Buddhist Circuit Tour - 8 days

Arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. After the clearance of customs and luggage’s, exist from the Airport Departure lounge and as soon as you exist you can see number of peoples outside holding a placard. Among them one of the representative of Nature Trail Travels & Tours, Trekking & Expedition will be holing a placard with your name in it. So, closely look at them. He will then transfer you to your respective hotels. Or else, you can visit our office and after full description about your trip, you will be driven to your hotel. Overnight at hotel in Kathmandu.

Today after breakfast, you will have a private vehicle and a professional tour guide at your disposal. After breakfast, get on with today’s sightseeing tour which includes: Swayambhunath and Boudhanath. Early morning, we visit Swayambhunath to witness the rituals of monks, pilgrims and worshippers. Swayambhunath is known as “Monkey Temple” since you can see numbers of monkeys around the surrounding areas of the temple. Keeping in this mind, small swimming pool has been made for monkeys to cool themselves in the escorting heat of summer. After strolling around the area and clicking some pictures of Stupas, temples, monuments and of course monkeys, we drive towards Boudhanath Stupa. Boudhanath Stupa is the largest stupa in Nepal and the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet which is said to be 2500 years old. It is the center of Tibetan culture in Kathmandu and rich in Buddhist symbolism.

Today we will visit the Neydo Tashi Chöling Monastery which is located at Pharping, 24 kilometers drive from Kathmandu. Pharping is so Holy site because Great Guru Padmasambhava got enlightened at Asura Cave, Gorakhanath and Sheshnarayan Cave at Pharping. It’s important religious place for Buddhist pilgrimages as well. There are many nice monasteries to visit and where we can make special puja if you want. After our exploration to the sacred site of holy pahrping we drive back to the hotel in Kathmandu.

After breakfast, we travel overland from Kathmandu to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, which has been reserved as the place of holy pilgrimage. You could also fly from Kathmandu to Lumbini which will take only 45 minutes to reach there. Lumbini has been included as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This pilgrimage site in southwest Nepal attracts devout Buddhists from around the world, who arrive to pay homage at the Sacred Garden where the ‘Enlightened One’ was born. A famous landmark is the Ashoka Pillar raised by the great Emperor who converted to Buddhism. Today Lumbini has been enlivened by the multitude of architecturally beautiful temples, stupas and monasteries built by various international Buddhist communities. Overnight at Hotel in Lumbini.

Today we will be spending whole day sightseeing around Lumbini by riding a rickshaw. Lumbini being the birth place of Buddha is also an important architectural and historical site of the world civilization. We also walk through the Sacred Lumbini Garden where the Buddha was born converges on the Ashoka pillar, visit the Maya Devi Temple with its bas-relief sculpture depicting Maya Devi holding on with her right hand to a branch of pipal tree and giving birth to the infant Buddha who stand up on a lotus pedestal. There’s a museum nearby, The Kapilvastu Museum; the pottery, jewelry and ornaments are gathered in-house. End up the remarkable tour in Tilaurakot by visiting the shrines, monasteries and stupa near the sacred garden. Tilaurakot is the ancient palace of King Suddodhan (Siddhartha Gautama’s father), where the Buddha spent his formative years as a Shakya Prince.  The remains of many ancient stupas and monasteries can be found in the surroundings of Lumbini. The Ashoka pillar is said to have been erected by the Indian Emperor Ashoka in 250 BC and bears an inscription confirming this as the birth place of the Buddha. A stone image of Maya Devi giving birth to Lord Buddha as she holds onto a branch is seen in the Maya Devi temple.

After breakfast, fly from Bhairahawa airport to Kathmandu. Upon arrival at Kathmandu, continue your drive to Namobuddha. Namo Buddha is a beautiful place. There is no need to exaggerate this. The place is very quiet and pure. Its environment is very clean, with no pollution, and the natural air is so fresh, cool and healthy. It is also the right place for meditation and practice. You can enjoy snow-covered Himalayan ranges which look so amazing and pure. From the Buddhist point of view, Namo Buddha is one of the most important religious sites in Nepal.  Thrangu Tashi Yangtse connects the story of compassion shown by the Buddha in his one of the incarnations, offering his own flesh to the hungry tigress who was totally ill and was about to eat her cubs around. On this day, we will stay overnight at this sacred place.

Today we will visit the Kopan Monastery and Nunnery which is 6 km far away from Kathmandu. It is a wonderful pilgrimage and touristy hub. It is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Boudhanath, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. It belongs to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international network of Gelugpa dharma centers, and once served as its headquarters. The monastery was established by the FPMT founders, Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who bought the property from Nepal’s royal astrologer in 1969. Its name comes from the name of the hill on which it was built. Kopan has become especially famous for teaching Buddhism. The first of what would become annual month-long (November–December) meditation courses was held in 1971. These courses generally combine traditional Lam Rim teachings with informal discussion, several periods of guided meditation, and a vegetarian diet. After a day visit to the monastery, transfer to airport. At evening, you can enjoy your leisure time or do some shopping of famous Nepalese handicrafts.

Depending upon your flight schedule, you will be transferred to airport for your final departure from Nepal. Make sure you have got all your souvenirs in your luggage and have all the necessary documents to make it easy for the immigration officials at the International airport. You will be transferred to the airport by private vehicle depending upon your departure flight schedule. The tours around Kathmandu ends but the memories will be eternal. We hope that you enjoyed this pilgrimage tour and will return back to Nepal in future.