is one of the most magical cities I've visited, not only for its impressive cultural heritage but live in the same City Buddhism and Hinduism. Throughout
Durbar Square you can enjoy the 42 significant buildings, temples, palaces and statues forming a unique happening. Century buildings are XII to XVIII century.
One
the statues that most caught my attention was the Kal Bhairav, the image represents the deity Shiva in his destructive manifestation on the ground is the same deity in its manifestation is not destructive, but is asleep, this place was used for criminals criminal or tell the truth before the goddess, according to his confession were processed or not.
Another mandatory stop building the Kumari Ghar, or Palace of the living goddess. The Kumari is a girl who is considered the reincarnation of the goddess Taleju, if you are lucky, the girl looks out a window in the company of priests, it is quite difficult to see it as only you can access the palace courtyard for a little while. There are 11
Kumaris in Nepal, the Kumari Devi (goddess real) is living in Kathmandu. The choice of the goddess is a tantric ritual set, you must first have an age between 3 and 5 years and must belong to the Shakya caste. After 32 must meet conditions of divinity, some of them are having dark eyes or blue or perfect skin with no scar. After passing these tests the candidates are locked in a dark room with a freshly cut head of buffalo and men dance with masks of demons, she will not be afraid to make the last test is they choose the clothes to wear, that has to coincide with the latest clothes on my former Kumari. From that moment the girl becomes goddess, is separated from her family and live in the palace until the time you have your first period or if for any reason it bleeds, it ceases to be a goddess. Leaves only one day a year to the streets during the festival Jaatra Indra, the goddess vviente is carried to the highest authority in the country and gives his blessing.
We had the good fortune to be there that day and see how it changed the city from morning to evening, morning life is going on as usual, in the afternoon in many places filled altars were installed flowers to the goddess Shiva and the streets and staircases of the temples were filled with people, Kumari when it happens is acclaimed by the people and throwing coins thank her, not as I did but I managed to catch one of those coins, the reaction people greeting me was, I said I would bring good luck and protection, the truth is that since then I have always traveled in that currency.
On the outskirts of Kathmandu is the Buddhist stupas and the Bodnath Swayambhunat. A stupa is a monument that is buried in a Buddhist relic may be ashes of a saint, miraculous ritual objects or images. They are places of pilgrimage full of symbolism, the stupa is oriented to the four cardinal points, on top of it we seem to observe the eyes of Buddha, a symbol like the question and it looks like the Buddha's nose is number one Nepalese in the script represents the unity of all things. The top of a third eye symbolizes the wisdom of Buddha, the cornices above representing the five celestial Buddhas are associated with the five senses and the dome formed by thirteen stories are the steps you must go through to attain enlightenment The cap that crowns the thirteen-story symbolizes enlightenment.
To reach the ETUP of Swayambhunat you have to climb over 300 steps, each step is written in the Tibetan mantra Om Mani-Padna Hum.Alrededor of the stupa there are many temples, shrines, stupas small, the atmosphere is really mystical in all the incense is burning. A Tibetan legend says that this place was a lake in the middle of it a lotus flower, the lake dried up and the lotus flower was transformed into stupa.
Bodnath
The stupa is one of the holiest places of Buddhism outside of Tibet.
construction on several stories, the first woman and her children built, the second that a repentant murderer built to be forgiven, and the third is that in this place Khasa Chaitya Lama died on his way to Tibet for pilgrimage, it is believed that the ashes are buried in the stupa Lama.
Around the stupa there are temples, but what most excited about is seeing how they practice the kora, which is to walk to the stupa, spinning prayer wheels turning, especially when the pilgrims themselves invite you you to do the same, so with great respect and do not add up to turn the bankorg kora here, too, is written the Tibetan mantra Om Mani-Padna Hum.
Najib Canaan 
