A Child Becomes A Man

I've had just enough time to...   see a child becomes a man

Taken at a temple in the Durbar Square in Bhaktapur, Nepal...

Yesterday a child starts a fire

The smoke rises

An old man puts it out

The master said –

Neither be too happy nor too sad

Don’t be so attached

For change is the season

Not the reason

A child becomes a man

...where I saw an old man who was once a child

Nothing is permanent. Everything changes. Whether it starts and ends and begins again, man’s life is a straight line from birth to death, a constant change – with an end? But what makes a child a man, the wrinkles on his skin, the years of his life or the wisdom he gained? If he is wise, he is a man. If he is not, he is still a man. What then must he seek in the midst of these relentless changes? How does he find his balance? Where does he seek his centre in the turmoil of his joy and sorrow? I saw the old man who was once a child. I saw the child who will be an old man. I see myself in all of them.

A New Himalayan Dawn

I've had just enough time to...   welcome a Himalayan dawn

Taken on the first morning welcoming in the Himalayan dawn...

The valley sleeps

Under the watchful eyes of the snowy peaks

Under the cottony blankets of soft mists

Silence as peaceful as sleep

Harmony as beautiful as peace

I was up early to see the valley sleeps

Dwarfed by the majestic mountains

As ancient as the slowly departing stars

A speck in the universe of time

A slight stirring of the morning breeze

Shudders the slumbering Earth

Interrupting its peaceful sleep

With the patience and respect it commands

I was up early to welcome the soft glow

Of the approaching Himalayan dawn

The Secret of the Indian Thorn Apple (in The Patan Golden Temple).

I've had just enough time to...   learn about the Indian Thorn Apple

Taken inside the Golden Temple of Patan...

Thank you all for your interest in the thorny fruits carried by the monkeys in the images that was shot in the monastery in Nepal. Thanks to Kismet who supplied the lead and some of your suggestions, we have together solved its mystery. The thorny fruit is the fruit of the Indian Thorn Apple or “Datura Metel” (see earlier posts). But first, something about the temple itself.

The temple is situated just two hundred meters north of the famous Patan Durbar Square and was built in the 12^th Century AD. Its original location was in Bahalkot and according to legends, the Buddhist monastery was built because of a dream by the disgraced Queen Pingala of Patan as the way to win back her husband’s affection. And it worked. 

where mouse or...

King Vaskar Deva Dutta had a dream that the idol of Buddha that was moved from Bahalkot disapproved of the new location and the temple should be built in a place shown by a mouse chasing a cat. One day, he did see a golden mouse chasing a cat and ordered it to be constructed there and named it “Hiranya Varna Mahavihar” or the Golden Buddhist Monastery. I guess that is why the rats are sacred in that temple.

According to Sanskrit literature, the Indian Thorn Apple is said to be grown from the chest of the Hindu god Shiva, the god of inebriants. In Nepal, the plant is considered sacred to Shiva and thorn apple flowers and fruits are the most important offering gifts and are offered at every “puja” or offering ceremony to please the god. The Indian Thorn Apple flowers are often depicted in Hindu Tantric Arts often in connection of the incarnation of Shiva. The plant is poisonous but is used for medicinal, ritual or intoxicating purposes and is also abused for criminal purposes. If by now, you are confused about Hindu god and Buddhist temple, it is because in Nepal and large part of India as well; Hinduism and Buddhism coexist for centuries and much of the culture and beliefs have spilled over from one to the other.

The Indian Thorn Apple is not as exotic as you may believe. It belongs to the same family as that of the Angel’s Trumpets.

pigeons and human happily co-exist.

Part II - The Monkey Wearing Its Suit of Armour.

I've had just enough time to...   see the monkey wearing its suit of armour

Taken in the same temple in Kathmandu of the monkey wearing its chain of armour.

The Monkey wrapped itself in chain

Invisible

Only to itself

And the others wonder why

It so willingly

Wears its burden

But the monkey feels safe

In its chains

Of armor

That was how I found the monkey

In the temple

Still wearing its chains

A century after

Part I - The Monkey Holds Its Thorny Fruit.

I've had enough time to...   see the monkey holding the thorny fruit

Taken in a Hindu temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. The monkey was still holding the fruit when I left.

The monkey holds the thorny fruit

It hurts its hand

But it won’t let go

It does not know what to do

Except it desires it

And it knows not why but

The Monkey holds on to it obsessively

And its blood

Stains the floor

That was how I found the monkey

In the temple

Still holding the fruit

A century after

While Daddy Is Cooking.

I've had just enough time to...   see Daddy cooking.

Taken in a busy street in Kathmandu, Nepal 

While Daddy was cooking

I was looking at the blond

And the blond was looking at God

And God was looking at what’s cooking on the stove

We were all looking

Except Daddy who was cooking

While Daddy was cooking

The street musician was playing

The man in the mask was staring

And Life passes by on either end of the street

They were all busy

Except Daddy who was doing the cooking

Nature Has No Respect for the Monuments of Men

I've had just enough time to...   try to earn the respect of Nature and it is not impressed.

Taken outside a temple in Nepal of Men's imposing monument and its scan respect by Nature.

Nature has no respect for the monuments of men

Whether they be of Kings or Goddesses

It runs by its own rules and shall prevail

Even when it is overrun by men and their constructions

Do not lament the demise of nature and its destruction 

But lament instead the demise of men and their destruction 

For nature will still be here and prosper

When the last of men has long disappear

Nature as is its nature, patiently waits...

For the end of men to return to its true nature.

The Owl In The Corner.

I've had just enough time to...   get out of the corner.

Taken of the owl brought back from Nepal that I cornered in the corner.

There Was An Owl

There was an owl

who lived in an oak.

The more he heard,

the less he spoke;

the less he spoke,

the more he heard-

Why can't we be

like that wise old bird?

_______

There was an owl

Who sat in the corner.

The more he sat

The less he moved

The less he moved

The more he sat

Till he was cornered in the corner

And that is kind of sad.