Some journeys begin not with a plan, but with a quiet yearning, a deep longing that only silence gives it shape.
For years, I had felt a pull toward Boudhanath Stupa, one of the world’s largest and most revered Buddhist stupas in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Recently, as if guided by grace, that unspoken desire found its way into reality.
This massive white dome, built in the 14th century, has silently watched pilgrims circumambulate with prayer beads in hand and hope in their hearts for centuries.
When I finally stood before the stupa, which is 36 meters tall and shaped like a mandala, symbolising the universe, the city’s clamour faded into the background.
The white dome represents the earth, the 13-tiered golden spire symbolises the 13 stages to enlightenment, and Buddha’s all-seeing eyes face in four directions, symbolising awareness and compassion.
Time itself slowed, as if honouring the sacredness of the moment. I had arrived with questions, yet I found a silent answer that spoke to the soul.
As if guided by a higher hand, Bhupendra Gautam, a soft-spoken, knowledgeable tour guide, approached me and offered to lead me on a spiritual walk around the stupa. It felt like divine timing.
I bowed reverently and began walking around the stupa clockwise, a spiritual act in Tibetan Buddhism towards awakening and spinning the prayer wheels.
With each step and turn of the wheel, I let the gentle rhythm draw me inward, into a space of quiet reflection.
For hundreds of devotees, walking around the stupa is not just a ritual but a communion with the divine, a silent prayer in motion, where the stupa becomes a living presence of Buddha’s mind.
According to Gautam, each step taken mindfully during the circumambulation of the Boudhanath Stupa is believed to purify negative karma.
The fragrance of incense curled through the air, mingling with the chants of monks and the fluttering of countless prayer flags, each colour carrying aspirations skyward.
The sight was sincerely humbling: elderly Tibetans bent with age offering full-body prostrations, tourists trying to soak in the ambience with quiet reverence, and local devotees making their daily rounds with casual grace.
I paused frequently, not out of exhaustion but out of worship. At one such moment, as the setting sun bathed the dome in a golden hue, I felt something shift within me.
Halfway through the kora (the sacred circumambulation) alongside fellow pilgrims, Gautam gently guided me to light a butter lamp.
“Let the energy of centuries of devotion surround you and remove your past,” he said, as the flame flickered to life.
It wasn’t dramatic or sudden, but subtle, I felt a peeling away of layers I didn’t know I carried.
In that space of stillness, I sensed some level of liberation, a letting go of burdens, expectations, and regrets.
Atop the stupa, the Buddha’s all-seeing eyes gazed out in every direction, calm, compassionate, and awake.
I felt seen, not judged, held, not hurried. In that holy stillness, I glimpsed a truth I had only read about: that enlightenment isn’t a distant summit to be reached, but a moment of pure presence, right here, right now.
I also stepped into the quiet embrace of the Guru Lhakhang Monastery, where the stillness seemed to hum with ancient spiritual energy. The air felt charged, like eras of devotion had left a divine imprint.
What moved me even more was learning that this solid and timeless stupa had once bowed under the weight of destruction.
The devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal severely damaged its spire, cracking the crown that so many eyes had turned to in prayer.
But Buddhist monks, local artisans, and donors worldwide restored it with an extraordinary gesture of faith and community spirit.
Today, as it stands tall and radiant once more, the Boudhanath Stupa is not only a monument to devotion but a living symbol of resilience, reminding us that even when the ground shakes beneath us, the soul can rebuild itself, stronger and more luminous than before.
As I left the stupa grounds, I was no longer searching. I was content and in that gentle state of presence, I recognised the liberation I had unknowingly sought, a quiet homecoming to my inner stillness.
The Buddha Stupa offers more than architectural grandeur for those yearning for peace amid life’s relentless noise.
It is a sanctuary for the soul. Go not to find answers, but to listen. Because in that vast, echoing silence, the heart finally finds its voice.
Award-winning writer Dr T. Selva is the author of the bestsellers Vasthu Sastra Guide and Secrets of Happy Living. To get a copy, WhatsApp 019-2728464. He can be reached at drtselvas@gmail.com. Facebook: Vasthu Sastra