More on Kathmandu later, but this was almost unbelievably cool
The Naga Pkhari (snake pond) in Bhaktapur, about 30 minutes from Kathmandu proper. I’ve only ever seen one other ‘power snake piece’ so far, the completely different one in the fields outside Srikalahasti. The upper edges of the pond are snake, heads everywhere. 17th C.
There’s a mysterious bronze spout over the lingum, where an ox is being eaten by something called a makara, which I just looked up
Makara (Sanskrit: मकर) is a sea-creature in Hindu culture. It is generally depicted as half terrestrial animal in the frontal part (stag, deer, crocodile, or elephant) and half aquatic animal in the hind part (usually a fish or seal tail, though sometimes a peacock or even a floral tail is depicted).
Haha, typical charm
Detail
Change of topic.
- Nepal just elected its first communist party, called the Communist Party of Nepal, they’re a merger of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) which is interesting trivia if you think about it and if I’ve got the story straight which is never a sure thing.
- Everywhere, major monuments are in various stages of ruined, working on re-building, or approaching a completed restoration from the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that killed nearly 9000 and levelled much of the city. Worth reading this.
- The tourist industry appears to own this city. Unique for a place this big in my travels so far.
- Recent things (and before the election). Banned: begging, using your bike or car horn, smoking in any public place anywhere, plastics (being phased in). So the opposite of India, lol. But as righteous as that is, the river that runs through the city, the Bagmati, maybe the world’s winningest river/sewer.
More later