Today we celebrated Janmashtami in Nepal. On this holiday, it's customary to cook a nice meal for the men in your life - your brothers in particular. I like this idea very much. And, it's a day off - bonus!
It's also the birthday of the Hindus' Lord Krishna, so temple visits are in order. As it turns out, there is a well regarded temple down the hill and across the river (a 30 minute jeep ride) from Bayalpata hospital. We expected crowds of pilgrims. So at 6:30 AM we gathered to...wait for everyone to assemble...and then leave at 7:15 or so to drive to the temple. It turned out that there were no crowds, and it was a beautiful morning -- a lovely time to snap a few photos. Hinduism and Buddhism have mixed together (synchretized to you theologians, although grammarians might not like my usage) to a great extent over the centuries in Nepal, so if you look carefully you'll see signs of both religions in the photos.
For breakfast we treated ourselves to...roti and dal, which regular readers of this blog will recognize as our typical breakfast. But the roti were deep fried, piping hot, and yummy. And there was a "sweet" that went along with it that was fabulous. Somehow the diet of lentils, rice and roti make me (and many westerners) violently crave sugar. For the first time, it makes intuitive sense to me that people have historically been willing to fight for sugar. For me, Coca-Cola is a trip to the moon.
It's also the birthday of the Hindus' Lord Krishna, so temple visits are in order. As it turns out, there is a well regarded temple down the hill and across the river (a 30 minute jeep ride) from Bayalpata hospital. We expected crowds of pilgrims. So at 6:30 AM we gathered to...wait for everyone to assemble...and then leave at 7:15 or so to drive to the temple. It turned out that there were no crowds, and it was a beautiful morning -- a lovely time to snap a few photos. Hinduism and Buddhism have mixed together (synchretized to you theologians, although grammarians might not like my usage) to a great extent over the centuries in Nepal, so if you look carefully you'll see signs of both religions in the photos.
For breakfast we treated ourselves to...roti and dal, which regular readers of this blog will recognize as our typical breakfast. But the roti were deep fried, piping hot, and yummy. And there was a "sweet" that went along with it that was fabulous. Somehow the diet of lentils, rice and roti make me (and many westerners) violently crave sugar. For the first time, it makes intuitive sense to me that people have historically been willing to fight for sugar. For me, Coca-Cola is a trip to the moon.
Photos of Baidyanath Temple
Below, the Buddha Gange River running high with monsoon rain and Himalayan snow melt, as seen from the Baidyanath Temple. This is the same river that we see and hear from Bayalpata Hospital
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