Boudhanath

The Boudhanath, (also written Bouddhanath, Bodhnath, Baudhanath or the Khāsa Chaitya), is one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Nepal along with Swayambhunath, and it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu area. It is known as Khāsti by Newars and as Bauddha or Bodh-nāth by modern speakers of Nepali.[76] Located about 11 km (7 miles) from the center and northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu, the stupa's massive mandala makes it one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal.[77] Boudhanath became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.


The Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī documents that the Boudhanath was founded by the Nepalese Licchavi king Śivadeva (c. 590-604 CE); though other Nepalese chronicles date it to the reign of King Mānadeva (464-505 CE).[78][79] Tibetan sources claim a mound on the site was excavated in the late 15th or early 16th century and the bones of king Aṃshuvarmā 605–621 were discovered there while other Nepali sources claim it was constructed by a prince to seek forgiveness for unwittingly killing his own father .[80][81] However, the Emperor of the Tibetan Empire, Trisong Detsän (r. 755 to 797) is also traditionally associated with the construction of the Boudhanath Stupa, after Songsten Gampo was converted to Buddhism by his wives the Nepali princess Bhrikuti Devi and Princess Wen Cheng of China in the seventh century and passes it on to Detsän.[82] However, given that Kathmandu was invaded by the Mughals in the fourteenth century who would have destroyed the monument, the current stupa is believed to date to sometime after this.

The base of the stupa has 108 small depictions of the Dhyani Buddha Amitabha and is surrounded with a brick wall with 147 niches, each with four or five prayer wheels engraved with the mantra, om mani padme hum.[81] At the northern entrance where visitors must pass is a shrine dedicated to the goddess of smallpox, Ajima.[81] The stupa attracts many Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims annually who perform full body prostrations in the inner lower enclosure, circumambulate the stupa with prayer wheels and chant and pray.[81] Thousands of prayer flags are hoisted up from the top of the stupa downwards and dot the parameters of the complex. The influx of large populations of Tibetan refugees from China has seen the construction of over 50 Tibetan Gompas (Monasteries) around Boudhanath.