Walking Tour to Swayambhunath Monkey Temple in Kathmandu

We will meet at Pumpernickel Bakery

Your guide will be available 10 minutes before each meeting time with a sign "Meeting Point - Amazing Kathmandu".

Pumpernickel Bakery is centrally located in Thamel and has excellent offerings, including great coffee, all-day breakfasts, delicious cakes, and bakery items that also cater to gluten-free and vegan diets.

Our journey begins in Thamel and takes us to the famous Indrayeni Temple, located by the banks of the Bishnumati River. The goddess Indrayeni, revered as the  Lhuti Ajima (Golden Grandmother)  by the local Newar community, holds great cultural and spiritual significance. At the temple, you’ll have the chance to see the intricate erotic carvings on the struts, with our guide providing insights into their history and symbolism.

From there, we’ll continue on to the Shova Bhagawati Temple, another remarkable site on our path.

The Shova Bhagwati Temple is another significant shrine on the way to Swayambhunath. Here, you will encounter the Ashta Matrikas (Eight Mothers) and the Nava Durgas (Nine Durgas), who are among the most revered goddesses in Nepali culture. These deities hold profound spiritual significance and represent the deep-rooted traditions of Nepal.

Bhagwan Pau as name for the feet of Lord Buddha is at the bottom of Swoyambhu hill, from where the main entrance which consists of 365 stairs begins. We will take a rest for a while, drink water and prepare ourselves to climb the 365 stairs to get to the top of the hill and explore SwayambhuNath Stupa.

This is our main attraction. Swayambhunath, self originated one. We will explore this neighborhood and know about origination of Swayambhunath as well as kathmandu valley, also go through lore and legends about Manjushree, Basics about Buddhism like prayer flag and five elements, four noble truths, eightfold paths and thirteen steps to nirvana. We will explore the various Shrines, Temples and stupas around the Swayambhu premises encircling the stupa itself.

You will explore the unique Nepalese pagoda style architecture of the Temple and our experienced tour guide will tell the story how the demon named Harati became Mother Harati and why people around the valley worship her.

A small temple dedicated to Maha Manjushree in Swayambhu Hill. We will go through legends about how Kathmandu Valley is turned into a city from a great lake and enjoy a panoramic view of western side of Kathmandu valley. From here we will climb down the swayambhu hill and go towards Amideva Buddha Park which houses 3 big Buddha Idols

Amideva Buddha Park, featuring the 3 gigantic idols of Amitabha Buddha (Amideva) 67 Feet in center, Chenrezig and Padmasambhava 64 Feet in two sides. We will walk around this park and share the story of Siddhartha Gautam, who later became Gautam Buddha , Avalokitesvara and The Precious Master. This is the last place we stop at before going around the Swayambhu Hill towards Bhagwan Pau and back to Meeting point, where our tour ends.