nepal report

7/28/2019 Nepal Report

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As the weather is reaching its climax of heat and humidity, Padayatra India

takes a well deserved one week break and visits Nepal.

The mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains,including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest. It contains more than 240

peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level and is world renown for its trekking

routes. Nepal is also famous for the Kali Gandaki Gorge, the deepest gorge on earth.

Besides having the worlds tallest peaks Nepal also has its rich cultural heritage

rooted in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Full of various pilgrimage sites, Nepal

was lately the last officially declared Hindu country until there was a change of

power from monarchy to democracy.

1 mountain peaks of Nepal (at Muktinatha 3,800 meters above sea level)

22 Padayatris including a few visiting guests walked across Nepals open border onthe 6th of June, 2013 from Barganiya (Bihar), a small town touching Nepals border.

Devotees performed Harinam sankirtan as a few interested border security guards

bought books from the distributors. India and Nepal are at good terms and have

their borders open for each other. People of both nations can easily go to and fro

without unnecessary interrogations or checking of visas.


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2 walking across the open border of India and Nepal

We soon arrived at our days halt, a town named Gaur (Nepal). Devotees were

elated by the special name of the town "Gaur". The local radio channel promptly

reported our entry into Nepal as we walked past its broadcasting office. Definitely

Sri Sri Nitai Gourasundar had showered their blessings upon the residents of Gaur.

ISKCON has a centre with small deities of Sri Sri Goura Nitai situated in the market.

A handful of strenuously working devotees under the guidance of Keshava Gopal

Prabhu are preaching here to please Srila Prabhupada and their Lordships. They

warmly welcomed and pampered us.


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3 Padayatra at ISKCON Gaur (Nepal)

Our plan was to visit some prominent pilgrimage sites of Nepal which means lots of

mountains and bad roads. We would love to take our oxens and Nitai Gourasundars

cart along but we had to leave them in a safe place for a weeks time till we

returned. The devotees of Gaur assured us of a suitable place, a new ISKCON temple

construction site at Bhunkunma, just 6 kilometers away. So we moved everything

there the next day and ensured that the bulls were at comfort in the sparsely

populated construction site. It was an ideal location for a weeks halt with a large

open ground, lots of fresh grass and mango trees besides the vegetable groves

nearby.


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As the bulls comfortably munched on fresh grass, devotees (except 1 pujari and 1

oxen care keeper) prepared to board our overnight bus to Kathmandu, the capital.

Overnight bus journeys are never comfortable and this journey was no exception as

we tried to get some sleep. Somewhere past midnight as our bus bumped through

some pits and gravel some devotees woke up to see astonishing silhouettes of the

mountains and river. We were approaching the great Himalayas, which have stoodwitness of history for millions of years and sheltered innumerous sages and ascetics

in their attempts and practices of severe penances to link oneself to the Supreme

Being (Yoga). As we tried to get little more sleep the sky soon began lighting up and

we resorted to chanting our japa. We reached ISKCON Kathmandu, Sri Sri Radha

Govindahari temple situated in a serene locality, higher in the hills beyond the city

centre. We felt the fresh breeze and homely atmosphere as a welcoming into one of

the heavenly planets.

4 Sri Sri Radha Govindahari (Kathmandu ISKCON)

We were accommodated in a spacious guest room as the devotees prepared for the

days visiting of Kathmandus prominent pilgrimages. The most popular is the


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Pashupatinath temple of Lord Shiva. Here Lord Shiva blesses whoever visits him that

they never glide down to the animal species. Devotees entered the temple with loud

Harinam Sankirtan gathering large amused crowds and a few enthusiastic

participants. Sri Sri Nitai Gourasundar (small deities) danced their way and entered

the temple to meet and bless the topmost Vaishnava, Lord Shiva.

5 In front of Sri Pashupatinath Temple


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Being an ancient temple with a large Shiva linga with 4 heads in the 4 directions,

the temple has strict conservative rules of no photography, and only Hindus

allowed. Krishna Sudama das, a foreign bodied devotee somehow got in without the

security noticing but was later on asked to leave the temple premises being spotted

by an old priest. He didnt make much a fuss as he fortunately had his desired brief

darshan of the Shiva linga and walked around the temple. A similar incidentoccurred when HH Radhanatha Swami had visited this very temple some 40 odd

years back. Maharaja describes this incident in his autobiography "Journey Home".

Maharaja was wandering through Nepal on his treacherous search for the ultimate

truth when it happened to be a great festive occasion in honor of Lord Shiva. Many

thousands of Shivaites and Naga Babas were flocking at the Pashupatinath temple

to seek the blessings and duly worship Lord Shiva. Naturally Maharaja also wanted

to participate but was denied entry in the temple. So he resorted to smearing ashes

over his body and got very near the main Shiva Linga. Just then a priest suspected

him and asked something in the local Nepalese language. Maharaja cleverly

gestured that he was maintaining a vow of silence and instead of getting into

trouble was grandly respected by the priest who garlanded him.


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6 Pashupatinath Shiva


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Behind the temple is a cremation ground with the sacred Baghmati river flows.

Many deceased bodies are cremated here, whose ashes are then released in the

sacred river.

Our next visit was the Budhanilkantha temple very close to our ISKCON temple.

Budhanilkantha is believed to be over 1,000 years old. Lord Vishnu is about 5m (17ft) long and is lying in a 13m (43 ft) long tank, as if floating, with His legs crossed.

His four hands hold the four symbols of Vishnu: the chakra (disc), club, and conch-

shell and lotus flower. The deity of Budhanilkantha was lost for a while and was later

rediscovered by an old farmer named Nilakantha. It is believed that the farmers

struck the buried deity with his plough and that blood came out from the ground.

Hence forth, the deity is known as Buddha (old) Nilakantha (name of the old

farmer).

7 Buddha Nilakantha


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8 Buddha Nilakantha with many Shaligram Shilas

Our main destination was the famous temple of Sri Muktinatha Vishnu situated at an

altitude of 3,800 meters above sea level. The motorable road was recently created

allowing only mini busses and jeeps to drive up. The road isnt of asphalt but is the

natural mountainous rocks and dirt which made our journey a 3 day halt before we

could get the auspicious darshan of Lord Muktinatha. Although there is an airport

and helicopter services provided by the Nepal government, they are highly risky anda bit heavy on the pocket. Just last year a group of 12 devotees from the Sri Sri

Radha Gopinatha temple congregation (Mumbai Chowpatty temple) had attempted

to fly to Muktinatha for a Darshan but unfortunately their small plane had crashed in

the hills near its destination of which there were no survivors. But the benefit of

pilgrims having Darshan of Lord Muktinatha is that He grants them Liberation from

this material world. Devotees dont want Liberation but rather hanker for eternal

devotional service whether it is in the spiritual or material worlds as per the will of

the Lord. With this mood we Padayatris joyfully took on this great adventure.


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Our first halt from Katmandu was the second largest city of Nepal named Pokhara.

Its a hub for higher education, jobs and sightseeing. Nepal is rapidly being

influenced by the cheep Chinese culture with all its gadgets, automobiles and

fashion. Its hard to imagine that Nepal was once ruled by ancient Hindu Monarchs

as we see the rapid influence of television and the western dressing sense

spreading. Pokhara is highly influenced and youngsters zipping on their Chinesemotocross bikes are a common site here. Fortunately ISKCON has a beautiful 2

storied centre near the main market at Siddhartha Chowk. Its run by a sincere

young Brahmachari by the name Urukrama Prabhu (disciple of HH Mahavishnu

Swami) and has an upcoming few college youth and small congregation.

9 ISKCON centre at Pokhara (our Nitai Gourasundar are on the alter)


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10 prasadam on the way to Beni


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From Pokhara we took a public bus to Beni and boarded a mini bus to Ghasa where

we halted the second night. Our stay was a cozy inn having a separate quarter of 20

beds, just suitable for the Padayatris. The fresh cool breeze of the valley was

rejuvenating and a gift for all of us from Sri Sri Nitai Gourasundar. Devotees were

enchanted with the natural beauty of the hills and we embarked on the next leg of

our journey towards Jomsom some 35 kilometer ahead. But these 35 odd kilometerstook us a long 6 hours as the mountain roads are very bumpy and curvy. Mountain

journeys are very tiring but the devotees were somehow or another engaged in

Krishna consciousness either by reading, chanting, hearing or singing sankirtan. We

also requested our bus drivers to play Aindra Prabhus and Lokanatha Swamis

bhajans the whole way.

11 A halt on the way to Muktinatha


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12 drive to muktinatha


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After our long journey we reached Jomsom another 30 kilometers before Muktinatha

and here we prepared our lunch Prasadam at a Ramanandi ashram (a part of Sri

Sampradaya) before catching our jeep to Muktinatha. Reaching Muktinatha we kept

our bags in another Ramanandi lodge and rushed up to have our darshan of Lord


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Muktinatha.


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13 devotees at Muktinatha temple


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14 Deity of Lord Muktinatha with Sri Devi (on our right) and Bhu Devi (on our left)


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15. devotees at Muktinatha temple

We performed a loud Sankirtan and had darshan up close of Sri Muktinatha along

with his energies Sri Devi and Bhu Devi. Sri Sri Nitai Gourasundar also sat on Lord

Vishnus lap but unfortunately, photography isnt allowed. An interesting agreementis seen here between the Hindu and Buddhist priests who take turns to worship the

deity in the mornings, mid day and evenings. The local Buddhists believe this deity

to be Lord Buddhas form, whereas Hindus believe Him to be their worshipable Lord

Vishnu. Here we see the Lord accepting service from both groups while

reciprocating correspondingly. How wonderful is Lord Muktinatha. Another point of

significance is the 108 streams of holy Gandaki water flowing through 108 cow

faces at Lord Muktinatha. One is expected to bathe in these 108 streams, but

touching the ice cold water only 3 devotees took courage to have a quick dip.

Muktinatha is also famous for the Gandaki River in which Shaligram Shilas are

found. Many Sadhus from all across India travel here on foot in order to receive the

lord in his Shaligram form which doesnt even require a ritualistic installation. It is

stated in the scriptures that the lord ever resides in the Gandaki river in his

Shaligram form and many various shapes are carved on him by small insects living

there. There is a vast history about the origin of Shaligram and how Lord Vishnu was

cursed by his devotee named Tulasi, which can be found at

http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/profiles/blogs/wonderful-info-on-shaligram-shila and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandaki_River .
http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/profiles/blogs/wonderful-info-on-shaligram-shilahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandaki_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandaki_Riverhttp://www.iskcondesiretree.net/profiles/blogs/wonderful-info-on-shaligram-shila


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16 left to right (Avadhut nitai, Bh Pawan and Partha sakha next to River Gandaki)

We spent one night at Muktinatha covered up with blankets and it snows heavily

during winters. As many devotees began developing colds and fevers due to the

cold and altitude, we decided to get back down soon.

We were scheduled to have a grand Harinam procession through the main market of

Pokhara which was happily received by the locals. Sri Sri Nitai Gourasundar led the

way as devotees danced and chanted to the loud Harinam. There was lots of book

distribution with a total of over 40 Gitas and many small books distributed. This is

one place which really needs the mercy of their Lordships and we pray that KrishnaConsciousness in Nepal will rapidly expand.


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17 Abhiram Gour pr on Book Distribution


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18 Harinam Sankirtan in Pokhara

Padayatra India really enjoyed the hospitability of the devotees in Nepal and is

planning to visit again and travel on bullock cart in its plains where the cart is

accessible. Why missing all the fun. Quick, come join Padayatra India for a lifetimes

spiritual experience of adventure and bliss. We will be travelling towards Patna

where we celebrate Lord Krishnas Janmashtami festival at the ISKCON Temple. See

you soon.

Video soon to be posted.

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