Kathmandu
1. I Get a cheap room in the centre of town and sleep for hours. The next morning, with Mr shah's son and nephew , I visit the two temples in Kathmandu that are most sacred to Hindus and Buddhists.
2. At Pashupatinath (outside which a sing proclaims 'Entrance for the Hindus only') there is an atomsphere of 'febrile confusion'. Priests, hawkers,devotees,tourists,cows,monkeys,pigeons and dogs roam through the grounds . We offer a few flowers. There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest's attention are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front. A princess of the Nepalese royal house appears; everyone bows a and makes way. By the mein gate, a party of saffron-clad westerners struggle for permission to enter. The policeman is not convinced that they are 'the Hindus' (only Hindus are allowed to enter the temple). A fight breaks out between two monkeys. One chases the other, who jumps onto a shivalings, then runs screaming around the temples and dwon to the river, the holy bagamati, that below. A corpse is being cremated on its banks: washerwoman are at their work and children bathe. From a balcony a basket of flowers and river. A small shrine half protrudes from the stone platform on the river bank. When it emerges fully, the goddess inside will escape, and the evil period of the kaliyug will end on earth.
3.At the Baudhnath stupe, the Buddhist shrine of Kathmandu, there is ,in contrast , a sense of stillness. Its immense white done is ringed by a road. Small shops stand on its outer edge: many of these are owned by tibetan immigrants; felt bags,
Name-Arpita deb