Kazakhstan - Astana Sights (3)

Kazakhstan - Astana Sights (2)

Kazakhstan - Astana Sights (1)

Central Asia - Identities

Nov. 8, 2014 - May, 2015

Ever since the collapse of USSR and independence of the central Asian countries, these countries found crises of new national identity and ideology. While all five Central Asian countries claim they are secular countries, they all have revived their Islamic religion and encouraged repair, reconstruct, and build new, mosques, madras (monasteries), and mausoleums. Although many buildings look impressive, they are new. Some built with new tiles, some are painted; some are even covered with printed paper. The best places to see these reconstructed buildings are Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva, and Tashkent, in Uzbekistan.

Each of the three countries I have visited has found a historical or legendary icon for itself. Uzbekistan has found Amir Temur (known as Tamerlane) as the national hero, and his statues are everywhere in the country. Kazakhstan put up an archaeological discovery of 7th-6th century BCE – a man wearing attire decorated with gold pieces: Golden Man. This golden horse-rider and archer became the national icon. For Kyrgyzstan, there is still a dispute about the origin of a legendary hero Manas. But anyway, the country has decided to make him a hero for the nation. His statues are also found everywhere. Many places changed their names into Manas.

Amir Temur, claimed himself as the direct descendent of Genghis Khan, was the founder of Timurid dynasty, which conquered and controlled central and west Asia, southern Russia, and northern India in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. He followed almost entirely the footsteps of Genghis Khan in cruelty, mercilessness, and military ambition. He was born in Shahrisabz, some 80 km away from Samarkand, and not far from Tashkent, and later based in Samarkand as his main capital city. He died in Otrar, a ruined town in today’s Kazakhstan not far from Uzbek border, but his body was brought back to Samarkand and buried there. His sarcophagus is made of black jade, they say from Mongolia, but I am afraid it is from Khotan where there is rich deposit. Ulug Beg, the grandson of Temur, a famous astronomer and ruler himself was buried side by side with Amir Temur. I visited his birthplace, dying place, and mausoleum, sensing big pride as well as propaganda in his name. In Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, there is a central park with his gigantic statue in the middle. There is also a national museum in his name on the side of the park.        

The Golden Man of Kazakhstan belonged to an ancient nomadic group called Schythians, later Sakea, who lived in the Great Steppe of Eurasia from Black Sea to Siberia. These people were known for their gold work. One of my purposes to go to Kazakhstan is to study these magnificent gold pieces, thousands of them. Their unique and intriguing designs tell us a lot about the culture. The gold works are found all over the country. To my surprise still, there are more than one Golden Man found. There are several of them! No wonder people are proud of him. In my preliminary studies I found a connection between the designs of these gold works with textile designs found far in the south crossing the Taklamakand desert in northwest of China; now I have seen more original pieces and found more evidences.

In Kyrgyzstan, one of the things the government tried to revive as a way of differentiating itself from USSR time is shocking to me: Bride Kidnapping! I met two Fulbright colleagues in Bishkek and Karakol, and both talked about the problem of such kidnapping. My tour guides (Russian ethnicity) also commented on it as a terrible backward practice. While this custom did have a long history, it was banned during USSR period. Now the rate had risen 50% since the collapse of the Soviet. It seems the government intentionally encourages the practice.

The colleague in Karakol told me that just the day before we met, she had had to substitute for a few days for a lady colleague whose husband had suddenly died in jail and to participate in the funeral with her. The woman, a college professor in English, had gotten bride-kidnapped some years ago, had agreed to marry the man, partially because of the family and social pressure and partially because it was cheaper and simpler for the wedding (!?). But recently the husband had had an affair with a married woman, and the woman’s husband probably had done something, and then the woman died. This English professor’s husband became a suspect and got arrested and beaten up. Then he died without a clear cause.

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have had a great tension for about a decade. Riots between Kyrgyz and Uzbek in the Osh region near Uzbekistan border in 1990 and 2010 affected the two nations’ relationship tremendously. When I was still in Uzbekistan traveling to Fergana valley, a fertile region bordering with Kyrgyzstan, on the highway, I was warned constantly by the local driver not to take pictures at the check points and get passport ready all the time. And there were indeed several check points with heavy army guards. At one such point, there is narrow valley where three countries meet: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.      

Interestingly, the three –stans I went, all still have strong Soviet remains, both mentally and materially. People still admired Stalin’s leadership in the Second World War Two and commemorated the local soldiers died in the war. In many cities, the central public park is a memorial park to the victory of the war and dead soldiers with guns and aero planes displayed and monuments erected. Only in Kazakhstan, I saw an exhibition criticizing Stalin’s terrible execution of his own party members with a long list of intellectuals from the country. A daughter of a woman who had been put in a labor camp by Stalin was at the exhibition.        

I could not go to Turkmenistan although I was six kilometers away from its border in Uzbekistan. The visa to the country was difficult to get, even for Uzbeks. In fact, I learned later, that a Fulbright colleague who had been assigned to teach in Turkmenistan was replaced to a different country simply for the difficulties to obtain too many documents for a visa. A tour guide told me that Turkmenistan was very rich now. Housing, electricity, natural gas, water, transportation, etc. were all free for the citizens. Another tour guide told me that Turkmenistan had everything but freedom. Nobody in the country was allowed to move around freely, and definitely not to any foreign country. Foreign visitors were not allowed to take a blanket out of the country except as a present given by the government. I wanted to go to Turkmenistan because it had been known for its kilim textile weaving, so I do not understand why the country does not allow people to take its famous products out of the country. I only wonder what kind of national icon Turkmens established after their independence.     

Kazakhstan - Turkestan Shymkent

Oct. 26, 2014

Dear Colleagues:

Several days have passed since the last interruption. Now I am writing in a hotel in Shymkent, a third or fourth largest city in the country. It is in the south of the country, the climate is the same as most part of Uzbekistan. And in fact there are many Uzbeks live in the region, and the city is only 2 and half hours to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

Comparing to the northern steppe, the city of Turkestan (I was there yesterday) and Shymkent are much warmer and suitable for agriculture. Many sorts of crops and fruits grow here.

In Turkestan (Oct.25) yesterday, the weather was so warm and pleasant that the guide Maria (half Russian half Armenian) and I sat in a park for a long time talking about her family story. On her father’s side, her great grandfather was afraid of Bolshevik for he was a business owner (just a shoemaker!!) and escaped Armenia to the mountains of Kyrgyzstan at the beginning of the twentieth century. Maria’s mother is from a Russian family from Kazakhstan which moved from Russia to Kazakhstan during USSR time as being encouraged to move to build new cities in the “empty” places (similar to the situation my parents had. They were assigned to work in Xinjiang to help build New Socialist Xinjiang, far from their original home).

Modern Turkestan is built upon an ancient city that was an important trading post on the Silk Road. One can tell why it can be important especially after being to the north barren steppe. It is close to Sry Darya, the largest river in Central Asia, the climate, the soil, etc. all ideal for agriculture and economy.

The importance of the town since Middle Ages is that an Islamic teacher and philosopher (Yasawi) lived and died here. The town and his tomb were destroyed by Chingiskhan, but later, Amir Temur ordered to rebuild his mausoleum.

Between Turkestan and Syhmkent, there is ruined town named Otrar. This is the place where Amir Temur died. 

Kazakhstan - Aktobe Atyrau

Oct. 22, 2014

Dear Colleagues:

I am on a train from Aktobe to a southwest city Atyrau where there is a village that played important role on the ancient Silk Road. The train will run for 16 and 1/2 hours so I can take some time to write.

I have been in the city of Aktobe since yesterday afternoon. Mr. Rakhym Beknazarov, a professor of Ethnography in the largest university in the region, gave me a drive through the city. The population of the city is only 300,000. The professor invited me to his home, where he, his wife and children, and his parents live together. His mother and wife (a school teacher in German language) prepared their national food Beshparmak (meaning meat eaten with your fingers手抓肉). It was a mixture of beef and horse meat. Rakhym’s father used to be a vet doctor; he is retired on a pension of about $300 per month. Rakhym compared pension with Chinese in Xinjiang (northwest of China with a long border with Kazakhstan), where a pensionist (they used that funny word) could get $700 per month. Rakhym is a big fan of his president. He thinks that his president has a strategy of building a relationship between Kazakhstan and China like that of Canada and the United States.

This morning I was taken to a local museum where I found something unexpected: some gold pieces of Schythian-Saka time. It is good evidence that the Schythian-Sakae were active in this area around 8^th-7^th century BCE. The city is 90 km away from Russian border.

Kazakhs in the region are not nomadic anymore. They all settle in the cities and villages. The climate here is not good for agriculture although there are still farms growing some grains. Fruits, nuts, grains, are mostly imported from southern region of the country or from abroad. There are farms of horses, cattle, and sheep. The region has rich resources of oil, gas, and chromium. People make livings by working for the oil/gas and rare minerals industries. The largest foreign investor in the region is China. The Sino-Petroleum Company built the highest building in the city. There is even a Confucius Institute in the university. The second largest investor is Russia, of course. Korea and Japan are after.

I wanted to go to Caspian Sea from Atyrau city (only 20 km away), however, the road condition is very bad in this season; and also since it is on the border, any foreigner would be charged for $495 for a permit which must be applied at least a week in advance. So the trip to Caspian is cancelled!

Interrupted.

Atyrau (continued to write on Oct.26): Ural River dividing the city into Asia side and Europa side. I came back and forth several times within a day between Asia and Europe! It is a small city, but two “golden men” were found here; the guide in the local museum called these golden men Sarmatians as being different from Schythian-Sakae (must check with scholarly interpretation). A village called ???? was originally built in 10^th century, later destroyed by Chingiskhan, rebuilt again, but eventually abandoned (because of the dry off the river?). It used to be a large kingdom in the region and an important stop for caravan merchants on the Silk Road. A Spanish traveler of the 15^th century traveled here and wrote about the town.

Kazakhstan - Astana

Oct. 21, 2014 Clear but cold day (below freezing point)

Dear Colleagues:

I am waiting in an airport again, this time, Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. In 1997, the first (and the only so far) president of the country after independence (1991) from USSR decided to move the capital from Almaty to Astana, a central north place in Kazakhstan, typical great steppe environment with vast flat grass land. For some reason, people (maybe just the president himself) did not want to have their city spread out on this empty land, instead, they built skyscrapers. So, Astana is a new city full of modern buildings. It must have been an ideal place for architects to fulfill their dreams. In fact, several internationally famous architects came to have designed buildings here, including British Norman Foster, Japanese Kisho Kurokawa, and Italian Manfredo Nicoletti.   

Here I truly had an adventure for I have not hired a tour guide, and the local hotel does not even have its own business card or a simple map to orient their customers. So every day I take two slips of paper with me when I go out: a slip with my destination name and address, and one with the hotel name and address. I showed the slip to people at bus stations to direct me. People are very friendly, hospitable, and helpful, although we do not understand each other’s languages. Russian is still a major language, but Kazakh is the national language now, and most people do speak Kazakh. My very few Uyghur vocabularies help a little. Uyghur, a Turkic language spoken in Xinjiang (Northwest of China), Uzbekistan (actually it is very close to Uzbek language), and Kazakhstan, shares a lot of vocabularies with other Turkic languages. I learned some words (I have regretted so much that I did not learn enough) in Xinjiang where I grew up. So at least, I can find right food for myself for a real meal. Over all, the food here is not as good as that in Uzbekistan. There are fewer varieties on the menus and fewer restaurants available. I have to take a bus for about 15 minutes to a restaurant for supper.

Compared to Uzbekistan, tourism has just started to develop. People here do not have the concept of tourism, and things are not convenient yet, except money exchange. You can change your USD in any bank or withdraw Tenge (Kazakhstan currency) from any ATM machine. ATMs are everywhere. It is pity that I just get familiar with the city and won’t get lost anymore, I am leaving.

Kazakhstan does not have many ancient ruins or old busy towns as Uzbekistan does. If one goes as tourist, one might not find many interesting places to go. But for me, I found what I have been looking for. In the National Museum, I found amazing artifacts right for my research project. Unfortunately at first that photography was not allowed even I offered to pay a fee. Eventually I had to ask Fulbright office in the US Embassy to get a special permission for me. So they wrote an official letter for me to take to the museum. That’s when the magic happened! I spent 5-6 hours there to photograph several thousand small golden pieces from 8^th -4^th century BCE time. These artifacts are exactly the stuff I have been looking for to compare with a special group of textiles (the designs and iconography) I have been studying. That was the happiest day of this trip so far!

I was invited by the director of archaeological institute in Astana to give a lecture at the National University of Kazakhstan. There I gave a presentation on my research related to the artifacts discovered in Kazakhstan, and received unexpected enthusiastic responses. I was overwhelmed.

圣地尼泊尔

惊闻尼泊尔大地震，有些心神不定。一个月前刚去过的地方，现在已经面目全非。随便聊聊在那里的见闻和感受吧。

我的尼泊尔之行是为了给自己的“朝圣”之旅做个了结。在此之前已经去过印度境内若干个佛祖曾经亲历过的地方和佛教圣地。这最后一站是去佛祖出生地蓝毗尼（Lumbini）。其实整个旅途应该是倒过来走的。先去佛陀出生地，然后去他开悟之菩提树所在地菩提迦耶（Bodh Gaya），再去他第一次说法之地鹿野苑（Sarnath），最后去他涅磐之处拘尸那揭罗 (Kushinagar)。但我当然并不是像信徒那样为了朝拜而去朝拜。说是朝圣，实际上只是在自己学术考察途中顺便关注一下。释迦牟尼毕竟是伟大的哲学家思想家和世界一大宗教的创始人及身体力行者。是不是信徒都值得拜访一下他的生前足迹。自佛祖涅磐后的两千五百多年来，朝圣者从四面八方络绎不绝来到佛国圣地。不说别国别人，中国东晋高僧法显（337-422）和唐代高僧玄奘（602-664）就不远千里游历佛国达十几年之久。

蓝毗尼（Lumbini），距离尼泊尔首都加德满都（Kathmandu）280公里，但距离印度边境不到50公里。1997年被联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）定为世界遗产。这里离开喜玛拉雅山麓整整一个小时车程，已经属于热带平原地区。公元前623年，佛陀释迦牟尼诞生于此地。

我住的宾馆在遗址公园的围墙外，阳台上便能看到墙内浓郁的树林。园内不允许任何机动车辆，我在入口处叫了一部脚踏三轮。蹬三轮的小伙子问我想要怎样在园内周游。我完全不知园内规划设计，便听他介绍。有两条路线：一是先看园内周边各国各教宗修建的佛寺，然后集中到佛祖出生地点；二是从佛出生地点开始再去参观其它。我希望能在佛诞生地不受约束的停留多点时间，便选择了第一条路线。

游园开始才发现园子很大（4.8 x 1.6 公里），去的每一处都必须跑马观花才能保证在计划时间内到达最后一站；而每一处又都很大，十几、二十分钟只够瞧瞧外观。在园子里，世界各国各家佛教宗派都争先恐后地买地兴建寺庙，且唯恐不能地显示自己的财力和势力。一圈跑下来，看到的寺院是一家比一家宏伟高大，一家比一家豪华奢侈。有泰国的、缅甸的、越南的、斯里兰卡的、柬埔寨的、印度的、日本的、韩国的、中国的，还有法国的、德国的（奇怪吧！）；有大乘宗、小乘宗、密宗，不知是否还有禅宗、净土宗的寺院（实在没有时间看个仔细）。据说日本的寺院内的禅房的服务比五星级宾馆还高级，接待长期短期去那里坐禅修行的人。中国的寺院叫“中华寺”，似乎是要代表全中国的佛教派别。大门匾“中华寺”和“大雄宝殿”匾是赵朴初题字，而宝殿上另一匾则为共产党江总书记题字。进去后俨然一个小紫禁城的感觉。总之，整座园子像是一处大型的佛教建筑展览，还有不少正在建设中。作为休闲踏青同时欣赏建筑艺术之地，这里还的确是个好去处。至于这里的僧侣们和来朝拜的信徒们能否近距离体验到佛祖之精神，我觉得还是个问题。

真正近距离接触佛祖自然是要到他的降诞之处。

我的三轮车半道儿轮胎被扎破，小伙子沮丧地推车走了。而我走了很长一段路才到了圣地的圣地。这期间经过据说有一公里之长的长方形水池（让我同时想到印度泰姬陵前的水池和华盛顿国会大厦前纪念广场的水池）和一长段步行大道。出乎我的意料，这里还不仅只有一柱后代人矗立的纪念碑之类，而是真有考古发现。原先本着象征性的到此一游的想法，立刻烟消云散。

在一幢外部粉刷成白色的砖房大厅里，游客们走在墙边一圈专门修制的木板走道上。紧贴墙壁的走道边上有零散的几个僧侣盘腿而坐，喃喃地诵着经。包围在中央的地面是经过挖掘复原的遗址。正中间有一块地方被玻璃盖罩着。工作人员把我引到跟前，指着玻璃罩下的一块石板说：这就是确切的佛陀出生地点！WOW！虽然没有电击似的感受，但也肃然起敬。暗地里仍有疑问：佛祖不是出生在王室家中吗？怎么会在一块儿粗糙的石板上落地？玻璃罩上有朝拜者们扔下的钱币。不知怎的，我突然觉得这种方式挺亵渎神圣的。我是不能把纯精神的东西和世俗的物质性的东西混在一起想象的。好在印度和尼泊尔有非常明确的规定，在所有宗教古遗址都不允许烧香磕头和举行任何仪式。否则真会乱了套了。

工作人员背后的墙壁上有一枚石板浮雕，上面刻有佛佗母亲玛雅从自己身体右侧的腋下生出佛陀。这是自古以来典型的佛陀诞生图。像中国的简狄吞鳦卵而生契，姜嫄踏帝印而生后稷，基督教圣玛丽受圣意而孕生基督，艾兹台克蛇裙女神怀揣羽毛而生太阳神，等等神迹，佛教传说王后玛雅一夜梦见一只白色大象从天上向她飞来，由此受孕，从胳肢窝生下佛陀。

出后门来，有一方形水池，据说是玛雅的浴池。据《高僧法顯傳》记载：“城東五十里有王園。園名論民。夫人入池。洗浴出池。北岸二十步。舉手攀樹枝。東向生太子。”水池二十几步远处果然有一棵粗壮高大的菩提树。树后有一排身着橘黄色袈裟的僧侣围着个半圆圈席地而坐，每人对着一本经书轻声念诵。在水池和大树之间的空间，只见一年轻精致女子，身穿鹅黄色上衣，下着黑色灯笼裤，面对菩提，一丝不苟、不紧不慢地磕着藏式长头，连续了几十个，令人看出她的虔诚。后来我在机场偶然碰到她，跟她同行的还有几位尼姑。看出他们是中国人，我就问她是否那个磕长头的就是她。她说：你是说行大礼吧？

在这里我更感兴趣的还是挖掘出来的遗址和文物。除了那块儿保护在室内的大石板和相连的建筑遗留，室外周围还有一根著名的阿育王（Ashoka，也称“无畏”或“无忧”王，公元前269年继位）纪念石柱和几处不同时代建造的圆塔及寺院遗迹。十九世纪末，印度考古学家发掘此地，发现了阿育王石柱，并根据法显和玄奘的记录确认了这里即是阿育王确认并立碑纪念的佛陀诞生之地。《大唐西域記》载：“至臘伐尼林。有釋種浴池。澄清皎鏡。雜華彌漫。其北二十四五步。有無憂華樹。今已枯悴。菩薩誕靈之處。……不遠有大石柱。上作馬像。無憂王之所建也。後為惡龍霹靂。其柱中折仆地。” 最近一些年的挖掘又发现了从公元前1000年至前550年的遗迹，而前550年左右正是释迦牟尼活动时期。

阿育王是印度历史上第一个统一的王朝孔雀王朝的第三位国王。他所做的一件具有重大历史意义的事情就是把佛教立为了国教。从此佛教得到弘扬和传播。他在位期间重新分配佛舍利，在全国范围内兴建舍利塔、寺院、石窟庙宇，在一些重要圣地建筑纪念碑纪念塔，包括在蓝毗尼和菩提迦耶德建立纪念石柱，往周边国家输送僧人传教，甚至把自己的女儿（一说妹妹）和儿子派往斯里兰卡传播佛法。

尼泊尔现在有占全国人口9%的佛教徒，加上东亚和东南亚国家的朝圣信徒及其在尼泊尔境内兴建的寺院，佛教气氛感觉还是很浓厚。在Lumbini遗址公园外围，有很多亚洲国家风味的餐馆，我见到路边一个大牌子“到家了！进来坐一下，喝口茶。”便毫不犹豫地进去了。

一个眉清目秀的中国小伙迎上来。我说先给我来瓶可口可乐，再来一盘酸菜肉丝加米饭。小伙儿说没有酸菜了，泡菜行不行。我说酸菜和泡菜有区别吗？小伙儿不好意思了。问他来自哪里，他说大陆重庆。我说泡菜就是你们四川的有名啊，在北方就叫酸菜。你们的牌子上第一样菜就是酸菜炒肉丝，你难道不知道吗？小伙子说，我只是打工的，不知道厨房里的事。我问老板在吗，他说老板是台湾人，很少来这边。可乐喝完，饭菜也上来了。一吃，明明是榨菜肉丝嘛。旁边有个中年妇女也在吃饭，看出她是这里负责的，便跟她聊起来。我说你们这里是不是酸菜、泡菜、榨菜不分呀？她说怎么会不分呐。我说那我要的是泡菜肉丝，怎么变成榨菜肉丝了？她问我要不要重新换过。我说算了吧，要不另外给我一小碟泡菜？吃到泡菜，觉得真是吃到可口的中国餐了。收钱的小姑娘也看上去很秀气，来自江苏。问他们在这里生活怎样，都说挺好。

从这里去一个自然保护区的路上，司机是当地人。他刚开始跟我说英语，后来搞清楚我是中国人便跟我说起了汉语，让我很吃惊。多说几句后发现他的汉语还挺流利，并有浓重的河南或山东口音，一问，原来他的汉语是跟在尼泊尔修筑工程的山东民工学的。听外国人讲了一路山东话，差点笑死我。他在中国工程队干了很多年，一直跟山东民工住在一起，后来居然被中国驻尼泊尔大使馆看中，召他去当翻译。他在大使馆又干了四年，项目完成后回家，给朋友的旅游公司当起了司机。

……

尼泊尔既是佛教圣地，更是印度教圣地。印度教徒占人口88%以上。首都加德满都Kathmandu 有一座较有规模的大神湿婆（Shiva）庙（Pashupatinath），只允许印度信徒进去。当地人相信这里是湿婆和帕瓦提女神（Parvati，也称Shakti）结婚的地方，而他们结婚的日期则成为全国最大的节日（Maha Shivaratri）。不仅当地的印度教徒，周边印度和东南亚各国以及世界分散的教徒们，都会在二月的某一天聚集在这里狂欢庆祝。平时来这里的香客也很多。我进不去庙堂，便在大门外伸长脖子往里瞧。所能看见的只是一只大金牛的屁股和尾巴。

根据一般湿婆神庙的设计，庙里是湿婆雕像或者他的阳根（Lingum）的雕像，门外是他的坐骑神牛南迪（Nandi），呈卧姿，面向庙门。因为这里是大神和女神结婚的地方，庙里庙外便到处是阳根女阴（Yoni）结合在一起的石雕碑座。那些数不清的一排排一座座的神塔里面供奉的全是这样的石雕。这种阴阳结合的石雕像在印度教发展的中晚期在印度和尼泊尔实际已经非常普及，但是这里似乎更为集中。早期的湿婆崇拜像大多只是他巨大而威力无比的阳根。神话传说中湿婆曾经和另外一个大神毗湿奴（Vishnu）比武，看谁的那玩艺儿伸展的高大而有力，结果湿婆胜出。

湿婆的隐居地据说是在喜马拉雅山的喀拉什（Kailash）山峰上，距加德满都直线距离并不远。但是这座山峰在西藏境内，也是藏民和佛教徒的圣山。我想如果不是因为海拔高度和边境问题，可能也早就成了成群结队的朝圣者的好去处。在尼泊尔和印度，因为印度教认为佛陀即是大神毗湿奴的九个化身之一，所以印度教徒中也有拜佛陀的；同样，佛教密宗也吸收了很多印度教的神灵鬼怪，比如湿婆神在佛教里变成了四大天王中的北天王，所以佛教徒和印度教徒也有去同一个寺庙、拜同一些神袛的情况。也许正因为这样的交叉关系，印度教徒和佛教徒也一直能相安无事。说到这里想起了公元8世纪时吐蕃王松赞干布同时娶尼泊尔公主和中原公主为妻、并受两位虔诚的佛教信徒夫人的感化而兴起佛教崇拜的史实。吐蕃和尼泊尔一直有着千丝万缕的关系。

湿婆的乘骑南迪在这里随处可见。真的假的，活的石雕的。 这座神庙外便有一大片山坡地，专门用来放生神牛和其他动物的。据说湿婆和帕瓦提俩人有一次路经这里，对这里美丽的山水流连忘返，化作野鹿到处游玩。后来其他的神们召湿婆回去，他便要求成为各类动物之主。因为这个故事，放牛的山坡隔着一条河的对面山坡就成了鹿苑。河两岸也因此成了很多种动物的乐园。猴子成群，牛羊遍地。那条河也毫无疑问地变成一条圣河。

圣河叫巴格玛蒂Bagmati，是恒河的众多上游支流中的一支。恒河在印度神话中和湿婆有着最直接的关系。传说远古时期，大地炎热干旱，民不聊生，有一位隐士向诸神祈求降下天河恒河以解危机，神不答应。隐士不放弃，静坐默祷长达一千年，终于感动了诸神，答应下放恒河。隐士又怕突然降下的大河冲击力太大，反而伤害民众，便请求湿婆神帮助。湿婆答应用自己的头顶和长发首先承接恒河，以减小冲击力。恒河由此成为圣河。在尼泊尔，巴格玛蒂便相当于恒河。在加德满都，那个湿婆神庙就建筑在巴格玛蒂河边的山坡上。一条天梯似的石阶连接着神庙和圣河。河边排列着很多火化台。信徒们都希望死后能在这里做最后一次的洗礼和火化。

我目睹了两家火化前的仪式。洗礼实际上是头和脚都要沾沾圣河的水，然后抬去火化台。火化后的骨灰就撒入圣河。相比恒河，这条河窄小得多，且河水几近干涸。河水的混浊度和气味以及人们投进去的供奉物象垃圾一样漂流，令我这样的非信徒感觉很不舒服。只希望雨季到来后的大雨能把不愉快和死亡气息一冲而尽，迎来新的神圣。

在一座空闲的火化台上，看见一个七、八岁的小男孩用绳子拴着一个陶罐非常熟练地从河里汲水，提上来后便在原地把水倒掉，然后再抛下陶罐继续提水。看我百思不得其解，导游解说，那个孩子在捞钱。“？！”看不出来吧，他的罐里有吸铁石，他是在吸河水里信徒们投下的钱币！真够聪明的。

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加德满都市处于喜马拉雅山区内一个较为大而平缓的谷地，政府行政区分为三个，每一个都建立在原先的王朝和王城所在地的基础上。 三座王城和周围的庙宇以及商业街道自然地形成三个地区的中心。这些王城的历史虽然可以追溯到一、两千年前，但是那些令人印象深刻的独具特色的建筑物却是17、18世纪以来陆续建造的。1934年的大地震损坏了这几座王城的三分之二，这次大地震又被震塌了三分之二。这些王城建筑于1997年被UNESCO列为世界遗产。

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