Inside The Golden Rat Temple
The Golden Temple (Hiranya Varna Mahavihar) in the Patan area of Kathmandu is not-just-another-Buddhist-temple in a city full of , arguably, the most incredible temples in the world.
It’s a pagoda temple tucked away in an ancient part of Kathmandu, the interior is ornate and intricate with metal work and stone statues. It’s worth going to check out how beautiful it is, watch the people come and go and listen to the chanting monks upstairs. Buddhist chanting gives me goosebumps.
What makes this temple a must-visit for me are the rats, it’s not a true rat temple as you find in some Hindu temples, but they’re here in force. I love a bit of wildlife!
The Nepalis make offerings of food every day, the rats go well fed. I don’t mind rats at all, but if you’re not big on rodents you really won’t like this, leather shoes are not allowed. I can’t wait to take the kids, they’ll think it’s so cool!
Would you go? Could you tippy toe among the rodents at the rat temple, Nepal? Or am I a rat-temple-loving-homeschooling-Nepal-freak? I really, really love Nepal, the high Himalayas and the cities, we’ll be back there soon.
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Oooohh…..that reminds me. We saw a tasty rat for sale in a market in Northern Thailand. All gutted and ready for munching!! And in Vietnam we could hear them scurrying in the drains on the road as we walked by at night. I guess your rats weren’t exactly for eating!! What a shame since they were nice and fat! lol
I don’t think that would creep me out – I think I’d find it rather interesting.
Tracey, you need to pop along to my Travel Horror Stories. Quite a few rat related incidents in there. Not just in temples. Rats are a fact of life, wherever you go, from London to Kathmandu, they won’t be far away. I once had a rat walk all over me in the night, I was sleeping on a girlfriend’s sofa in the UK, I kind of half dreamed I had a bunny with big teeth bouncing on me, she found the rat nest under the bath a few days later.
i am buddhism man now in thailand i come back nepal make in duddhism temple becouse i like buddhism life i go thailand read in buddhism book