Namo Buddha and Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery Half-Day Tour

After meeting in the courtyard of the Black Olives café (Chaksibari Marg, Thamel, Kathmandu) at 11:45 am for complimentary light refreshments we leave behind the chaotic streets of Kathmandu for the greenery of the Kathmandu Valley.

Our first stop is the Kailashnath Mahadev Statue the world’s largest Shiva statue which was completed in 2011.

Standing at 33 metres (108 feet – after the holy number 108 in Hindu Mythology) tall and made from a casing of copper and zinc, it makes a strking moument overlooking the Kathmandu valley and has already become a major religious site for Hindu/s in all of Nepal.

 We continue to travel along the Araniko Highway to the village of Dhulikhel where we stop for Chai Masala (or coffee) at a hilltop resort, where you can sit and reflect at the amazing views from the restaurant balcony.

Next we wind our way through the hills, passing through forests, small villages and rice fields to give you a sense of the lives of the rural Nepalese people.

We stop at the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery which is located in close proximity to the Namo Buddha Stupa. The Monastery practices Mahayana Buddhism (commonly known as Tibetan Buddhism) and is home to over 250 monks and house a monastic college to train young monks. Its main temple comprises of thirty six pillars each of which enshrines a gilded bronze Buddha on the top. If you are lucky you may even get to hear the hauntingly recital of the monks as they chant Buddhist mantras.

 We mount the stair case to one of the most important religious sites for Buddhists in Nepal (Namo Buddha).

The site marks the ancient holy site signifying the location where prince ngingdui tshenpo offered himself to a starving tigress and he cubs. It is a place of Buddhist pilgrimage and is a special place to accumulate merit through activities such as circumbulation and making offerings.

Finally, we descend the mountain by car and stop at the ancient village of Dhulikhel where we stroll the narrow ancient cobbled laneways which are typical of a medieval city, dominated by temples, public squares and centuries old houses depicting the traditional designs of beautifully carved windows and doors typical of Newari craftsmanship, before heading back to Kathmandu in time for you to have dinner.