Swayambhunath Monkey Temple - Kathmandu, Nepal Editorial Photo

The Swayambhunath Monkey Temple is a historic religious complex on a high hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. Swayambhu is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal. The historical complex consists of a stupa, and a variety of shrines and temples, some of which date back to the Licchavi period. A Tibetan monastery, museum and library are more recent additions. Much of Swayambhu’s iconography comes from the Vajrayana tradition of Newar Buddhism. However, the complex is an important site for Buddhists of many schools, and is also revered by Hindus. Each morning before dawn, hundreds of pilgrims ascend the 365 steps that lead up the hill and begin a series of circumambulations of the stupa.Swayambhunath stupa is also called the “Monkey Temple” because of the hundreds of monkeys who live at the temple site. According to legend, they are considered holy because Majushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning, was raising the hill that the stupa stands on when his long hair became covered in head lice. It’s said that these head lice transformed into the monkeys who were the ancestors of the monkeys currently living in the northwest parts of the temple.Attraction, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Buddhists, Complex, Hindu, Hinduism, Hinduist, Historic, historical, holy, Kathmandu, Licchavi, monastery, Monkey, museum, Nepal, Newar, pilgrim, pilgrimage, religion, religious, shrine, shrines, site, stupa, Swayambhu, Swayambhunath, temple, Tibet, Tibetan, tour, tourism, tourist, tradition, Vairayana, Valley, worship