Boudhanath

Boudhanath, Nepal

The white dome of Boudhanath Stupa at sunrise, viewed through a row of prayer wheels.

Boudhanath is the great white stupa of Kathmandu, a working Buddhist circle where pilgrims and monks walk clockwise around the dome all day.

The place

Boudhanath sits in Boudha, a neighbourhood on the north-eastern edge of Kathmandu, and its whitewashed dome is the first thing most visitors look for. The stupa is a major spiritual landmark for Nepali and Tibetan Buddhists alike. Its layout is built as a large mandala, a sacred diagram used in meditation, and believers hold that it contains consecrated relics, including bone pieces linked to two earlier Buddhas. Wikipedia describes it as the largest spherical stupa in Nepal, a claim that is easy to accept once you stand at its foot and see how the dome swells above you.

Not long ago this was open country. Rice paddies once surrounded the stupa, and today houses, guesthouses and shops press against its outer ring, so the monument that once rose from fields now sits in a busy neighbourhood. Early in the morning the lanes fill with people carrying prayer wheels, flasks of tea and bundles of butter lamps.

The site is also a waypoint on an old trade route from Tibet. The road enters the valley through Sankhu in the north-east and passes the smaller Charumati Stupa, often called Little Boudhanath, before crossing the Bagmati River towards Patan. That history explains why the area became a hub for monasteries and Tibetan families who settled in the valley.

Its story

The early history of Boudhanath comes mostly through chronicles, and they do not agree. One chronicle credits the Licchavi king Shivadeva with founding the town of Boudha in the late sixth century, while others place the work under King Manadeva, a little earlier. Some local accounts reach further back and say that a stupa was raised on this spot in the fifth century, one of four built by a Licchavi ruler.

A well-known legend ties the stupa to Manadeva's guilt. He is said to have killed his father without knowing it, and the monument was his act of atonement. Nepali tradition also tells of a Licchavi king who, on the advice of astrologers, prepared to sacrifice himself so that water would appear from a spout in his palace courtyard, a site later associated with the Narayanhiti palace. These stories say more about how people imagined the place than about exact events.

What survives today is most likely a structure from the 14th century. Over the centuries it became a focus for Tibetan Buddhist communities in the valley, and monasteries grew up around it. The site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Restoration has since reached the upper section of the dome, and the start of that rebuilding was marked by hoisting a new ‘life tree’ spire onto the stupa, a moment still recorded in photographs. Anyone who walks the circle today follows a route that has been in use for centuries.

What to see

Culture

Boudhanath is a working place of worship before it is a sight, and most of the etiquette follows from that. Pilgrims walk clockwise around the base of the stupa, turning the prayer wheels set into the surrounding walls as they go. Visitors are expected to join that flow rather than cut across it, and to step aside for anyone prostrating or walking slowly with a string of beads.

Many people live and work in the lanes around the dome, and the monasteries here are active homes for monks and nuns. Ask before you photograph people, especially anyone at prayer, and never point a lens into a private room. Inside monastery halls, keep your voice low, do not lean on altars or offering bowls, and remove your shoes at the door.

Tipping is not expected as it is in the UK, though small donations to monasteries and a fair payment for a helpful guide are welcome. Keep your hands off sacred objects unless you are invited to touch them. Walk clockwise around the stupa, and never climb its steps or sit on its walls.

What to wear

Traditional dress around Boudhanath draws on Tibetan and Newar styles. Many older Tibetan women wear the chuba, a long wrap-over robe usually belted at the waist, often in wool or brocade with bright striped borders. Newar women in the valley have traditionally worn a sari-like wrap in dhaka cloth, a handwoven fabric with geometric patterns, and older men may wear the embroidered dhaka topi cap. These garments appear most often at festivals, weddings and religious occasions, when families walk the circle in their best clothes.

In everyday life the look around the stupa is far more mixed. Locals wear jeans, trainers, quilted down jackets and sports shirts, while monks wear maroon and saffron robes. Young people in the cafe streets dress much as they would anywhere else in the world. Wool hats and Tibetan-style jackets appear in the colder months, and many women still wrap a shawl over their shoulders.

For a visitor, the sensible choice is layers. Mornings can be cold and afternoons warm, so a light fleece, a shawl and a windproof jacket work well. Cover shoulders and knees when you enter monasteries or temples, and avoid tight or revealing clothing. Choose shoes that slip on and off easily, since you will remove them often, and pick a pair with grip for uneven stone and dusty lanes.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. October–November and March–April are the most comfortable, with dry weather and clearer views on good days. June to August is the monsoon, which brings rain and slippery lanes, and winter mornings can be cold.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Fly into Kathmandu Airport, then take a taxi and ask for the Boudha Stupa Main Gate. Local buses and minibuses run from Chabahil junction, and the walk from there is short.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources