Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 3 | Page 40

Buddhism in Nepal

Peaceful environment around Bouddhanath Stupa. Photo: Tashi Sherpa.

Two years later, a Sri Lankan goodwill mission visited Kathmandu
and interceded on behalf of the monks. They stressed how Lord
Buddha had been born in Nepal, so his followers should be
free to practice their faith in the country where he was born.
Eventually the ban was lifted and the monks returned, renewing
their efforts to spread the faith. Shorty after in 1951, the Rana
regime was ousted by a revolution, democracy was established
and the overt persecution of Buddhists ended.
Buddhist temples in Nepal
There are said to be over 1,200 Buddhist temples in Nepal, some
going back as far as 2,000 years. As well as in the Kathmandu
Valley, monasteries can be found in many of the mountain districts
that border onto Tibet to the north and India to the east.
Kathmandu Valley
There are many temples in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur.
Many of the main ones are found in Swayambhunath,
Boudhanath and Charumati Vihara. They are with a stupa
design and are believed to go back about two thousand years.
Bhaktapur, Patan, Swayambhunath and Boudhanath have
temples designated as UNSECO World Heritage Sites. Patan
is the oldest city in Kathmandu Valley and there are at least
18 ancient Buddhist temples to be found there including
the Golden Temple, Ashoka Stupas, Mahaboudha, Rato
Machhendranath and so on. In Bhaktapur there are also many
Hindu and Buddhist temples, mostly built between the 14th and
18th century.
In the city of Kathmandu, the stupa at Boudha is the largest
Buddhist temple in Nepal and one of the largest stupas in the
world. Another of Kathmandu’s five World Heritage Sites, the
original site of Boudha’s stupa is said to be at least two thousand
years old. Most historians believe that the current stupa was built
sometime in the 7th century. One of the most sacred Buddhist
temples in Nepal, the