Boudhanath Stupa

The great white dome of Boudhanath, crowned by a gilded tower painted with the Buddha's all-seeing eyes, sat on the old trade route from Tibet to Kathmandu. It is a World Heritage monument, and since the 1960s the area around it has become home to a large Tibetan community and dozens of monasteries.

Join the pilgrims walking clockwise around the stupa, turning prayer wheels, especially at dawn and dusk. Rooftop cafés look down on the dome, and Losar (Tibetan New Year) and full-moon days bring special crowds.

What to see and do

Walk the kora (circuit) around the stupa with pilgrims, spinning the prayer wheels set into its base, and climb onto the stupa's terraces. Visit some of the surrounding monasteries — many welcome visitors to their prayer halls, with chanting in the late afternoon — and thangka painting schools where you can watch artists at work.

At dusk butter lamps flicker, and rooftop restaurants give a view over the dome and the prayer-flag lines. During Losar and on full-moon days the stupa is crowded with worshippers in their finest clothes.

Good to know

Always walk clockwise around the stupa. An entry fee applies for foreigners. The surrounding lanes are full of shops selling singing bowls, incense and prayer flags; bargaining is normal. The stupa was damaged in the 2015 earthquake and its spire has been restored.