Friday, November 29, 2013

ORIGIN OF THE SWAYAMBHUNATH

  Different anecdotes associated k with the origin of Swayambhunath are mentioned in the history and k religious scriptures. However, all i; of these agree that the holy Stupa tl came into being spontaneously c and that it was not manmade thus t' the name Swayambhunath or self-created. It is believed that in the ancient time, the Kathmandu Valley used to be a beautiful lake t surrounded by lush green hills. f Great saints, sages, yogis, deities c and Buddhas from different parts t of Nepal, India and China used ( to visit the lake to take holy bath s and meditate. During one such 5. visit, the 'Vipashwi' Buddha had t planted a lotus plant in the lake. s The seed gave rise to a large lotus flower with five divine E petals the `Pancharashmis'— Balrochan, Aksobhya,  AmItabh, Ratnasambhav and Amoghsiddhi. After the spontaneous origin of the 1 Buddhas, followers of Buddhism from all corners began to arrive there to pay homage. One of such pilgrims was Mahamanjushree from China who is believed to have drained the lake by opening up a gorge at Chobhar. It is believed that the Swayambhunath Stupa was in existence even before the birth of Shakyamuni Gautam Buddha. The stupa d later constructed during the r h of Prachanda Dev, who is d known as Shantikar Acharya, 11 is also credited to establig a the five-faced Buddha as we y other ancient monuments arc s the Stupa.

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