Boudha Stupa

Boudha Stupa (Nepali: बौद्ध; Newari: खास्ति चैत्य), Boudhanath Stupa (Standard Tibetan: བྱ་རུང་ཁ་ཤོར།, Wylie: bya rung ka shor), also known as Khasti Chaitya or Khāsa Chaitya, is a stupa and major spiritual landmark seen as the embodiment of the enlightened mind of all the Buddhas, located in Boudha, within the city of Kathmandu, Nepal. Located in the northeast of Kathmandu Valley and originally surrounded by rice paddies, the stupa is said in one text to have given birth to Tibetan Buddhism. It is believed to contain consecrated substances, and its layout as a massive mandala makes it the largest spherical stupa in Nepal and one of the largest in the world.

The present structure was most likely built in the 14th century, although Newar chronicles mention the construction of a stupa here as early as the 5th century. In 1979 the Boudha Stupa was designated as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.

The stupa's consecrated body relics include bone pieces held to be those of Kassapa Buddha and of Shakyamuni Buddha, together with dharmakaya relics, dharma relics, cloth relics, and body, speech, mind, mind qualities, and activity representations among its other relics. It is located on the ancient trade route from Tibet to India which enters the Kathmandu Valley by the village of Sankhu in the northeast corner and continues to the ancient and smaller stupa of Chabahil named Charumati Stupa, often called "Little Boudhanath". The route then turns directly south, heading over the Bagmati River to Lalitpur and the ancient Malla Kingdom in Patan. Tibetan merchants have rested and offered prayers at Boudha Stupa for many centuries.

Following the 1959 Tibetan uprising, a large number of the Tibetan refugees migrated to Nepal and settled around the stupa in Boudha. The Tibetan diaspora has given rise to the construction of over 50 gompas and Buddhist monasteries, restaurants, guesthouses, and artisanal businesses around Boudha. Along with Swayambhunath and Namo Buddha, it is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites for devout Buddhists, and also attracts tourists to the Kathmandu area.

Built at the main northern entrance to the Boudha Stupa is a shrine to the Dharma protectress Mammo Pukkasi, known as the fierce Hariti or Ajima to local Newari Buddhists. Her shrine and the Ganachakra offerings there are the responsibility of the Mahaguru Gompa, which faces the stupa's northern entrance.