INDIA 2025 - DETOUR TO NEPAL: THE BOUDHANATH STUPA IN KATHMANDU AND A BEAUTIFUL HOTEL

 November 23, 2025

We left the Pashupatinath Ghats to visit one more destination before heading to our hotel. As usual, we saw some interesting city views along the way. 

The complex snarl of wiring overhead is terrifying.

I am guessing there is some copyright infringement going on with that Google bus on the left, but is someone going to go to Kathmandu and track down the bus company? Probably not. The sign over the door on the right identifies this beautiful building as the Orgyen Dhongak Choeling MONASTERY.  That's not like any monastery I've ever seen.

However, when I zoom in, that looks like two monks standing in front of the door. Note the name of the shop on the left. 

Our driver let us out of the car so we could walk the last few blocks to our destination--the Boudhanath Stupa.

My community has a growing Hindu population that has used my church building for an annual raucous celebration, so I have had some exposure to Hinduism in addition to our travels in Hindu-dominated countries. We had a previous trip to India in 2024, as well as a trip to Sri Lanka in 2019. However, we were not quite prepared for the 14th-century Boudhanath Stupa, the largest stupa in the city and one of the largest spherical stupas in the world. It is a Tibetan-style stupa rather than an Indian-style stupa like those we had seen before. 

Maybe it was the time of day we were there (dusk, or what the Scots call "the gloaming"), but the stupa and its surrounding area definitely had a mystical quality. That aura was partly due to a pair of eyes staring intensely at us from all four sides of a square supporting a pyramid-shaped top that looks like a hat.

The edges of the circular path around the stupa are lined with temples and shops.

Some of the buildings are for worshipers, not tourists.

There are a number of traditional Tibetan prayer wheels in the buildings, and many of those who walked by would give them a spin (always in a clockwise direction). Scrolls filled with mantras, or chants used like prayers to cultivate positive qualities and purify the mind, fill the prayer wheels, and those who spin the wheel believe it is the same as reciting the mantras aloud.

We were allowed to go inside other incredibly ornate rooms and even allowed to take a few photos.

Hundreds of people--tourists and locals--were circumabulating the stupa, and always in a clockwise direction.

I love public displays of affection between children. 🧡

The walkway is lined with dozens of cubbies half-covered by pleated curtains. Many of the cubbies contain several prayer wheels, and walkers will swipe at them as they walk by to get them spinning.

Noisy and crowded but also happy and peaceful. A paradox.

There was some of that same paradox out on the sidewalk as we waited to cross a traffic-clogged street. It felt so much less aggressive than Delhi. Drivers and pedestrians alike were quite polite.

Our guide dropped us off at Dwarika's Hotel, a luxury accomodation well beyond our usual hotel choices. I think it's the first UNESCO-recognized hotel we have stayed in. It was given a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Culture Heritage Conservation for its commitment to preserving Nepali architectural traditions, specifically the use of old woodcarvings from the area that have been incorporated into the room decor.

We arrived after dark and just in time to clean up and go to dinner, but there was plenty to appreciate before we ate, such as these wonderful door handles . . .

. . . and the unique ways the paths were lighted.

We found our room, unlocked the door, and *gasp*!! What a gorgeous room . . .

. . . and who doesn't love a plate of chocolates by the bedside and The Teachings of Buddha in the nightstand drawer?

Or an enormous bathroom?

It had been a long day and we were hungry, which was a good thing because we had reservations for a six-course meal in the hotel's famous restaurant. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of our food, but we were given souvenir menus that I brought home.

Each of us received a menu personalized with our own name. Mine says "Mrs. Cannon Kenison Judy."

Our dinner consisted of: 

1) Appetizers of beaten rice, black-eyed peas, lentil pancake, chicken choyela, and a local river fish

2) Chana made of chickpeas, minced chicken, and roasted creamed oyster mushrooms, and deep-fried bread

3) Steamed dumplings: buffalo, chicken, and pork

4) Nepalese farm vegetable soup

5) Tempered yellow and black lentil daal, a variety of seasonal vegetables, chicken curry, and barbecued buffalo

6) "Authentic" Nepalese sweets

Very tasty, and certainly a culinary adventure!  We had gone early--as soon as the restaurant opened--so we were the first ones there. About ten different women waited on our table, their movements choreographed like a ballet.

Luckily, we had two nights in this gorgeous place, so we had a little time more time the next day to wander the grounds.

If I am remembering correctly, this is the matriarch of the family that owns this hotel who had recently passed away. The orange garland is a traditional memorial item, as is the small table in front of the photo that has brass cups, fruit, and a flower.