Monkeys, mythologic lions and woman Photo

Photographer’s Note

Forgive me for insisting in posting these lousy scans, I can't help sharing them from time to time.

This was shot on the top of the big staircase of the Swayambhunath temple complex, sometimes referred as the Monkey Temple. I suppose that the abundant quantity of monkeys that use it as home may have something to do with this name.. It's one of the two largest and oldest Buddhist sites in Kathmandu, the other one being Boudhanath. The temple lies on the top of a steep wooded hill that overlooks the relatively flat area of the city of Kathmandu. Supposedly it was built in the 5th century DC, but apparently the use of the place for worship predates even the arrival of Buddhism in the Kathmandu valley.

The place is a must-see of Kathmandu, it's a wonderful temple and it has superb views over the Kathmandu valley and the always present snow capped Himalayas in the distance, but it was a bit of a disillusion after having visited Boudhanath, because the the mysticism of its atmosphere is much less intense. I advise anyone to visit it prior to Boudhanath.

The hill where it stands appears in the legend of the foundation of the Kathmandu Valley, told in Swayambhu Purana, one ancient Buddhist scripture. According to that legend, the whole Kathmandu Valley was once a big lake which had a lotus in its centre. The lake was called Swayambhu (the self-created). Manjushri, a much revered Bodhisatva (a kind of Buddhist deity, saint or specially enlightened being), had a vision of the lotus and went to the lake to worship it. Once there, he decided to drain the lake so humans could settle and pilgrims could come more easily to this sacred place, so he cut the border of the lake in the place that is now the Chobhar gorge. When the water drained, the lotus became the hill where the temple stands now.

Location (latitude, longitude): 27.71492,85.2903

kiwi_explorer, feather, zeynepe, saylan-cb, xuaxo, paura, ruisc_pt, lucasgalodoido, jhm, jusninasirun, Bluejeans, robertosalguero, Charo, sarahnatalie, riclopes trouve(nt) cette note utile

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kiwi_explorer (12203) 2008-04-30 17:47

Hi Jose,
What do you mean lousy ... we are just glad you are sharing this wonderful documentary photo ... thank you. Anyway, your notes are informative and interesting. Good image quality considering this is a scanned image. Good choice of a vertical format in order to give depth to the scene. Well captured and composed. Well done! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

feather (51050) 2008-05-01 1:54

Your high POV has given a strange perspective to the image which I find intriguing. It seems to fit with the quite eerie light you had. The quality of the scan is certainly not the worst I have seen. You have made a good job of it and accompanied it with an interesting and useful note. Well done
Kath

zeynepe (9464) 2008-05-01 4:19

Hi Jose,
A very interesting combination :)The temple should be a gorgeous place.
Thanks for sharing,
Parabéns,
Zeynep

saylan-cb (12726) 2008-05-01 8:30

Hi Jose,
Very amazing shot!Great colours and good compositions,details,light are excellent.
TFS/Regards

xuaxo (6315) 2008-05-01 13:46

Olá José,
A foto está um pouco como o título: um tanto misturada, leões e macacos cortados, etc. Parece-me que o ponto de vista não foi o mais eficaz. Eu gostaria de ver os leões mais completos, incluindo também pelo menos um macaco. Talvez não fosse fácil.
Mesmo assim, é sempre interessante ver este tipo de fotos.
Um abraço,
F

paura (42304) 2008-05-01 16:21

José, os elementos - e a forma de apresentá-los - está muito interessante. Linda apresentação, amigo.

Abraço

Paulo

trekks (14342) 2008-05-01 17:37

hello Jose

Although it is seen that this shot is clicked hastily and composition is a tiny bit lacking with monkey/lion head cropped and the girl leaving the frame, the photo itself has very good pov to show many features of interest, especially worship of spiritual belief. Good work.

tfs, bill

UnTrained (0) 2008-05-02 3:08

Olá José,
must be an inner force you can not resist. I am pretty sure you know about all these cuts of statues, monkeys, the tight framing for the woman and her motion and may be you mainly want to tell us this place. Am I alone to miss something particular here? For an overview it hides too much.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

ruisc_pt (6257) 2008-05-02 7:51 [Comment]

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Stepan (27183) 2008-05-02 9:51

Really strange...
The subject, the way you composed it (pretty close and cut), the mood... Everything's pretty strange.
Interesting then...
Stéphane

lucasgalodoido (18511) 2008-05-02 16:34

Olá José,
ficou parecendo que estão idolatrando as estátuas! Certa vez vi no National Geografic um documentário falando desses macacos e o transtorno que eles causam nessas cidades, mas mesmo assim são amados por toda a população, bem interessante né!
Parabéns e Abraço!

jhm (86562) 2008-05-03 0:35

Hello José,

As a scanned picture is this image very well.
Good choice of a vertical format in order to give depth to the scene to create.
This is a remarkable image with the monkeys in foreground.
Very well done, thanks for sharing.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

jusninasirun (10891) 2008-05-04 7:38

Hello Jose. Stunning color from high angle capture. Excellent detail and rather funny with the monkeys in the foreground. Regards. Jusni

Bluejeans (35730) 2008-05-04 15:19

Oi amigo ,
São daqueles lugares fantásticos que ficam na memoria por serem muito diferentes , os macacos eram chatos com os turistas a pedir comida ?, gostei muito dos detalhes , bom trabalho de scan , parabéns!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

robertosalguero (124) 2008-05-05 0:35

Olá José,

This is an oldie I see. Very interesting place with the monkeys taking over this place. The woman add some dynamics to the and the quality is not bad for a scanned image. Nice work José :-)

Roberto

batalay (22467) 2008-05-05 6:04

Hello José,

I had heard of the Temple of Monkeys, but I think this is the first time I've seen an actual photograph of the macabre site. For a 35-mm scanned photo it is really very good, and frankly the photojournalism value makes up for any deficiency in quality. I like it.

Warm regards,

Bülent

dvlazar (6556) 2008-05-05 19:28

Jose - a nice scan here, it's a classic Nepali moment. The monkeys, the statues and religious references... Well framed too in the vertical.
Cheers,
Dave

Charo (34580) 2008-05-06 1:57

Hola Jose,
Buen resultado del escaneado y singular toma con los monos merodeando entre las estatuas. Estupendos colores y detalles.
Un abrazo
Charo

sarahnatalie (693) 2008-05-13 18:56

I don't see anything 'lousy' about this scan; I actually think it came out very nicely. And I like the overall composition too, with its vertical format. I could probably do without the woman on the top left, but otherwise it's a very appealing image.
Thanks!
Sarah

riclopes (33933) 2008-07-22 11:44

Desculpo-te totalmente, José. Aliás, há fotos mais giras, ou melhores tecnicamente para escolher em vez desta na tua galeria, mas esta fascina-me mais, por isso estás à vontade para "scanar" mais. Gosto bastante desta estátua à direita e se fosse hoje trazia de lá pelo menos um pormenor dela como trouxe tantos do Laos. Gosto de pessoas, mas neste caso até seria melhor não estar lá aquela "woman" a fugir ;-) e a estragar o ambiente criado por esta macacada. Também gosto dos bichos ali mais à frente representados com um aspecto muito "naif".
Um abraço,
ricardo