Swoyambhunath Temple

A golden spire crowning a conical wooded hill, Swayambhunath Stupa is the most ancient and enigmatic of all the holy shrines in Kathmandu valley. Its lofty white dome and glittering golden spire are visible for many miles and from all sides of the valley. Historical records found on a stone inscription give evidence that the stupa was already an important Buddhist pilgrimage destination by the 5th century AD. Its origins however, date to a much earlier time, long before the arrival of Buddhism into the valley. A collection of legends about the site, the 15th century Swayambhu Purana, tells of a miraculous lotus, planted by a past Buddha, which blossomed from the lake that once covered Kathmandu valley. The lotus mysteriously radiated a brilliant light, and the name of the place came to be Swayambhu, meaning 'Self-Created or Self-Existent'. Saints, sages and divinities traveled to the lake to venerate this miraculous light for its power in granting enlightenment.Swayambhunath (Devnagari: स्वयम्भूनाथ स्तुप; sometimes romanized Swoyambhunath) is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Nepal, second only to the great Boudhanath stupa to the east of Kathmandu, and a major tourist attraction. Much of Swayambhunath's iconography comes from the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. However, the complex is also an important site for Buddhists of many schools, and is also revered by Hindus. Swayambhunath is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west. They are holy because Majusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning was raising the hill which the Swayambhunath Temple stands on. He was supposed to leave his hair short but he made it grow long and head lice grew. It is said that the head lice had transformed into these monkeys.
The Swayambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a variety of shrines and temples, a museum, library and also has Buddha's eyes and eyebrows painted on. In betweeen them, there there is something painted which looks like the nose, but it isn't the nose - it is the Nepali symbol of "unity" in the main Nepali language dialect. There are also shops, restaurants and hostels. The site has two access points: a long stairway, claimed as having 365 steps, leading directly to the main platform of the temple, which is from the top of the hill to the east and a car road around the hill from the south leading to the southwest entrance. The first that you will see once you have reached the top of the stairway is the Vajra. It is an object which looks like a three-dimensional infiny sign, is something important to the religion of Vajrayana Buddhism, symbolizing the perfection of wisdom.