Around Patan

As I mentioned in the previous post, my friend Pratibha took me around what I would consider "Downtown Patan," to explore and see some sights. Here are some more pictures! 

Roof of Golden Temple

Shrine/altar inside the Golden Temple

The picture doesn't do it justice, but trust me, the temple is aptly named.

Golden prayer wheels

RAWR!

Another temple on Durbar square, built in the Indian style

Pratibha and I with Durbar square in the background

One of Pratibha's friends joined us too. He was a very knowledgeable tour guide.

Shrine at Buddhist temple

Temple of 9,000 Buddhas. No, I didn't count them, but look at how many little Buddhas are carved into the wood. I believe there could be 9,000.

Not quite sure what this thing is, what it is called, or what it symbolizes. I've seen it around the Buddhist temples and when I asked my friends and others at the temple about it, nobody could explain it to me. It's rather pretty though.

Temple of 9,000 Buddhas. Under re-construction following the earthquake.

Remnant of the original top of the temple of 9,000 Buddhas.

After visiting temples we walked around the city for an hour and came upon this...structure. It's massive, and it leans precariously. It is a very tall spire atop a temple to a Hindu God of harvest. People worship this God for rainfall and for a good harvest. The entire thing is mobile too. You will see in the pictures below, it is on wheels, like a chariot, except it is pulled by men, not horses. It is brought into the center of the city and remains there for about 1 month, during which people pay tribute, offer sacrifices, and worship the God. Then it is removed and put back in storage until next year. The whole thing looks like it could topple over at any given moment. I asked Pratibha about this and she said that it is a bad omen if it falls over; that it would foretell a bad harvest. I would think if that's a concern you would build it a bit more solidly. Wouldn't you?

It is amazing to see such an ancient practice in today's world.