SLIDESHOW-Kathmadu and Buddha Eyes...

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Kathmandu...located in a valley amidst the mighty Himalayas, it is crowded, polluted, and beautiful. A calm buddhist air manages to overcome this city despite the hustle and bustle. Swayambhunath Stupa is the most ancient and enigmatic of all the holy shrines in Kathmandu valley and home of the "Buddha Eyes" that adorn hemp bags and wallets of hippies throughout the world. The temple is located on the top of a hill with lush 360 views over the city. Buddhists and even Hindu's come to worship at dawn making the clockwise circumambulations of the stupa. A collection of legends about the site, the 15th century Swayambhu Purana, tells of a miraculous lotus, planted by a past Buddha, which blossomed from the lake that once covered Kathmandu valley. The lotus mysteriously radiated a brilliant light, and the name of the place came to be Swayambhu, meaning 'Self-Created or Self-Existent'.