Bhaktapur Visit. Nepal

Since I atarted this I have had some difficulties with a heavy cold and sinus probs as well as wi fi connections etc, but here goes again.

Currently I am staying at Seven Fountains the Jesuit house in Chaing Mai. Coincidentally on Feb 1st it will be 60 years since I entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Watsonia in Melbourne. So it is appropriate to be here for some reflection and some rest. I am in the retreat house which is quiet, sparse and comfortable. It is a place of mostly silence and so a contrast with Kathmandu and the frenetic bustle of airports, Indian and others.
Though I had intended to stay for a few days in Delhi, after reading the application form of 8 pages with a section to pledge allegiance to the Indian government, and hearing various stories I decided to stay longer in Kathmandu and omit the Delhi visit. Just seeing the massive sprawl from the air is overwhelming.
Last Friday I visited Bhaktapur a 'medieval' city say 17th and 18th Centuries. It is a little way out of Kathmandu, but with all travel here it takes ages on made and semi made roads.  I engaged a guide, the first who offered and was not much use, then I got into conversation with a young chap studying Tourism and Hospitality, the magic ticket out, called Tej Ram Kumpakha. He was much more knowledgeable and committed to his city and its intricacies and good at answering my 1000 questions. Suffice it to say he took me to covered laneways where we had to stoop, the cremation place, the pottery square as well as the various temples and shrines. They say that the number of gods in Nepal is in the millions. So the number of shrines around the city, private and public is enormous. Doorways, street corners, shops, wells and people all have puja of some kind. As often happens Taj told me that the time to visit was in October or April when the big celebrations and ritual take place.  Famous for its brass works, mostly religious, artisans work from home and did not seem to mind this foreigner gawking, and admiring.
Taj took me to a typical Bhaktapur restaurant where I had the local Dahl meal and the wonderful Yoghurt made from buffalo milk, Yum.
Having been walking and looking from 8.00am till 2.30, so much so that my taxi man thought I was lost, I was glad to sit down and go to Changu Narayan. "According to legend while fighting with the demon king named Chand, killed a Brahman named Sumati. Guru Sukracharya the teacher of the dead Brahman was angry at Vishnu and cursed him that he will be beheaded in the future. After this incident, Vishnu lived in a tree of Champak (michelia) and had paid for the curse. In the same place, a temple standing as an ancient temple of Nepal."  Sic throughout.
Most if not all the images are behind grills which protect the image and make it impossible to see.
Hindu temples, as far as I can see, are for devotion or performing personal rituals, to me many of these seem like obsessive behaviour, much as the Catholic rosary. They seem like a way of warding off bad experiences. Buddhist temples, particularly in Thailand are more welcoming and you can get inside, so to speak rather than bowing and touching magic stones etc. But who am I to know. Considering the tricky road climb up and the rest of it Changu Naryan would not be on the top of my places to revisit.