According to one account, there was once a time when everything in Nepal was going wrong, and after a while they found that the temple was damaged. The site has inspired many superstitions and features in several legends.
Right behind the main stupa, opposite the main stairway, is the temple of Hariti, Protectress of children. It was placed there by the Nepali king Pratapmalla, who was also responsible for the construction of the two shrines and the eastern stairway in the 17th century. Five days later a rich person made large offerings to him, which he used to whitewash the stupa.Īt the head of the stairs is an impressive gilt vajra borne on top of a smooth base of gilt copper, representing the dharmadhatu, in the form of the mandala of Manjushri. It is also said that Thangtong Gyalpo traveled to the stupa in a single instant through his magical power. This is also the place where Marpa Lotsawa first heard of the name of Naropa and stayed for three years “to get used to the heat”, according to the instruction of his Newar master. Thus emerged the stupa as we see it today, cherished by all the masters of our era.Īccording to the Pema Kathang, Guru Rinpoche met Shakyadevi at Swayambhunath and later hid many terma treasures here. He covered the original with rock, and built another above it, out of bricks. Concerned about the damage that people of this afflicted, degenerate age might inflict upon such a sacred site, Shantashri decided he must protect the stupa. Many ages later, during the time of Buddha Kashyapa, the Indian king Pracandadeva left his kingdom of Gauda in the east and traveled to Swayambhunath, where he took ordination under the name Shantashri (Skt. The place where his sword sliced through the surrounding hills is known as Chobar and can still be visited today.
#BRICK RIGS WIKIPEDIA FREE#
Enchanted at the sight, he drained the lake that filled the valley, so that devotees would have free passage and be able to worship at the self-arisen stupa. Manjushri, in his mountain abode at Wu Tai Shan in China, was attracted by the light radiating from the stupa, and paid a visit as the vajra-master Manjudeva. In the centre of the lotus flower, there appeared a naturally-arisen stupa (swayambhu), “having the form of light.” The story goes that he cast a seed into the lake, and from it a beautiful lotus grew. The first buddha of the current aeon, Buddha Vipashyin (Skt. The Swayambhu Purana describes how, in pre-historic times, the Kathmandu valley was a big lake that attracted many great saints and masters. For Tibetan Buddhists, this text has long been the main source of information on the sacred sites of Nepal. The origin of this stupa is recounted in the Swayambhu Purana, which details the history and significance of every major Buddhist site within the valley. The site thus provides an intimate point of connection between the well-being of the buddhadharma throughout South Asia and its flourishing in Tibet as well. The significance of this has led the Newar Buddhists of the Kathmandu valley to revere the site, while Buddhist practitioners from both India and Tibet have been gathering here for centuries, to pay homage. According to the Seventh Dalai Lama, this very stupa is the source of all the happiness in the world. It was described by Kathok Situ Chökyi Gyatso (1880~1925) as “a sacred shrine of universal value for the people of the Indian subcontinent, unsurpassable for accumulating merit and good fortune.” Trulshik Rinpoche (1924~2011) said that the Swayambhunath Stupa carries the blessings of thousands of buddhas, and that it will continue to be blessed by all the buddhas of the current aeon. The forest covering the hill is filled with families of monkeys, a home which has earned it the nickname, “The Monkey Temple.”Īlong with the stupas at Boudhanath and Namo Buddha, Swayambhunath is considered by Buddhists to be among the most important pilgrimage places in the world. Sublime Trees of All Kinds) - one of the most sacred stupas in Nepal, is perched atop Semgu hill on the western outskirts of the Kathmandu valley.
The Self-Arisen Stūpa) known as Phakpa Shingkün in Tibetan (Tib.འཕགས་པ་ཤིང་ཀུན་, Phakpa Shingkün Wyl.