Swayambhunath

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Swayambhunath stupa
Swayambhunath, detailed view
Look at Swayambhunath of Kirtipur from

Swayambhunath ( nepali : स्वयम्भूनाथ स्तुप, Svayambhūnāth stup ) is a temple complex that is built on a hill in the west of Kathmandu .

history

Along with Borobudur on Java in Indonesia, Swayambhunath is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in the world. The inner buildings are estimated to be around 2500 years old, the other renovations took place later. According to legend, Swayambhunath is closely linked to the creation of the Kathmandu Valley .

In April 2015, the temple complex was badly damaged in an earthquake . The central stupa remained standing, but many of the surrounding buildings collapsed.

Temple complex west of the main stupa

description

The dominant element of the temple complex is the Buddhist stupa with the painted eyes, which is flanked by two Hindu towers when viewed from Kathmandu . As in many other places in Kathmandu, Buddhist and Hindu holy sites are also closely interlinked in Swayambhunath . At the foot of the hill there is a stone slab with the Buddha's footprints . From there a staircase with 365 steps, flanked by colorful figures and mani stones , leads to the temple complex.

Due to the large population of rhesus monkeys that live there , Swayambhunath is also called the "temple of the monkeys" by tourists.

Legend of Swayambhunath

Sadhu in Swayambhunath

Once the whole valley of Kathmandu was one big lake. One day sadhus discovered a lotus flower on the surface of the lake. For centuries, believers made pilgrimages to the shores of the lake and worshiped the lotus blossom as a symbol of God. One day a glowing flame rose from the lotus chalice, Swayambhunath arose or, better said, created himself - that's what his name says: The God risen from himself. The manifestation of the Buddha shone for many more epochs, until the Bodhisattva Manjushri from China, after circumnavigating the lake three times, cut a gorge in the southern range of hills and the flame also disappeared with the outflow of the water. He planted the glowing blue lotus flower on the hill of Swayambhunath.

Web links

Commons : Swayambhunath  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Only heaps of rubble - earthquake in Nepal also destroys world cultural heritage. In: 3sat.online. Retrieved November 7, 2017 .

Coordinates: 27 ° 42 ′ 53.6 "  N , 85 ° 17 ′ 24.4"  E