Day 87: Nepal – Part II – Living Goddesses, Patan and Singing Himalayan Medicine Bowls.

 

After Everest, we returned to the hotel for breakfast and continued exploring. The next stop was visiting the Lalitpur Living Goddess. Back in the depths of time, the King of Nepal played dice every night with Kali, the goddess of nature (and death, darkness, and destruction). She enjoyed the games and blessed the kingdom with her presence on the condition that the King never told anyone about her visits. Every night, the King would visit his temple, shut the doors, and play dice with a goddess. Naturally, the Queen grew suspicious and, one night, charged into the temple. Kali accused the King of breaking his word and vowed she would never return, so she withdrew her blessing. The Queen explained that the King had been true and that it was because of her curiosity. Kali said she still had to leave but promised that if the kingdom selected a young girl to be a living goddess, she would embody part of Kali’s spirit. So now, the local priests select a young girl, aged between 4 and 6, to be the living goddess. She must pass the 32 beauty tests, show bravery, and the priests wives examine her for blemishes. Then, she remains as the Living Goddess until she gets her period. Then she’s aged out, and a new girl is selected. Although the princess and her family live a pretty good life, the temple isn’t that much to look at, and you wonder what kind of life they have.

Next up was a visit to Patan – the city of the middle brother from Nepalese
legend. Again – a set of magnificent squares and temples. There is also a spot where the locals collect spring well water in large 5-gallon jugs. Also used for washing and purification purposes. I tried it, and it was COLD. During my free time, as I couldn’t find a coffee shop, I visited a museum, which displayed many carvings and smaller statues from the 14th to 17th centuries. Patan also suffered considerable damage from the earthquake, and there was a lot of scaffolding.

My final stop was at a Tibetan Singing Bowl store. These bowls are supposed to promote relaxation and offer powerful healing properties. They are made out of various metals and vibrate and issue a rich, deep tone when struck with a mallet. You use the bowls by sitting or lying on the floor, and the bowl is placed on your body. It vibrates either when struck or when you run the mallet around the rim (like playing a wine glass). 

As you’ll see from the pictures, the craftsman asked for a volunteer, so I volunteered. I sat on a chair in front of everyone, and he placed the bowl on top of my head and played it. The sound was amazing, and it felt like listening to an old-fashioned stereo as the tones moved around my ears. 

He then ran the vibrating bowl up and down my spine as if massaging my back.
As you’ll see from the smile on my face – it was a pleasant experience. Pleasant enough that I bought a bowl, negotiated and bartered with some cash, and then lugged the thing through the airport the next day in my checked bag. (It’s heavy and weighs 4-5 pounds).

The final trick is that if you fill the bowl with water, and then run the mallet around the rim it sets up a resonance. This causes the water to jump and spit out of the bowl. Magic!

The morning of Day 88 was a relaxing breakfast sitting in the hotel's gardens, and then off to the airport for a flight to Mumbai to meet back up with the boat. That means five more interactions with Indian security, customs, and immigration within five hours. (One agent: Wait, if you arrived in India by boat, how did you get to Nepal?)