It was an early Saturday morning and I was pre-pared for my trip to Bajrabarahi temple which is located 8 kilometers from Lalitpur and is among the four famous barahi temples in Nepal. A 30- minute drive away from the city, Bajrabarahi is famous for bird watching and is a wonderful picnic spot – so expect to see a lot of visitors around the temple arena. Paying my respects to Goddess Bajrabarahi I started on the main purpose of my visit, to discover the history and signifi -cance of the temple. Surprisingly many visitors and even the devo-tees didn’t seem to know much. Details about its history emerged after I talked to a few locals and the priest of the temple.
Legend has it that this temple was established by Shrinewas Malla in 784 BS in the month of Chaitra. It is believed that the present structure stands where a pond existed, in the middle of the forest. It is believed that Shree Bajrabarahi Goddess was incar-nated from the pond and later a temple was established in its place. Inside the temple, statue of Nawadevta has been established on the left and the right side, along with that of Mahadev. This temple does not have a gajur (pinnacle). It is said that the gajur was made in Patan. The night before the gajur was to be put, the priest of the temple saw a nightmare. He dreamt that anyone who would try to put up the gajur in the temple would die of head injury. Thus the idea of having a gajur in the temple was abandoned and this makes the temple one-of-a-vkind.
The Bajrabarahi temple is surrounded by a huge forest famous for bird watching. A wide vari-ety of birds and around 166 varieties of flora including rare orchids are found in the jungle. Birds like parrots, Bengal Green Pigeon, Black Drongo, Blue-throated Barbet, Crested Serpent Eagle are among the 48 different varieties of birds found. A group of students studying environmental science at Tribhuwan University, who had come to enjoy the bird watching experience, told me that the area was famous for research work.
Don’t be surprised to see groups of farmers with bottles of milk in their hands, coming to the temple. Farmers here believe that if they offer the fi rst milk from their buffalos after they have given birth, to Goddess Bajrabarahi, then their buffalos will get pregnant every year and give lots of milk.
My first visit to the temple can only be described as a fascinating one. It’s a beautiful place and you will be able to enjoy the undiluted beauty of nature just a few kilometers away from the hectic city life of Kathmandu. Apart from its rich religious heritage, bird watching at Bajrabarahi can also be a wonderful experience. And if you are in a mood for an outing, then it can prove to be a great picnic spot as well.
