NCERT Book Class 9 English (Beehive) Chapter 8 Kathmandu

8. Kathmandu
BEFORE YOU READ
• Do you like travelling? The writer, Vikram Seth, enjoys it very
much. In his book, Heaven Lake, he describes a long journey
from China to India, via Tibet and Nepal.
• Have you heard of places like Ajmer Sharif, Madurai, Sanchi,
Varanasi, Sarnath, or Halebid? Can you name some other
places like these?
• What do the surroundings of a holy place in your city look
like? Think about it as you read Vikram Seth’s description of
Kathmandu.

1. I GET a cheap room in the centre of town and sleep
for hours. The next morning, with Mr Shah’s son
and nephew, I visit the two temples in Kathmandu
that are most sacred to Hindus and Buddhists.
2. At Pashupatinath (outside which a sign
proclaims ‘Entrance for the Hindus only’) there is proclaim: make
an atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’. Priests, known publicly or
officially
hawkers, devotees, tourists, cows, monkeys, pigeons
and dogs roam through the grounds. We offer a few febrile confusion:
hurried activity;
flowers. There are so many worshippers that some
complete chaos
people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed
aside by others pushing their way to the front. A
princess of the Nepalese royal house appears;
everyone bows and makes way. By the main gate, a
party of saf fron-clad Westerners struggle for
permission to enter. The policeman is not convinced
that they are ‘the Hindus’ (only Hindus are allowed
to enter the temple). A fight breaks out between
two monkeys. One chases the other, who jumps
onto a shivalinga, then runs screaming around the
temples and down to the river, the holy Bagmati,
98 / Beehive