Visit to Swayambhunath

Visit to Swayambhunath

by Shila Shrestha 

Every year, we make it a point to visit all the seven world heritage sites of Kathmandu. Selected by UNESCO, these are special places to be in. We also watch the 3D and video combination “Seven Wonders of Kathmandu,” written and directed by Pallav sir for Spiny Babbler and UNESCO as a musical.

We have already been to Bhaktapur and Pashupati a bunch of time. Swayambhu is one place that we have not often visited due to the location being far. 

On the 9th of February, all of the students from our school went to Swayambhunath including myself. As the road to Swayambhu is long we had to have our lunch before heading out.

Whenever we go outdoors we always have to bring along our respective song books. We sing songs that really pump up our spirits and make the ride even more enjoyable. There are about 55 songs inside our songbook . 

After singing out lungs out throughout the ride, we finally reached our destination. Our van dropped us, but Bisesh, Vidheha, Bhagwati ma’am and Pallav sir had to attend the party. Pallav sir bought one packet of kapsey cookies for all of us. We had already tasted the cookies before, during our first visit here. Sabita didi also bought some packets of kapsey cookies for us, to munch on, on our way back to the school.

We saw a big pond that was next to a beautifully sculpted stupa that really caught my eye. We saw a lot of prayer wheels, that were already spinning around. Watching the prayer wheels spin was a very satisfying feeling so we decided to spin the prayer wheels too.

Even if the stairs were very long it definitely didn’t tire our legs. After a long hike up the stairs, we reached the temple that was situated on the top of the hill. We stopped for a group photo, as moments like this are to be captured. After a small photo session up the hill, we looked at the beautiful view that could be visible right outside the temple.

As we descended the long stairs, we noticed a crowd of people gathered around a well-like structure where the people threw coins into it. People have a belief set that when a person  throws in the coin inside the pot, wishes come true.There were so many coins inside the pot and water. Again we went up and up the long stairs. We were tired but also were very excited to reach our destination place, Swayambhunath.  

Savina ma'am and I took pictures by capturing the beautiness of that place with the children. Sabita didi took care of little children. We took a photo with Swayambhunath. We visited and rang the bell. Few people went to the top of swayambhunath to hang up prayer flags.

We got to see a lot of new things.There were  lots of bracelets, necklaces and other beautiful pieces of accessories that were on sale. We got to see a painting that really looked different and unique called the Thangka painting.    

After walking through the street vendors, we came upon a temple that was golden in color. As  I was filming the golden temple, I saw two monkeys feasting on Guavas and Bananas. In front of the temple there was a small hole where people put rice, chiura, color, flowers and tika.

I also got to film some cute moments of the monkeys, after feasting on a ton of fruits they decided to open up a packet of cookies and drank water together. I had figured out the paths due to my numerous visits to this beautiful place. All of us started climbing trees and playing around so it  tired us and made us hungry.

I still remember, long time ago we sat down at the same place and we had some delicious puri tarkari. As we were eating, we saw a monkey entered the shop, that really scared us and led us to finishing our food super quick.

After having puri tarkari we continued the Kora, as we approached Ringroad Savina ma’am took some pictures of us standing in front of the three avatars of gods and goddesses .

As soon as we arrived the main road, Savina ma’am called Pallav sir and in a fraction of minute we saw the van. All of us safely crossed the road and got to our van. After such an enjoyable and a fun energetic trip half of the kids slept while some still had the energy to sing as we were on our way back to school.

Outdoors are always fun. From Spiny Babbler all of the kids love to go outdoors and learn so many different things.

Exploring the North Side of Pashupati

Exploring the North Side of Pashupati

Commentary by Shila Shrestha with a blurb on Gaurighat by Vidheha

We are Going!

On 5 February 2020 Pallav Sir planned to take us on a visit to Pashupatinath. We have already been there many times. It would be nice. Last time when we went there, it was a little sad. Relatives were crying and because their loved ones were dead. It’s not good. So Pallav Sir said we were going to the other side of Pashupati and we would be exploring places and sites that we had read about this month in the Swasthani stories.

Getting Ready

We had to leave early, so I cooked the rice for everybody and I washed the lentil dal for Bhagwati ma’am to cook. Soon after the kids came, we ate lunch and we were ready to go. Unfortunately, the van had a flat tire so we were delayed. We went inside the van. Zoya was also going.

Songs in the Van

In the van, I was asked for the songbook and the music. Oops, I forgot so I ran along to get the pen drive and 6 copies of Song Book 1. Anil dada joined the pen drive into the sound system of the van and now we could sing songs along the way. We sang a lot of songs. 500 miles, Country Roads, Kkk Kathmandu, Buffalo Soldier, and many more.

A Little Walk, and a Carpenter

The tire had a nail so it had to be given to the garage for a while. The van stopped. We got out of the van. Pallav Sir said we would much rather walk along the Bagmati River than sit in the van doing nothing. Pallav Sir said we could climb trees. I think he was joking because we didn’t climb any trees after all. We visited a carpenter and looked at modern tools and how they helped him turn his hobby into a profession and the van came and we got on and reached the first of the temples to visit today: Gaurighat.

Vidheha Ranjan talks about Gaurighat:

Going to Gaurighat was fun. There were broken houses, there were also broken windows, there were people fighting nearby the temple. People were cleaning the river because the river was also dirty, though much better than the old days. There were lots of statues of gods near the river. There were lots of monkeys. One was eating a banana. In the old old days the Parbati, the wife of Lord Shiva stayed there when Lord Shiva went to the forests to play with the deer. When the gods stayed there the water was blue, the jungles were beautiful and the grass grew wild. The cliffs were also tall and wonderful. Now too the water is flowing but it is brown and stinks a lot. It is filled with plastic and garbage. The cliffs are tall and there is grass. But it’s not wonderful and beautiful and I wish someone would just clean the place and make the grass and water beautiful. I and my friends love going outdoors, to Gaurighat and other beautiful hikes and camps.

Moving on:

Bhagawati ma’am bought some tika and flowers. Niva didi took a class. She said we have to write about these temples. We sat on the floor got out our notebooks and pencils. We started to write about temples and what we saw there. When we were writing, people were discussing about money. We took some notes and photos. There was one big orange Hanuman and Narayan (Bishnu) sculptures.

We went to the riverside. Bhagwati ma’am bought some diya lamps. She bought five of them. Other people were also lighting diyas. We went to the riverside and the areas that had statues. She did puja there. All of us did namaste and we put on red tika. Again we took some photos with the gods. I took a photo of Bhagwati ma’am’s family also.

Kirateswor

Then we climbed up to the bridge and there was a steep hill with white walls and stone stairs. This was where Lord Shiva came as a hunter and Parbati followed him. We walked a short but steep distance up and there were many people doing puja.  This temple was called Kirateshwor mahadev. It was a nice temple. There were trees and a Shiva linga inside a beautiful courtyard. After asking for blessings, we came back down the hill and the Mrigasthali where Lord Shiva played and where there are black bucks, barking deer and spotted deer was on our right. There were blind people playing music. And since today was Ekadashi, a phase of the moon, there were a lot of worshippers everywhere. Usually when we come to these places it is a lot quieter.

Kailash Temple Area

We saw the Kailash temple are which is old. It was now broken. There were bars as the place was being repaired and we didn’t go inside. When I saw that, I was sad because we couldn’t visit that temple. The earthquake had damaged the many temples in the area and it is so sad when we hear these things.

Guheswari

We were very happy to see Bisesh and Bhagawati ma’am’s sisters and father. We put on tika for blessings. We have visited this temple many times. This temple is called Guheswori. It was very nice. Zoya wanted to come with me but she had to go with her mom. We went down and we saw a big beautiful tree. We climbed to its feet and sat down and we brought out our flutes.

Playing Our Flutes

This is the same place we played our flutes when we came here with Niki and Phoebe. We played many songs, we played: Resham Firiri, Aye kancha, Bhanjo khet ma, Changba hoi Changba, Om jaya Jagadish hare and Kalilo tamalai. When we were playing, old women came and took photos of us. One lady and one boy knew the lyrics to Aye kancha and they sang the song. Two old women wanted to take a picture with me. When they saw me, they remembered their granddaughter. Their granddaughter also played the flute and now she is in America. They wanted to give me 100 hundred rupees but I said I don't need the money. She requested that I take it many times so I took the money to share with my friends. Then we ate oranges. They was so sweet, they were nice oranges. 

Puri Tarkari

We walked to the van. We went to a local hotel and ate puri tarkari. Puri was soft but tarkari was so hot and spicy. Vidheha couldn’t eat spicy so she ate the sabudana instead.

With Bishesh’s Family

We reached Bishesh’s house and dropped him off but we all got out of the van as well. We went to Bishesh’s home and played with the bicycle. I and Bishesh know how to bicycle. Zoya ate lito as she is just 14 months old. Bhagwati ma’am mum gave us banana. Then we left and most of us were asleep in the van. Zoya slept on my lap. When she was sleeping she was so warm. I want to carry Zoya.

Some Thoughts While Coming Back

There were so many temples but most were dirty. This Gauri Ghat is a nice place and there were lots of peoples but it was really dirty and smelly. There were trees and hills and it was a very beautiful forest. The lighted diyas can also be dangerous, once child touched a buring diya while we were there. It’s so dangerous for big and small people, I thought. When we sat and played the flute there were broken glasses. I have been to these temples so many times, today was the fifth time I think, I don’t remember.

Back Home

And we reached the school. It was a nice trip because Zoya was also there and so it was a great day. I loved visiting temples and I also like to climb. I love to go camping. I want to go camping.

Making momo

Making momo

by Shila Shrestha

Today is Friday, 17 January 2020. It has been raining for a couple of days and nights. Its winter. So its wet and cold.

But today was a great Friday as we decided to make momos. Momos are hot and tasty. All of us sit together and work together so its fun.

As usual, the day started with music. We finished the music class. Then we played games. Then I helped to Subigya to color her artwork. We are getting ready for an art exhibition.

We were now ready to make momos. Because it was raining, we could not work outside and there was little space. We decided that we older and more experienced kids would do the work.

We asked other kids to watch Angry Birds because we were sure they would much rather eat the hot momo than sit in the cold kitchen and make hundreds of them.

After lunch we were ready, the meat was ready with minced chicken, finely cut cabbages, and soya nuggets. First we had to wash our hand because our hand could be dirty.

Then Subigya, Arya, Mirdvika, Vidheha and I sat around the dining table on our chairs. Sabita didi rolled the momo dough. I put the chicken on dough and other my friends shaped the momo.

I know how to make the momo, people say I can make them quite well. So Pallav sir asked Durga didi to put the chicken mix on the round rolled out base and said you also make momo.

Durga didi put the mix while Subigya, Vidheha, Mirdvika, Arya and I made the momo. Water had already been set to boil and the different layers of the pans oiled.

Sabita didi set the momos we had placed on the pans to cook. Arya had to go because it was very cold day his mother came to get him early. Pallav sir said you can have some momos in the car. Arya had made very nice momos and he got many on a plate to share with his mum.

We worked for about two hours, all of us and finished momo making. It was time to eat! Mirdvika ate many momos. She likes the momo. She wanted more momo. We all ate lots of momo.

However, Natasha and Raya don’t eat chicken. They are vegetarian. Pallav sir said since you don’t eat chicken, you can have egg momo. Sabita didi scrambled some eggs. I put the egg on dough and the two American sisters made momo.

After Sabita didi set the momos to steam, they ate the egg momo. I think they liked the egg momo! It looked good.

Today we made very good momo. We liked the tomato ketchup and the spicy momo sauce. Momo is always good and I like to make momo as it is so fun to do.

Sunday we will made the peanut butter said Pallav sir. Cooking is fun. I like to make things. Today was cold rainy day but it was an interesting day.

Patan Kumari Gives Me a Blessing

Patan Kumari Gives Me a Blessing

10 April 2019, Wednesday
By Anita Bhattarai

Yesterday I went to Ratnakar Mahabihar with my friends. This is where the current Living Goddess of Patan the Kumari lives. Pallav Sir told us that we would make music at the Vihar, this is where Buddhists study and worship. We would do several things: we would play and have fun, we would take photographs (at least 36, he said, so we could do a exhibition of the place online), some of us would make artwork, and we would make music.

I worked to take good photos of the main temple and interesting details of the sculptures. Shila too took lots of photos. While we were busy taking photos, Vidheha, Utkrishta, Krit, Sugata and Swosti made artwork. And the little kids played games.

Pallav Sir told us what kind of photos we need. We needed photos with good angles that were not blurry. But they had to be creative, he said. As we were taking the pictures Pallav Sir called everybody and said “Now we will meet the living goddess Kumari.” Sabina Miss and Pallav Sir had been talking to the Goddess Kumari’s mother. We were so really excited as we went inside the Living Goddess Kumari’s house.

We took our shoes off outside. We carried our musical instruments. It was a very old style Nepali house. It was like a regular house. As we entered the low door, there was a sofa and a coffee table with clothes and other household items piled on them. I thought my room was a mess, this was messier J. Through another door, there was a room where water was flowing and clothes were being washed and there were water tanks to store water. There were posters, articles about the Kumari that had been published in various papers and magazines.

We went upstairs, the stairs were made of wood, very tall and not wide. They were a very old Nepali style of stairs, a bit scary to go up on. I saw a baby stroller when we came out into a low roofed, low lighted room. There were soft dolls there. We met the Kumari’s mom and Kumari’s baby sister. Her mom gave us water to wash our hands. Then we went into the room where Kumari was sitting on her silver throne. She was so small, she was just 6 years old. She was light bodied and very beautiful. She had been placed as Goddess Kumari of Patan when she was just five. Her name was Nihira Bajracharya.

She was very confident. When we went to get tika on our forehead by the Living Goddess, she placed red abir perfectly on our foreheads. The room had lots of items of worship like tika holders, kalash, diya, incense placement items, bells. The room’s ceiling was covered by a big red cloth. It was also pretty dark. The floor was made of earth, painted red as Nepal traditional floors are. There were sukul straw mats on the floor for us to sit on.

We wanted to talk to her. We wanted to make music for her. But she felt that she wanted to go to her bedroom and play, I think. Maybe she did not feel much like being with a group of strangers. Her mother and her little sister were very nice. Her mother’s name was Mohina Bajracharya and her father was named Niraj. We asked questions to her mother and she gave us time and nice answers. We were allowed to take as many photos as we wanted. I was so thankful.

Then we came down. We played our flutes, madal, violin and tambourine. Many people came and took videos of us. The Kumari also watched us from her windows with her mother. We had so much fun. I want to go there again and meet Kumari again and again. Pallav Sir has said that we can!

About Boudha

About Boudha

1 April 2019, Monday

by Anita Bhattarai

We are going to Boudha for a visit. This is our spring break and we try to go somewhere every day! It is really nice to be out and about.

Every time we go somewhere, we take our musical instruments with us so we can just sit and play. We also take our art copies with us because it is always wonderful draw what we see. We also take our note copies and cameras to talk to different people we meeting and take pictures and videos of what we see and who we meet!

Boudha is one of seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Kathmandu Valley. It is a Buddhist stupa and is said to be the biggest in Asia. Boudha is said to be founded by the Lichhavi King Siva Dev by some while others say that it was made while King Manadeva was reigning. 

Tibetan sources say that the mound was excavated in the late 15th or early 16th century and the bones of King Aṃshuvarma were discovered there.

I am proud that this stupa is in Kathmandu and I am happy we are going there again! When I get inside the gate the stupa is amazing and it is very big. The stupa is white with the head of the stupa is golden. There are prayer flags of many colors all around the stupa. The flags are red, blue, green, white and yellow.

There were so many pigeons all around the stupa, too. They are on the prayer flags and on the ground. People are feeding the pigeons.

Along with Swayambhu, Boudha is the most popular religious sites from Buddhists in the Kathmandu area. Tibetan Buddhists who settled here in the 1950s give it spirit and meaning. 

It is said that at a time when trade with India did not exist because of Malaria, Boudha served as the place where people could go to buy warm wear, rent mules and hire porters before heading off to Tibet.