ABSTRACT
The Kāthmāndu Valley has a spiritual heritage matched by few other parts of the globe. Its 200 square miles feature approximately 2,700 shrines, Hindu and Buddhist alike. Ac cording to Buddhist legend, the valley is located on the site of a vast, ancient lake, drained long ago by the bodhisattva Manjushrī. Manjushrī had come to worship Lord Swayambhu, the Supreme Being emanating in the form of a bright flame from a lotus blossom tossed into the center of the lake by the first Buddha, Vipasuri. Wishing to improve worshi pers' access to the deity, Manjushrī sliced through a hill to the lake's south, creating a gorge that carried the waters away and left a natural site for settlement. Hindu legends credit the god Vishnu with a similar alteration of the course of nature in the Kāthmāndu Valley. This is just one of the myriad ways in which the tales of Buddhists and Hindus intertwine in Nepal.
