The largest Tibetan stupa in Asia, Boudhanath (notice the people in some of the photos, to give you some scale):
The temple is indeed large, impressive. There is an air of reverence and respect, as people walk around. The white-washed exterior is striking, as are the eyes looking out from the top.
You enter through a gate that is on a busy street.
On the inside, once through the gate, the stupa is surrounded (closely) by stores and restaurants:
According to the July 2012 Lonely Planet guide to Nepal (page 9): "The village of Bodhnath is the centre of Nepal's Tibetan community and home to Asia's largest stupa, a spectacular dome and spire that draws pilgrims from hundreds of kilometers away." "The first stupa at Bodhnath was built sometime after AD 600 ... The first stupa was wrecked by Mughal invaders in the 14th century, so the current stupa is a more recent construction" (p. 120).
When visiting a stupa, you are to always walk clockwise around it. You are also to spin the prayer wheels in a clockwise direction.
Temples and Durbar Squares (historic areas that are much like an ancient downtown, filled with many temples and statues that we visited included Bhaktapur, Changu Narayan (in the area of Bhaktapur), and Lalitpur in the Kathmandu area of Patan. All have admission fees that range from 150 rupees to 1100 rupees. Apologies that I did not keep track of which photos match with which temple areas. I am hoping you will enjoy the photos nonetheless. The temples, in my opinion, epitomize the look and feel of Nepal and Kathmandu.
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