Tourism Students on a Day Hike Trip to World Heritage Site – “ Sankhu -- Changunarayan ”

 

 A day hike trip was organized by Silver Mountain School of Hospitality Management (SMSHM) in co-ordination with Dream Nepal Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd. was organized on 13th December 2008, Saturday from Sankhu to Changunarayan (a world heritage site) for its 3rd Semester Bachelor student. The trip was aimed at familiarizing the importance of preserving the World Heritage Site – Changunarayan and to promote rural tourism in and around Kathmandu Valley. Some 22 students and one teacher participated in this trip.

SMSHM has been conducting such trips regularly for their students to promote rural as well as domestic tourism in Nepal. The responsibility of managing this trip was given to Dream Nepal Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd. Lainchaur, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Dream Nepal Travel & Tours Pvt. Ltd. has been handling these types of trips in the other parts of the country as well with other tourism colleges as well.

Bijaya Pradhan – Executive Chairman of Dream Nepal Travels & Tours believes that such day hike & FAM trips will enhance the capability of students to understand people, places and the culture and contribute in quality human resources development in the tourism industry of Nepal.

This trip will also promote domestic tourism and support the local economy. If it is possible students should be taken to new destinations that would further help create a positive image about such destinations, which they will be selling in the future,” says Mr. Pradhan.

To prepare human resources is a great challenge for the tourism industry itself for which generating interest to travel among students is as important as, giving them courses on courtesy and skillful training. In Nepal, there are numbers of tourism students but until and unless they are familiar with tourism, all their learning will be completely in vain.

This type day hike and FAM trips allow the students to go and see for themselves what they have been listening from their teachers. The close encounter with nature, culture and adventure will not only help them learn but also develop their confidence level in their career development phase.

Day hike and FAM Trips to places having historical importance will further help them respect these monuments and identify conservation needs and efforts.

Simultaneously, day hike and FAM trips support local economy in the region through consumption of local goods, products and uses of hotels and accommodations largely.

In today’s context, when the country is in need of tourists, these students may help them to sustain. In fact, some hoteliers even believe that these types of trips being in huge volume are capable to benefit local hotels than FITs.

Day Hikes & FAM Trips help the students learn more of the situation varying from cultural, natural, political and social. Students are the future successors of tourism industry that’s why it becomes more important to prepare them from today. These trips, however provides them opportunity to come face to face with the reality and help them procure their tourism career to a large extent.

Sankhu – Newari Town North of Kathmandu
Sankhu was once an important post on the trading route between Kathmandu and Lhasa (Tibet), and although the town's flower has faded, you can still see many signs of its former prosperity. Although many traditional aspects of Newari life continue here, the most persuasive reason to visit is the beautiful Vajrayogini Temple complex, an easy 45-minute (2km) walk or bicycle ride northeast of town.
As well as visiting the temple, it's worth devoting an hour or so to meandering around Sankhu village. At Dhalna Tole make a left (east) to Salkha Tole, then a diversion north to the Salkha Mahadev Temple, then south back to the bus station.
Sankhu is a small village in the east of the Kathmandu Valley, in Nepal. It is a sacred site of Buddhism associated with Vajrayogini, as well as an important Hindu shrine. It is considered one of the oldest of the Kathmandu Valley and records go back as far as the 5th century AD.
This power place is also known as the Eighty Siddhas as there are four of five caves where the great siddhas of India are said to have stayed. Even though some say that the Eighty Siddhas resided there together, this is highly unlikely since they didn't all live at the same time and never formed a community that moved about as a group. One of the caves is also said to have been the practice cave of Nagarjuna, and an image of the great master which was originally in the cave has been taken outside and placed some distance away.
The present temple was built by Raja Prakas Malla in 1655. It enshrines the main sacred representations of this site, Ugra-tara manifesting as Ekazati, which are said to give very powerful blessings, particularly the image in the upper temple. The image in the lower temple is red in colour with one face and four arms, two of which hold a skull-cup (kapala) and knife at her heart, and the remaining two hold a sword and an utpala lotus. In the upper temple is an identical image of Ugra-tara in bell metal, in which her left leg is outstretched. In the upper temple is the loom of the Nepali Princess Brhikuti, spouse of the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo. In both the upper and lower temples, Vajrayogini is flanked by Baghini and Singhini, the Tiger and Lion-headed Yoginis. In the same upper room in the upper temple is a solid bronze standing Buddha and a standing Lokeshvara. Below this shrine room is a small room containing self-arisen (swayambhu) stupa in stone.
On the hill behind there is a courtyard in the centre of which is a basin containing the “Water of the Kalpa”which never dries up. In the building immediately to the left of the stairs, there is also an eternal fire or “Fire of the Kalpa”. Further up, on top of the hill, is the Mani-linga. There the Buddha, in a previous life as Bodhisattva Manichuda, remained in samadhi for a long time. On one occasion, he cut off his head protuberance and offered it as a gift. That protuberance—or a likeness of it in stone—remains here and is called “Mani-linga”.
In the Kathmandu Valley Padmasambhava made a pilgrimage to Sankhu where he met Shakyadevi and took her to Yangleshö. Vairotsana, leaving Tibet after his teachings were slandered, stopped in Nepal and offered a golden icon to the monastery of Sankhu. Guru Rinpoche left a number of termas in Sankhu and around.

Changunaryan Temple – World Heritage Site
Cultural Heritage and Changunarayan Hill : UNECSO defines cultural heritage as the entire spirit of people in terms of values, action, works, institutions, monuments and sites. A designated cultural heritage site provides a reference to understand people’s value system. The cultural heritages also contribute to establishing and maintaining peace among people of various cultural backgrounds. As such, the value of such heritage is not limited to a single nation or people; it must be viewed as the global property. Recognizing the enormous cultural and architectural value of various structures in the Changunarayan Hill, UNESCO listed the hill and other structures, including Changunarayan temple, in the hill as a World Heritage Site in 1979. Located at an altitude of 1541 meters, on the western hillock of the Dolagiri ridge, one can get a magnificent view of Kathmandu valley from the temple area. At the foot of the 108 steps that lead down from the main gate of the temple lies the Shankha Daha. This temple is constructed in several concentric squares, with the innermost square containing the statue of a god. For the Hindus, the god inside the temple is Narayan and for the Buddhists it is Avalokiteshvara. So, this temple is a symbol of religious harmony.

The temple dates back to 325 A.D. King Haridutta Varma built the shrine along with the temple of Goddess Chhinnamasta Adidevi. Lichhavi King Manadeva erected a stone pillar, dated 464 A.D., with inscription written on it which is the base for considering Changunarayan temple as the oldest specimen of pagoda architecture in Kathmandu Valley. The present form of the outer visible superstructure of the temple was rebuilt in 1702 AD.
The temple site with its close surroundings has been declared as a protected Monument Zone by the government of Nepal under the provision of the Ancient Monument Preservation Act 1956. The preservation of this site from various types of disaster is a concern of all of us. The leaky roof of the temple was repaired recently, but the hill on which the temple stands is cracking, causing damage to temple and surrounding structures. The indications of increased landslide hazard in the Changunarayan hill are getting prominent. If these early warning signs are ignored for too long and timely precaution and preventative measures are not taken, then it can be too late to save the World Heritage Site.
The Changunarayan hill is one of the few sites in Nepal listed under the World Cultural Heritage Site
Changu Narayan is the temple of Vishnu, the Preserver, in the village of Changu in Bhaktapur. The origins of Changu Narayan goes back to the fourth century. A fifth century stone inscription in the temple proclaims it as one of the oldest shrines of the Kathmandu Valley. The temple is believed to be sixteen hundred years old. It is embellished by the best examples of stone, wood, and metal craft.
On the struts of the two-tiered Changu Narayan Temple, are the ten incarnations of Narayan. A sixth-century stone statue shows the cosmic form of Vishnu. Garuda, half man and half bird, is the steed of Vishnu, and his life-sized statue kneels before the temple.
Some important sculptures of Vishnu seen here are:

Vishwaroop: The sculpture represents Vishnu in his most universal form. It dates back to 8th century A.D.		Vishnu Vikranta - This stone image, dating back to the 8th century A.D., is one of the most poerful form of Vishnu. This is when he measured space with his feet.

 

Vishnu riding Garuda (the mythical bird) - this figure of Vishnu mounting Garuda dates back to the 10th century A.D.		Nar-Singha Vishnu - this form of Vishnu is seen in his half man and half lion form.

 

The stone inscription (dated 464 A.D.) placed in front of the Changu Narayan temple describes in detail the story of Dharmadeva a King of Nepal who died suddenly, with his young son succeeding him to the throne. The son later after a series of victories in war inscribed his victory on a stone pillar and placed it in front of the Changu Narayan temple. It is written in poetry and in an academic Sanskrit which is something like an encyclopedia of the then society, tradition and culture. It starts with an invocation to the Vishnu of Doladri proving that Changu Narayan or the Doladri Narayan is much older than the date on the in- scription of 464 A.D.
Situated on a beautiful hill the square two storeyed temple stands in the centre of a brickpaved courtyard, with the main structure raised on a three tier diminishing plinth, with doors on all four sides, although the western door is the main en- trance to the sanctum. The doors have pairs of carvings of animals such as li- ons, horses, griffins and elephants, with the main western door richly carved in brass, with a brass tympanum above the door. (one of the most beautiful pieces of brass work of medieval Nepal).
The roof is supported by 24 struts or brackets, which serve as decoration and to support the temple roof. They are beautifully carved and hung at a 45 de- gree angle. They represent the ten major incarnations of Vishnu and his various manifestations. Though a Vishnu temple the struts also depict Manjushree and Buddha. To the south some of the struts have as many as twenty arms, and carrying various attributions they represent the whole Hindu philosophy. The Buddhist community from the Kathmandu Valley also pay tribute to Changu Narayan as the Haribahana Lokeswar and Kileswar Shiva as Samantabhadra Lokeswar.
Situated on a beautiful hill the square two storeyed temple stands in the centre of a brickpaved courtyard, with the main structure raised on a three tier diminish- ing plinth, with doors on all four sides, although the western door is the main en- trance to the sanctum. The doors have pairs of carvings of animals such as li- ons, horses, griffins and elephants, with the main western door richly carved in brass, with a brass tympanum above the door. (one of the most beautiful pieces of brass work of medieval Nepal).
The courtyard has many other temples such as that of Kileswar Shiva, Chinnamasta Devi and other figures like that of Garuda from the 5th century; Vishnu mounted on Garuda from the 7th/ 8th centuries; Vishnu surrounded by Laxmi and Garuda from the 10th/11th centuries; and the cosmic universal form of Vishnu shown to Arjuna in the great battle of Mahabharata; plus other multiheaded and multiarmed Vishnu.
From the temple one can see the beautiful Manohara river flowing like a serpent through green fields, and to the north on a clear day one can see many Himalayan peaks. A whole day is needed to study and enjoy Changu Narayan, just 15 kilometers from Kathmandu city