Class 9- English -Beehive – Chapter 8

The author visited the Pashupati Nath Temple and the Budhnath Stupa .

All this refers to a bar of marzipan, a corn on- the-cob roasted in a charcoal brazier on the pavement (rubbed with salt, chilli powder and lemon); a couple of love story comics, and even a Reader’s Digest.

Vikram Seth compares the fifty or sixty bansuris protruding in all directions from the pole of a flute seller to the quills of a porcupine.

The reed neh, the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri, the breathy flutes of South America, the high pitched Chinese flutes.

The author notes that while the other hawkers shouted out their wares, the flute seller did not. He simply played a flute, slowly and meditatively, without excessive display.

People believe that when a small shrine emerges fully on Bagwati river, the goddess inside will escape, and the evil period of the Kalyug will end on earth.

i) The author has drawn powerful images and pictures of the atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’ outside the temple of Pashupatinath. Many worshippers trying to get the priest’s attention were elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front. On the main gate, a party of saffron-clad Westerners struggled for permission to enter as only Hindus were allowed to enter the temple. A fight broke out between two monkeys. One was chasing the other, who jumped onto a shivalinga, then ran screaming around the temples and down to the river, the holy Bagmati.

(ii) He saw that the Baudhnath Stupa had an immense white dome, which was ringed by a road. Small shops were there on the outer edge where felt bags, Tibetan prints and silver jewellery could be bought. There were no crowds there. On the busiest streets of Kathmandu, he saw fruit sellers, flute sellers, hawkers of postcards, shops selling Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, copper utensils and Nepalese antiques.

(iii) The sounds he heard were film songs that were blaring out from the radios, car horns, bicycle bells, vendors shouting out their wares. He also listened to flute music, calling it the most universal and most particular of sounds.

At Pashupatinath temple, there is an atmosphere of ‘febrile confusion’. Priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists, cows, monkeys, pigeons, and dogs roam through the grounds. There are so many worshippers that some people trying to get the priest’s attention are elbowed aside by others pushing their way to the front. At the Baudhnath shrine, the Buddhist shrine of Kathmandu, there is a sense of stillness. Small shops stand on its outer edge. Most of the shops are owned by Tibetan immigrants. There are no crowds and this is a heaven of quietness in the busy streets around.

Kathmandu’s busiest streets are narrow. They are full of life. There are small temples with colourful deities along these streets. The street is full of vendors and shops. Some are selling things which are used in worship. Then there are hawkers selling fruits. There is a flute seller as well playing melodiously on his flute. There is total cacophony as loudspeakers are blaring different kinds of music.

The author says this because he is aware of the fact that music appeals to senses. It gives pleasure to every listener. The flute seller does not sell only one kind of flute. He has various types of flutes that represent different customs and culture.