Boudhanath,
is people believe
Buddha kashyap's relics
are inside here.
So that’s why
many, many people
from far and wide
people come here
to pay homage like that.
Pilgrims from
all over the world
come to purify their souls
and repent for their wrongs.
They make offerings
with while colors,
flowers, and incense
which all symbolize
the pure realms.
A person who comes here,
who pays respect,
who pays homage,
who offers the flowers,
incense, and other things
like perfumes, and those
who make their prayers,
their wish will be fulfilled
or their dream
will come true.
So that’s why this stupa
is also known as
a “wish fulfilling” stupa.
In the spiritual ways,
when you circle this stupa
from the right to the left,
I mean clockwise, so
it is not only just walking,
but you are gaining
the kinds of merits
and good luck.
People do it
for the confession.
Whatever they have done
in the previous life
or this life, they want to
clear their karmas.
Because in a spiritual way
we believe in karmas,
action and result.
What kind of action
is there, the result
will come like that.
This is a strong
point of view
from the Buddhism.
The art and life
of the Nepali people
have developed naturally
around the image and
teachings of the Buddha.
Thangka, a Tibetan Word
meaning “to roll up,”
is one such art, originating
from the Tibetan and
mountain people of Nepal.
These paintings are made
on cotton canvas,
When they go
for pilgrimage,
they carry [it] with them,
so rolling it and
put inside some pipes,
so for [it to be] safe.
So it is called Thanka:
“roll up.”
On preparing cotton canvas
we use mineral colors,
like white clay and
some natural glue.
We paste on a cotton cloth
and dry it in the sun
for a few days,
then we rub
on a smooth surface
with a fine stone.
And then we start sketching,
fill colors and put gold.
We use 24-karat real gold
for these paintings
and mineral colors.
So these paintings are used
for Buddhist practices,
for meditation,
for visualization.
So every Buddhist family
keeps a few
of these paintings
in their houses.
Based on their belief
in karma (retribution),
most Nepali Buddhists
and other citizens are
vegetarians.
We have to treat them
as our mother.
According to Buddhism,
they have been
once our mother
in the previous life,
or they have been
so many times our mother.
So that’s why
according to Buddhism
how can you
kill your own mother
The vegetarian lifestyle
is also the precondition
for the Buddhist practice
of meditation.
In the meditation course,
to be a vegetarian
it is utmost important
because if we have
got dual power,
our mind will be disturbed.
And by vegetarian
we can preserve
the Earth and
preserve the universe.
That is all for the salvation
and the Nirvana
and enlightenment.
For thousands of years,
Buddha’s compassionate
teaching has lived on
in the Kathmandu Valley
and in Nepal, through
splendid monuments
as well as
the peaceful people
and loving atmosphere.
That is how
the Kathmandu holy sites
soothe the pilgrim’s heart.
May Kathmandu
continue to be a place
on Earth for finding
the Divine love and
Buddha nature within.
Be veg, go green,
save the planet!
Thank you
for being with us on
The World Around Us.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television
for Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May Heaven shower you
with miracles every day.