INDIA 2025 - DETOUR TO NEPAL: KATHMANDU'S MONKEY TEMPLE

 November 24, 2025

Our first stop of the day was the Swayambhunath complex in Kathmandu, widely known as "the Monkey Temple," probably because no one can pronounce "Swayambhunath," and also because hundreds of rhesus macaque monkeys live in and around the complex and roam freely about the site. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, this complex of shrines, stupas, and statues has been sitting atop a hill and overlooking the valley for about 2,000 years, making it one of the oldest and most sacred Buddhist sites in Nepal, and one of the three most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world. 

The complex is also know for its unique blend of Hindu and Buddhist culture. 

To get to the main stupa, we first walked through this garden of votive stupas, small shrines donated by pilgrims over the centuries to secure good karma or possibly to hold the ashes of the dead. It does look a lot like a cemetery.

Just past that garden/cemetery of votive stupas, we saw our first monkey, and then several more. Then dozens. They were everywhere--sacred site or not!

This woman is selling candles for worshipers or maybe as souvenirs for tourists.

We were there just in time to see one of the temple rituals that occurs periodically throughout the day. Note that the men are all bare-footed and that the women are all dressed in red. I learned that Tibetan Buddhism--which is what is prevalent in Nepal--is a more elaborate form of the usually simple religion, and one of the things it adds is an emphasis on color. There are five main colors in Tibetan Buddhism, each with a symbolic meaning. Red is related to life force and preservation, and of the five colors, it appears to be the most popular.

When preparations were complete, some men carried the dishes into the shrine while two bells were rung--a large hanging bell and a hand bell.

What did it all mean? I wish I knew. Neither the ubiquitous sleeping dogs nor the mischievous macaques seemed to care.

As noted earlier, Monkey Temple was built on a hill overlooking the valley, which at one time must have been sparsely inhabited. Today, however, the valley is filled with buildings and a pall of smog lies like a dirty blanket over the city.

The Swayambhunath Stupa is the central feature of Monkey Temple. It features a white dome base and a gilded hat-like tower, under which sit the all-seeing eyes of Buddha (eyes that are enough to give young children nightmares). The colorful prayer flags I've always associated with Mt. Everest are strung between the stupa's pinnacle and the ground.

View of the stupa from another side:

Prayer wheels encircle the base for those who want to spin them as they walk clockwise around the stupa.

The site is a chaotic hodgepodge of buildings of many styles and of activities that are in some inexplicable way related to each other.

When we had a moment of relative quiet with no monkeys ready to chase us away from their chosen spot, we jumped at the opportunity for a photo.

Monkeys are everywhere, but occasionally we noticed a woman dressed in beautiful traditional clothing. Maybe a model? Certainly an incongruency, to say the least.

I kept thinking of the Dr. Seuss book Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb: "Hand in hand more monkeys come, dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum."

Through all the commotion, the sleeping Buddha continues to collect donations from generous passersby. I wish people would drop money on ME while I slept.