Weekend at Pullahari

I spent the last weekend of October in the hills behind Boudha, hiking, reading and meditating. It was a glorious fall weekend, with clear skies, mild temperatures, and gentle winds. The forests in the area are mostly pine and so the principal color was green.

I hiked up to Pullahari Monastery, which to my eye has the most beautiful temple in Nepal, made possible by a one million dollar donation from an American Buddhist nun. Apparently, that sum was enough to cover basic construction costs. I heard no cost estimate on the interiors and finishing work, but it must have been near one million itself. I have some photos of the interiors and the paintings and I'll share them this week, as time permits.

For now, here are a few shots of the exterior. This first was taken from the road leading up to the monastery. I hiked up from my guest house, a little over an hour of not terribly strenuous walking.




From a hill on the opposite side, you can in the bottom left quadrant see the guest houses.

From my room in one of those buildings, I had this view of the valley.

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And after dark, the courtyard and softly lit temple form one half of an amazing landscape featuring the Kathmandu skyline. The monks here were practicing debate for a tournament taking place next week in Varanasi, India.

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