In Narayanthan 8/12/07

My next outing was to a small town called Narayanthan. Chodrak had heard that Sakya Trizen was coming to Kathmandu, so we went to a Sakya monastery to ask about it. They told us that he wasn't coming, but that one of the two Sakya regents was here, who's called Trulshik Rinpoche, and he was in Narayanthan. So we took two buses to get there, and walked up a long hill to a Kagyu monastery, where they informed us that Trulshik Rinpoche's house was just down the way, very close. We went to the gate, and after they shooed off the dog, we were escorted inside. The house was very nice, mansion-like, with a lot of monks running around. They served us a fruit drink of some kind that tasted like it had Chinese herbs like ginseng in it. It was totally refreshing, as we were still hot from the walk up the hill. Then we went in to see Trulshik Rinpoche. He was sitting in meditation posture on his bed, and a monk was there to translate for us. After a few moments, I left the room, as I knew Chodrak wanted to ask a few personal questions. When he was done, Chodrak motioned for me to come in, and I just asked him to bless my mala. He was a very kind sweet old guy. He gave me a protection cord and a packet of dutsi. Then we left. We caught a bus not far from the house, and Chodrak told me about a very important Hindu temple there that has a murti (statue) of Vishnu lying of Shesha, the serpent, in a pool of water. The town's name, Narayanthan, means Vishnu's shrine. The shrine, like many others here in Nepal, was once buddhist, but when the Hindu kings took over, they installed their own deities. In this temple, there's a head of Amitabha over the statue of Vishnu, but the priests there keep it covered up with flowers. The Kings of Nepal are said to be incarnations of Vishnu, and they believe that if the King ever sees this particular statue of Vishnu, he would die. That's why this temple's so important. Normally westerners aren't allowed into Hindu temples. Since we have no caste, we're considered to be below the lowest caste, untouchable. But when Chodrak went there some years ago, and they wouldn't let him in, he complained saying "why don't you let me in just because the color of my skin", so they let him in, and he got to see the statue. About four months later, some close relatives of the former King went to that temple, and within a few days, the King was murdered.