Swayambhunath is an ancient religious architecture atop a hill in the
Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. The Tibetan name for the site
means 'Sublime Trees', for the many varieties of trees found on the hill.
However, Shing.kun may be a corruption of the local Nepal Bhasa name for the
complex, Singgu, meaning 'self-sprung'. For the Buddhist Newars in whose
mythological history and origin myth as well as day-to-day religious practice,
Swayambhunath occupies a central position, it is probably the most sacred
among Buddhist pilgrimage sites. For Tibetans and followers of Tibetan
Buddhism, it is second only to Boudhanath.
The Swayambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a variety of shrines and temples,
some dating back to the Licchavi period. A Tibetan monastery, museum and library
are more recent additions. The stupa has Buddha's eyes and eyebrows painted on.
Between them, the number one is painted in the fashion of a nose. There are also
shops, restaurants and hostels. The site has two access points: a long stairway
with 365 steps, leading directly to the main platform of the temple, which is
from the top of the hill to the east; and a car road around the hill from the
south leading to the southwest entrance. The first sight on reaching the top of
the stairway is the Vajra. Tsultrim Allione describes the experience:
We were breathless and sweating as we stumbled up the last steep steps and
practically fell upon the biggest vajra that I have ever seen. Behind this vajra
was the vast, round, white dome of the stupa, like a full solid skirt, at the
top of which were two giant Buddha eyes wisely looking out over the peaceful
valley which was just beginning to come alive.
Much of Swayambhunath's iconography comes from the Vajrayana tradition of
Newar Buddhism. However, the complex is also an important site for Buddhists of
many schools, and is also revered by Hindus.
Mythology According to Swayambhu Purana, the
entire valley was once filled with an enormous lake, out of which grew a
lotus. The valley came to be known as Swayambhu, meaning "Self-Created." The
name comes from an eternal self-existent flame over which a sūpa was later built.
Swayambhunath is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys
living in the north-west parts of the temple. They are holy because Manjushri,
the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning was raising the hill which the
Swayambhunath Temple stands on. He was supposed to leave his hair short but he
made it grow long and head lice grew. It is said that the head lice transformed
into these monkeys. Manjusri had a vision of the lotus at
Swayambhu and traveled there to worship it. Seeing that the valley can be good
settlement and to make the site more accessible to human pilgrims, he cut a
gorge at Chovar. The water drained out of the lake, leaving the valley in which
Kathmandu now lies. The lotus was transformed into a hill and the flower
became the Swayambhunath stupa. History
Swayambhunath, is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal. According to
the Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī Swayambhunath was founded by the great-grandfather of
King Mānadeva, King Vṛsadeva, about the beginning of the 5th century CE. This
seems to be confirmed by a damaged stone inscription found at the site, which
indicates that King Mānadeva ordered work done in 640 CE.
However, Emperor Ashoka is said to have visited the site in the third century
BCE and built a temple on the hill which was later destroyed.
Although the site is considered Buddhist, the place is revered by both
Buddhists and Hindus. Numerous Hindu monarch followers are known to have paid
their homage to the temple, including Pratap Malla, the powerful king of
Kathmandu, who is responsible for the construction of the eastern stairway in
the 17th century. The stupa was completely renovated in
May 2010, its first major renovation since 1921 and its 15th in the nearly
1,500 years since it was built. The dome was re-gilded using 20 kg of gold. The
renovation was funded by the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center of California,
and began in June 2008. The temple complex suffered damage in
the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. Architecture
The stupa consists of a dome at the base, above which is a cubical structure
painted with eyes of Buddha looking in all four directions. There are
pentagonal Toran present above each of the four sides with statues engraved in
them. Behind and above the torana there are thirteen tiers. Above all the tiers
there is a small space above which the Gajur is present. The stupa has many
artifacts inside it. Symbolism
The dome at the base represents the entire world. When a person awakes from
the bonds of the world, the person reaches the state of enlightenment. The
thirteen pinnacles on the top symbolize that sentient beings have to go through
the thirteen stages of spiritual realizations to reach enlightenment or
Buddhahood. There is a large pair of eyes on each of
the four sides of the main stupa which represent Wisdom and Compassion. Above
each pair of eyes is another eye, the third eye. It is said that when Buddha
preaches, cosmic rays emanate from the third eye which act as messages to
heavenly beings, so that those interested can come down to earth to
listen to the Buddha. The hellish beings and beings below the human realm cannot
come to earth to listen to the Buddha's teaching, however, the cosmic rays
relieve their suffering when Buddha preaches.
There are carvings of the Panch Buddhas on each of the four sides of stupa.
There are also statues of the Buddhas at the base of the stupas. Panch Buddhas
are Buddha in metaphorical sense in Tantrayana. They are Vairochana,
Akshobhya, Ratna Sambhava, Amitabha and always faces the West) and Amoghsiddhi.
Each morning before dawn hundreds of Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims ascend the
365 steps from eastern side that lead up the hill, passing the gilded Vajra and
two lions guarding the entrance, and begin a series of clockwise
circumambulations of the stupa. Swayambhu Purana
Swayambhu Purana is a Buddhist scripture about the origin and development of
Kathmandu valley. Swayambhu Purana gives detail of all the Buddhas who came to
Kathmandu. It also provides information about the first and the second Buddhas
in Buddhism. Gallery
See also Natural History Museum of Nepal
Shamarpa Footnotes
^ Allione, Tsultrim. Women of Wisdom. London: Arkana. xxxiii. ISBN
1-85063-044-5. ^ Allione, Tsultrim. Women of Wisdom.
London: Arkana. xiv. ISBN 1-85063-044-5. ^ a b Shaha, Rishikesh. Ancient and
Medieval Nepal., p. 122. Manohar Publications, New Delhi. ISBN
81-85425-69-8. ^ Lonely Planet Nepal. Swayambhunath.
^ Gutschow, Niels. The Nepalese Caitya: 1500 Years of Buddhist Votive
Architecture in the Kathmandu Valley. Edition Axel Menges. p. 92. ISBN
9783930698752. Retrieved 8 April 2014. ^ Shakya, Hem Raj. Sri Svayambhu
Mahacaitya. Kathmandu: Svayambhu Vikash Mandala. ISBN 99933-864-0-5
^ Utpal Parashar. "Oldest Buddhist monument gets a makeover in Nepal".
Hindustan Times. ^ "Nepal earthquake damages
Swayambhunath temple complex". BBCNews. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
Additional references Swoyambu Historical Pictorial. Edited by
Richard Josephon.. Satya Ho. Kathmandu. Psycho-cosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist
Stūpa. Lama Anagarika Govinda. Dharma Books. Berkeley, California. ISBN
0-913546-35-6; ISBN 0-913546-36-4. Further reading
Ehrhard, Franz-Karl. "A Renovation of Svayambhunath-Stupa in the 18th Century
and its History." Ancient Nepal - Journal of the Department of
Archaeology, Number 114, October–November 1989, pp. 1–8.