NEPAL | Friday, 10 September 2010 | Views [282] | Comments [1]
As the delicate pink sky of twilight outlines the hills, the full moon rises.
According to Nepali mythology, the Kathmandu valley once formed the bottom of a vast, deep lake .human realm- visited the lake during the Satya Yuga, or Truth Age, and sowed a Lotus seed that blossomed into a thousand - petalled lotus floating in the center. On each of the lotus petals sat a Bodhisattva, and in the center of the lotus, Swayambhu (Self-Born) , a form of the Adi or Primordial Buddha, projected a dazzling light.In a later era the Bodhisattva Manjhushri visited the sacred lake and, using his flaming sword of wisdom, cut four gorges in the surrounding mountains to drain the valley so that humans could more easily worship the light-filled Swayambhu lotus. To support the waterless flower, Manjushri built a mountain around the stem, and an Indian king-turned-ascetic later capped the shining flower with a stupa to protect the light from the coming of the present age, Kali Yuga. Thus, according to legend, was born Swayambhunath, ‘the protector of Swayambhu.’
tara Sep 20, 2010 9:26 PM
