No living goddess photo here… sorry!
You get my highly pixelized phone camera photo, instead! Lol!
Seriously though, we cannot take photos of the living goddess. We can’t even be assured if we can take a glimpse of her. She’s a living goddess, protected and worshiped. She is believed to be a reincarnation of the Hindu goddess Taleju and for Newar Buddhists, she is the embodiment of the supreme female deity Vajradevi. She is a rare breed, so to speak. For more about the living goddesses, check out this BBC documentary: BBC Documentary on Nepal’s Kumari and National Geographic’s Meet Nepal’s Living Goddesses.
Our guide, Shree of Kathmandu Adventures, ask the caretaker of the Kumari if we can have a glimpse of her. Luckily, he obliged. On one condition: cover my camera and hide away our phones. And we did! We had a glimpse of her… 30 secs, even less. A girl with big eyes and a face devoid of expression.
It was enough for my boys to see and realize that there’s a different world in there… different existence. “Normal” is relative to every culture and locale. They might not have fully understood it (they can’t even begin to realize that some practices are and can be questioned) but LeRuof did say at the end of that day his best experience was “seeing the living goddess”. That experience will be in their memory banks for future reference.
I knew from readings that Durbar Square was heavily damaged from 2015’s earthquake so I didn’t expect to see much. The sight of the living goddess was enough for me. Seeing the extent of the devastation of this UNESCO World Heritage Site was disheartening. But you can also see people moving on… rebuilding, however slow the pace is. Rebuilding is very slow because everything is manual.
This scene caught my attention as we were going out of the area. The man (up on those poles) was waiting for the woman in red who was picking up some materials to pull up through those ropes. It was a very manual and painstakingly slow process. At the rate they are going, it is no wonder why the structures look like the damage just happened a few months back, instead of 2 years.
Even back at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza, the progress of the renovation seemed unhurried. Probably because of the lack of sound of machines?
One thing amazing about the structures is the wood works. Amazing! All meticulously done!
This temple houses the statue of Shiva and Parvati looking out of the window. Our guide told this story: A long time ago children would be playing on the grounds in front of the temple but they would go home very sick. The people decided to put the god Shiva and goddess Parvati in the window overlooking the grounds where the children play to protect them. The children were not sickly from then on.
Interesting bit of story from our guide!
These pigeons do know they look good in photos…
and smell so bad when they start flapping their wings!
There is a display of photos of the kings of Nepal until 2007:
This lovely shade of green stands out beautifully. This is inside a courtyard where the king used to observe his people from one of the upper windows of this palace. That practice is now a distant past for the Nepalis.
For tourists…
We will just have to take in whatever’s left… and enjoy every bit of it during the few days that we go around the country.
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The woodwork is definitely worth the visit to Nepal and those pigeons, haha. There are thousands of them! I would have ran through them just for fun (and for a selfie of course). Your boys are so privileged to travel with you and I’m sure growing up to be very respectful and curious of other cultures and traditions.
Thanks, Alla. Much as we want to travel more, my husband’s schedule can’t permit it. We can’t even schedule a trip next month or next week lest we risk cancellations because of his business trips. The few travels we have with the boys will just have to suffice for now:-).
Nepal is definitely on my list of places to visit. Initially when I saw the first photo here, I thought I was looking at a blog on Indian sites! Restoration in an interest topic, and one that world travelers bump into over an again. I saw renovation at La Fontana di Trevi, Rome, At Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Wat Arun, Bangkok, and at the Taj Mahal, Agra. It’s interesting to see someone document it, rather than try to photograph around it trying to get the perfect insta-shot. Nice job.
Thanks, Natasha. Your lucky to have been and to see those renovations in different places.
Your boys are very blessed to be exposed in different cultures at a young age. Going to trips like this is better than having gadgets. They’ll be thankful that you’re documenting the family travels.
It looks so beautiful there! What an amazing experience for your sons to be able to experience other cultures and see how people live so differently. I think this is one of the most important ways to learn through travel and experiencing different cultures. Thanks for sharing your experience and stories!
Nice all articles. Thank you!
Good luck n all the best along with best wishes.
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