SURJEGHATAKO OTAR

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A row of relatively small, natural caves and artificially improved rock shelters, which have been much modified by man to serve as representative troglodyte dwelling places for celebrated credulousness workers, include Tilopa Gufa (Tibetan: Telopa'i phug-pa), Naropa Gufa, Gorakhnatha Gufa, etc. ETYMOLOGY: The so-called Pashupatinath Caves or, to be precise, the caves above the Surje Ghat / Surya Ghat (the cremation place of Surja), are collectively called Surjeghatako Otar in Nepali (Gorkhali). SITUATION: In the east of Kathmandu, the caves on the Surje Ghat / Surya Ghat lie in a cliff above the western (orographically right) bank of the Bagmati River and about 200 m upstream from the temples at Pashupatinath (N27°42': E085°21'), where the Bagmati runs through a gorge in limestone, which, according to legend, was the third gorge cut by Mañjusri to drain the last pool remaining of the Kathmandu palaeo-lake. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1741: … Arje Ghat Ganeshsthan (Arya Ghat): Here (Mañjughsa) cut a third gorge. Later it became known for Telopa and Naropa's Cave. Two hundred yards upriver from Pasupatinath, on Surje Ghat (Surya Ghat), are the two siddhas' caves, amongst others, carved out of the living rock. The river cuts here through a ridge that would have contained a lake spreading east beyond Sankhu … (DOWMAN 1981: 269-270, plate 17 illustration 33 after BAL PO NGAG DBANG RDO RJE / Balpo Nawang Dorje 1741 in WYLIE 1970: Appendix A).sa) cut a third gorge. Later it became known for Telopa and Naropa's Cave. Two hundred yards upriver from Pasupatinath, on Surje Ghat (Surya Ghat), are the two siddhas' caves, amongst others, carved out of the living rock. The river cuts here through a ridge that would have contained a lake spreading east beyond Sankhu … (DOWMAN 1981: 269-270, plate 17 illustration 33 after BAL PO NGAG DBANG RDO RJE / Balpo Nawang Dorje 1741 in WYLIE 1970: Appendix A).