Nagarjun

Nagarjun, the mountain rising beyond Balaju park, is named after the Buddhist saint Nagarjuna, an Indian sage said to have meditated and died here in a cave. Devotees worship an image of the saint in a shrine set up in the cave on the east side of the upper section of the mountain. According to tradition Buddha left his wisdom to be guarded by the Naga until such time as humanity was ready to receive it. Centuries later the Naga passed the teachings on to Nagarjuna. The Prajnaparamita ("Perfection of Wisdom"), sixteen volumes of texts printed in gold script on lapis lazuli paper, is now in the Tham Bahal in Kathmandu. The Newaris call the peak Jamacho, a reference to the long jamma skirts traditionally worn by Nepalese dancers (the mountain's forested ridges are thought to resemble a jamma's pleats). The forest, once a favorite hunting preserve of the Ranas, is now the Rani Ban ("Forest of the Kings") Reserve. Peacocks, deer, wild pigs and some leopards inhabit the rhododendron, bamboo, oak and pine-covered slopes. The ridge and summit of Jamacho afford spectacular views of the High Himalayas from Annapurna to Sikkim.